Loch Ness Marathon

I ran my third (and slowest) marathon in the Highlands along Loch Ness. It was a tough race where I felt so close to stopping many times, but managed to never stop running.

It doesn't look like it, but I'm tired.

Why Loch Ness

I was looking to run another marathon this year. I originally set my sights on Valencia, but when I went to book, travel and accommodation prices had skyrocketed.

I then looked for a UK marathon to run and learned choices for end-of-year marathons are actually quite limited. I wanted a large-scale race with an interesting route that didn’t involve multiple laps, nor was too hilly. Loch Ness was the only one I could find that fit the bill; although as you'll read later, it was pretty hilly.

Training by time, not distance

Last year I ran the Yorkshire Marathon with my partner, John. Not keen to endure 26.2 miles again, John opted to be my supporter for the marathon this year instead.

This meant training on my own over the summer. I really enjoyed John’s company training last year, so I did wonder how I’d feel going back to long runs on my own.

To change things up, I opted to follow a training plan based on time instead of distance this year. So instead of having to run X miles each session, I had to run X minutes or hours, with 3 and a half hours being the longest run on the schedule.

I actually felt that running by time was less daunting than running by distance. Running for 16 miles sounds a lot, but running for 3 hours, for instance, sounds achievable.

So I ended up enjoying my solo training by time and it not feeling cumbersome. I was also impressed with my pacing on long runs. All of them had average paces in the 11-minute range. Nothing was in the 12-minute range, which was even better than ones I did last year than John where I usually ran faster because of him.

I did have to change my training schedule a bit because I flew to the US 4 weeks before the marathon and didn’t want to do any runs longer than 90 minutes while I was there.

So while I felt good during training, I was a bit nervous going into the marathon having done my last proper long run (15 miles) 6 weeks before.

The journey

We traveled to Inverness by bus because when I went to book train tickets, I was shocked at the prices even with a railcard. That’s British rail for you.

Turns out the bus was not that much longer, and we got tickets for £16.60 round-trip per person. We did arrive a half hour late between delays and traffic, but overall, I'd say it’s worth it for the price.

Highland views from the bus.

Mandatory milkshake

My first stop in Inverness was to Miele’s Gelateria to get a mint milkshake, similar to what I did in York last year. While I paid £7 in York, this one was £4.25. Thanks, Inverness!

Happy milkshake drinker.

Collecting my race number

Unlike most other big runs which post out your number beforehand, I had to collect my race number in person on Saturday from the event village.

When arriving, we were immediately met by a massive blow-up Loch Ness Monster near the finish line.

Nessie 1.

After collecting my race number, I then obviously had to post with my number in front of a smaller Nessie, too.

Nessie 2.

It was nice to be able to experience the village before getting tired legs on race day.

Tapas carbo-loading

I wasn’t crazy about any of the pasta menus I found while searching for where to eat my pre-race meal. So I ended up at La Tortilla, a Spanish tapas restaurant I’d been to many years before.

Patatas bravas was my pasta this year, along with fried eggplant and an omelette.

John modelling our tapas dinner.

I didn’t take a photo of it, but we also split churros for dessert.

Not gonna lie, wasn’t thrilled with the dinner. I remember the food there being a lot better than it was this weekend.

But I definitely felt sufficiently carb loaded after dinner.

The one photo we got of us together during the trip.

The race

An early bus in the rain

Although the race had a 10am start time, the start line was 26.2 miles away, so I was away from our hotel shortly before 7 to walk to the event buses that took runners to the start.

The forecast for Sunday was cloudy in the morning, clearing up into sun in late morning.

In reality, the weather was rainy in the morning, and a pretty miserable sort of rain too - so much so when the driver told us to get off the bus, all the runners said nooooooo.

During the bus ride, you couldn't even appreciate the views of Loch Ness it was so icky out. I spent most of the bus ride talking to the person seated next to me who was running his 16th marathon.

Like me, he said he's the type of runner who will run all the hills and prides himself on that. Back to that comment a bit later on in this post.

The best managed toilet queue

I think the most exceptional thing about the Loch Ness Marathon was the toilet queue, in the sense that there were volunteers tasked with managing it. No more runners wondering if a toilet is occupied or not. People were on hand to point you to the next available toilet.

Thankfully, because I got an early bus out, I got in early in the toilet queue. When I got out, the line seemed never-ending.

The never-ending toilet queue.

A clear start line with bagpipes

The weather had magically cleared up by the time I left the toilet queue.

The start area was mountainous, but the views were a bit meh.

Meh views.

It was also hard to find a spot to take a start selfie because anywhere with trees had people peeing in the background, obviously trying to avoid the toilet queue.

Selfie free of people peeing in the background.

Right before the start, a pipe band started to march down to get in place to play us some intro music for the start of our run.

Pipe band marching to the start.

A fast downhill start until mile 5

The first bit of the run was downhill. It also started with some proper mountainous views I felt worth taking a mid-run photo of.

Photo-worthy views right after the start. 

After that view, the scenery wasn't that great for a while. We were mostly running through country roads, passing the occasional house. A lot of greenery, but no mountain views or loch in sight.

The mile 5 hill and rain

I knew this race was hilly at some points, but I didn't think the worst of it was until mile 18. Turns out the worst, in my opinion, was at mile 5. It wasn't too long, but it was steep, so despite getting off to a fast start, my miles got slower after this point.

