Runner's World

WORDS: ADRIAN MONTI. PHOTOGRAPHS:

GORDON DONNACHIE (RACE IMAGE) GETTY

090 RUNNERSWORLD.CO.UK JUNE 2018

CRIEFF

CULLOCH

MUTHILL

AUCHINGARRICH

WILDLIFE CENTRE

DRUMMOND

CASTLE

Strowan Road

River Earn

B827

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START FINISH
START
You begin at Cultybraggan Camp
where German POWs were kept
during the Second World War. As
the pipe band sends you on your
way you pass some of the Nissen
huts used to house the POWs.
FINISH
You now drop
back into
Cultybraggan
and inish
your race
to the sound
of bagpipes.
Then you tuck
into a much-
deserved
feast that’s
largely made
from crops
grown on the
allotments at
the camp.
MILE 2
Here you
climb out of
Glen Artney
a beautiful
valley that
was name-
checked in
the famous
Sir Walter
Scott
narrative
poem The
Lady of
the Lake
published
in 1810.
MILE 15
Another ascent leads
you round the back of
the Drummond Castle
estate. This location
was featured in the 1995
ilm Rob Roy which
starred Liam Neeson
as the Scottish outlaw
and folk hero.
MILE 18
Here you run alongside
the River Earn and
skirt the edges of the
town of Crief home of
Caithness Glass where
the trophy given to the
winner of Mastermind
was designed in 1972
by Denis Mann.
MILE 10
Here you will pass the site of Ardoch Fort
regarded as one of the most complete
Roman strongholds in Britain before it was
abandoned in the second century AD.
MILE 4
Enjoy the stirring views across
the rolling landscape of heather
moorland and keep an eye out
for wildlife such as red kites
(pictured below) and buzzards.
STRATHEARN
MARATHON
Race director Cathy
Tilbrook guides you
along this road marathon
through rural Perthshire
‘The race which was irst
staged in 2012 is organised
by Strathearn Harriers club’
says Tilbrook. ‘It’s got some nice
quirky touches that make it a bit
diferent. For instance runners
can request the Comrie Pipe Band
that are here on the day to play
their favourite tune on parts of
the course. It’s a hilly route through
farmland and past a few villages
and settlements. But despite about
450m of climb (mostly in the irst
13 miles) some runners do achieve
their Good for Age London Marathon
qualifying time here. The feedback
we get always includes comments
on the beautiful views on the route
and how friendly the event feels.’
*The 2018 race is on June 10.
Visit strathearnharriers.org.uk
The red squirrel
is common in
this part of
Scotland;
hence the
medal design.
0
800
MILES
FEET
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COMRIE
BRACO
RACE RECCE