Fort William running events are revealed for 2018

Competitive runners will head to the hills this month for the Runduro event.

No Fuss Events, the Fort William-based organisers of multiple outdoor adventure sport events, has revealead its 2018 scheduled of off road running events, together with the announcement of a new partnership with Compressport, the high end compression clothing manufacturer.

The series will take place with Runduro on Saturday, 24 February, with the Cowal Way Chase Ultra on Saturday 14 July 2018 with the Marathon de Ben Nevis on Saturday, 22 September, to be supported by Compressport

Runduro is the first event of the year in Fort William, the Outdoor Capital of the UK.

No Fuss Events’ first Runduro event of 2015 took place in February, to coincide with the Fort William Mountain Festival, in some challenging, snowy conditions. It didn’t put any of the competitors off and the event is now the regular season opener.

With almost 100 runners already signed up it is looking as 2018 will be a bumper year. With the introduction on the Taster Runduro and the Short Runduro for 2018 there is something for everyone.

David Munro, from No Fuss Events, said: ‘The Runduro has borrowed its format from the ever popular mountain biking enduro’s that have taken the biking world by storm.

‘Runners will cover approximately 12, 14 or 20km over the whole race, but only going at race pace on special timed stages. The winner is the person with the fastest combined stage times.

‘This means that in between the stages, on the ‘transitions’, participants have the opportunity to relax, regroup with their friends and chat about the stages. Participants are allowed to walk or jog between stages. Just like our mountain bike buddies do at the enduro format races, being social is encouraged! There are even a couple of coffee stop options!

‘Within the races there will be something for everyone – climbing stages, sprinting stages and some great descents.

‘Instead of the race being a pure endurance race this gives all runners the chance to win stages, and maybe even the overall race, even if you don’t normally come in first – it’s all about race craft and tactics!

‘The race will be timed using a Sport Ident chip timing system, so each participant will be able to start the stages whenever they are ready and runners will be set off at around 30 second intervals so you don’t have the pressure of a mass start, or being left behind.’

Next up in July, after the immense success of the Cowal Chase and Ultra in 2017, No Fuss are once again delighted to be working with the Colintraive and Glendaruel Development Trust, to present the second Cowal Way Ultra. For 2018 the route will incorporate a more northern section of the Cowal Way starting and finishing in Lochgoilhead.

New for 2018 No Fuss are introducing an 18-mile trail run option, a relay option of and the Ultra at a little over thirty miles. Each route has been designed to challenge the toughest and most seasoned of athletes, with the introduction of the relay and the shorter trail run we believe that there is something for everyone.

Runduro takes place on February 24

With almost 900m of ascent, it is fair to say that the route will take you over some varied terrain with hard packed paths, loose gravel and slightly technical forest roads, giving you an introduction to one of Scotland’s best kept secret trails offering some of the best scenery that one of Scotland’s has to offer.

The Marathon de Ben Nevis is No Fuss Events’ popular 64km Ultra Run, recognised as a qualifying race by the International Trail Running Association. This is great news if you have aspirations of doing the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc one day!

The Marathon is a trail run staged on No Fuss’s now classic Tour de Ben Nevis mountain bike route but with a different start and finish. The route is 64 off road kilometres of pure discovery. Starting early in Fort William’s Braveheart Carpark athletes will run through the forests of Glen Nevis on the famous West Highland Way, taking them all the way to the Mamore Lodge in Kinlochleven. After hot drinks (or cold if the sun is shining!) the route takes runners off the beaten path to the banks of Loch Eilde Mohr, running through the Mamores towards the Grey Corries. The next challenge will be a river crossing, which could be ankle deep, or perhaps a bit higher if the rain comes! There will be safety cover here though, so nothing to fear.

After the river crossing athletes will find themselves on some tough terrain – the ground gets a bit steeper here and a bit rougher but they will be rewarded for their hard work with the now infamous Lairig Bothy BBQ. After topping up the energy levels the competitors will be into the home straight heading towards Leanachan Forest and Nevis Range. Once through the forest, it’s all downhill to the Ben Nevis distillery and the finish.

Entries are open for all No Fuss running events right now. For full information on the No Fuss running events or to enter, and other events in the No Fuss 2018 programme, click HERE.