Sporting Event

Beginning inland at the award winning Grant Park in Forres, you run along the High Street before turning and crossing the A96, towards the famous eco-village of Findhorn. Kinloss Barracks will be on your right (look out for planes!) and the local bay’s nature reserve will be on your left. From here the coastal trail properly begins and the views are incredible! From the trail at the top of the dunes, you enter Roseisle Forest all the way to Burghead, where a lovely new tarred path will greet you after Burghead Distillery to Hopeman. The section from Hopeman to Covesea has some superb clifftop trails with even more spectacular views. At Covesea, provided the tide is out, you run along the beach with the lighthouse on your right and you feel like you are on a tropical island all the way to Lossiemouth, which is aid station 1! You will go over the brand new Lossiemouth Bridge and tackle the “5km from hell” to Kingston, where you follow Garmouth & Kingston Golf Course, crossing the beautiful railway bridge before turning right, heading south towards Fochabers, which is aid station 2. Continuing south, you pass Boat O’ Brig, and start to climb Ben Aigen and follow a lovely descent into Craigellachie. You are now in whisky country! Following the Speyside Way to Aberlour and towards Grantown-on-Spey, you pass several distilleries – soak in the sights and smells in this area! Aid station 3 is in the heart of it! At Grantown, which is aid station 4, you join the Dava Way and have “just” a marathon to go! It is downhill from here, taking in the beautiful Cairngorms around you and the Moray Firth views in front of you. On re-entering Forres, you will wind through more picturesque trails before finishing back at Grant Park. You have just completed the world’s most beautiful 100 milers… congratulations (not that we’re bias)!

The 1st Speyside Way race first took place on 3rd April 1994 (Easter Sunday as a matter of fact!) as a 50km as opposed to a 35miler (sorry on behalf of the race for adding that extra part for you!). Throughout its 22 year history, legends in not only distance running, but running as a whole, have competed in this event. This event is stacked in history – from the late Don Ritchie himself (former 100km world record holder, who later took on the job as race director) and world 100km champion Simon Pride, to Commonwealth Games runner Fraser Clyne and even 1500m specialist Brian Scally. The 50km route is a great transition from road running to trail running, and great for a fast time. It is runnable, net downhill (let’s not mention the climb at Ben Aigen to keep you honest!) and has a beautiful finish on a coastal path and a wee sting in the tail before the finish line. In 2021, we added a 100km option, where runners do an extra epic mountainous section (again, you are going downhill) from Aviemore to Tamdhu Distillery, where they join the 50km route all the way through whisky country to finish at the coast in Buckie.