Shortly after this, it started to properly rain for a bit, which was not welcome. Drizzle I'd take, but I couldn't see with the rain all over my sunglasses.

After the little shower, it did clear up again and stayed sunny for the rest of the race. Luckily, though, most of the route was lined with trees, so it kept the sun away from overheating my run.

Finally Loch Ness

It wasn't until about 6.5 miles in that we actually started running beside Loch Ness.

First we could only see it through trees.

Loch Ness through the trees.

Then eventually we got some clearer views.

Loch Ness sans trees in the way.

I didn't snap a photo, but the view right at the northern tip when I looked behind me as we started to leave the Loch was the prettiest with the water in the foreground and mountains behind it.

I also had some big drama at mile 12 when my running watch just shut down. I thought it had run out of battery so immediately started tracking with Strava on my phone so I'd get the stats for the rest of my run.

But about two minutes later, the watch started working again. This annoyingly, though, meant my watch was behind the official mileage for the rest of the race and ended at 26.15 miles, so Strava doesn't think I ran a full marathon.

A tough run

The overarching theme of this run was it was a tough one. The hills wore me out. It was more undulating than expected. It felt like running in Edinburgh.

It was even before the halfway point I started to feel tired. I felt worst after mile 17, when we'd left the loch. My longest training run ended up being 17 miles, and my legs could feel I had not run further than this in a year.

I was so close to stopping and just walking for a bit. My legs were exhausted. They didn't want to run anymore. 

Then hit that hill during mile 18. It was long, but not as steep as mile 5. I personally find that more manageable.

While, like the guy on the bus, I usually pride myself on running the hills, I wasn't feeling the pride during this marathon.

It hurt so much. But I know if I stop, I might not start up again. I negotiated with myself I had to make it to mile 20, and then I'd re-evaluate whether I wanted to walk.

A pep talk at mile 20

When I got to mile 20, the hill flattened out. With 6 miles left to go, I phoned John to tell him how tough it was and that I'd be later to the finish line than I'd anticipated. 

He, being the best, gave me some words of encouragement and reminded me of the 6 mile route we sometimes run together at home. I only had the length of that route left to go.

With that comment, I put aside all thoughts of attempting to walk a bit.

I had made it this far. I was going to run on.

Especially when I made it through to mile 22, I thought, it's just over 4 miles. I can get through 4 miles.

Finally spectators

One of the downsides to the route, other than the hills, was the remoteness. It meant there weren't big crowds there to cheer runners on.

I really felt that lacking. I could have used the boosts of encouragement along the way.

It was until the final mile did I start to see crowds lining the route cheering people on.

I also missed having my name on my bib. No strangers were shouting, "Go, Lauren!" I think that personalization also gives you that extra boost.

The best spectator was at 1km before the finish. John was there to cheer me on, and I ran in for a power-up kiss.

So glad to stop running

I powered through to the end. My last 2 miles were quite a bit faster than the 6 previous.

Never was I so happy to finish a race than I was at Loch Ness Marathon. Despite all the times I wanted to walk, I never stopped running until all 26.2 miles were behind me. My official run time was 5:15:00.

So tired, this was all I could jump.

No soup for me

The race was sponsored by the soup company Baxters who were giving out complimentary bowls of soup. I had finished later than expected, though, and had dinner reservations, so didn't opt for my soup.

I mention this, though, because I do wonder what soup they were giving out at the race. Baxters gave two free cans to runners in our swag bags, but both had meat in them.

This on top of the smallest finishers t-shirt being a size small and not XS meant this race was not a great one for petite vegetarian runners. So not only was it a tough race, I didn't even get a free can of soup (that I could eat) out of it.

Dinner in my ugly race shirt

John and I went to a burger place for my post-race meal. 

I wore my finishers shirt, which I think might be the ugliest finishers shirt I've ever received. An awful neon green with text and a design down the sides, so you can't actually see it all when I have to tuck it in because it's too long.

The veggie burgers and fries were much more pleasant-looking (and tasting).

The ugliest ever race shirt.

Race reflections

While 5:15:00 isn't a terrible time, it is my slowest time of the three marathons I've done. In a way, it's not surprising in that this is the hilliest one I've done by far.

But I did so well at York last year, this race felt like such a massive step in the wrong direction.

I think a few factors contributed to my time. While I preferred training by time, I think not having had a 20 mile training run before the race made the last 9 miles that much harder.

I also think switching up my schedule to accommodate my US trip had an effect. It'd been so long since a very long run. 

I think the biggest factor, though, was I wasn't wearing my full USA running outfit I'd worn at my first two marathons. I got a pair of navy Nike running shorts in the US and they're super comfortable, so I wanted to try them out.

My stars USA shorts, while I love them, are actually really tight. (My mom had to get them because you can only get them in the US, so couldn't exactly return them.)

I think this run would have felt worse in tighter shorts, but I also think I was missing the American magic propelling me forward.

I jest. In all seriousness, probably the biggest factor in my performance was running alone and the lack of crowds.

While I enjoyed solo training, I felt happier running the marathon with John last year, so the race on my own was not that enjoyable.

Yes, Loch Ness is pretty, but not pretty enough to get me in the positive mindset I really needed for this run.

I'm coming away from Loch Ness not keen to sign up to any other marathons in the near future. I think I want a break from 26.2.

Next race

Manchester Half Marathon

I've got a 2 week break before my next race.