My marathons

Loch Ness Marathon

10:0010:00 AM Inverness
Loch Ness
© OpenStreetMap Loch Ness. Photograph by Eusebius, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons . Course line © OpenStreetMap contributors

The course

Pick a place, or drag along the profile

Downhill to km 16, a steep climb of 65 m from km 28 to km 32, then downhill home.

StartFinish

© OpenStreetMap contributors

  2. Photo: dave conner, CC BY 2.0
  3. Photo: Reading Tom from Reading, UK, CC BY 2.0
  4. Photo: dave conner, CC BY 2.0

km 4.2mile 2.6

Whitebridge

The organiser puts the moorland start between Fort Augustus and Whitebridge.

Height drawn many times taller than life. Heights: GEDTM30.

Course elevation profile, 8× vertical exaggeration Elevation along the course from km 0 to km 42. The trace runs between 4 and 297 metres, a range of 292 metres, drawn at 8 times vertical exaggeration so the shape is legible. Smoothed over 1 km before this profile was derived. An unsmoothed urban surface carries the buildings and would assert a climb that is not there.
0 10 20 30 40 km
0 10 20 26.2 mi

  • downhill to 16
  • steep climb to 32
  • downhill home

Your 5 gels, at the orange marksFor a 4:00 finish, one every 40 minutes

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Get them on AmazonAmazon partner link

The course in short One line
  • A 290 m drop from moor to lochFrom 297 m at the start to 24 m by 16 km: a net downhill marathon with one climb at 29 to 31 km.
Course notes One short read on the course
km 0 to 42.2GradientA 290 m drop from moor to lochFrom 297 m at the start to 24 m by 16 km: a net downhill marathon with one climb at 29 to 31 km.

The Loch Ness Marathon is a point-to-point course that runs from the moor between Fort Augustus and Whitebridge to Inverness. The ground at the start is 297 m above sea level and falls to 191 m by 4.2 km, 139 m by 10 km and 24 m by 16 km, where the road reaches the shore of the loch. It stays between about 24 m and 33 m along the loch until 29 km.

The organiser says the course heads away from the loch from about 17 miles with an uphill section for a couple of miles. The road is at 24 m at 27.4 km and 67 m at 30.6 km, then levels and falls through Inverness to a low point of 4.5 m at 40.6 km, close to the Ness Bridge, and ends at 6.6 m. The marathon climbs 139 m in all. The organiser calls it a net downhill course.

Measured

Race fuel

Energy gel
An energy gel sachet
Illustration · drag to turn

5 gels for Inverness, plus 1 spare

Finish

One every 40 minutes, the orange marks on the profile, by the clock:

  1. km 7mile 4.4
  2. km 14.1mile 8.7
  3. km 21.1mile 13.1
  4. km 28.1mile 17.5
  5. km 35.2mile 21.8

Our pick: SiS BETA Fuel gel, box of 6, strawberry and lime. 40 g of carbohydrate a gel, about twice a usual gel, from two kinds of sugar your body takes up side by side.

Easy to forget on race morning: pack them with your bib the night before.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

In Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Salted Caramel, 24-pack, the best seller there.

Outside the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the UK and Ireland, Spain and Portugal, Italy, the rest of the EU and Canada the button opens GU Energy Gel, Chocolate Outrage, 24-pack on Amazon.com, the best seller there.

Anti-chafe
Compeed Anti-blister stick
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed anti-blister stick, 8 ml

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

An invisible layer before the start keeps seams, straps and shoes from rubbing skin raw.

Put it on before you leave for the start: heels and toes, inner thighs, under a bra or heart-rate strap.

Try it on a long run first, like everything you use on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Number belt
A race number belt
Illustration · drag to turn

Compressport Race Belt

Holds your bib without safety pins through your top, with loops for up to 8 gels.

Clip the bib on the night before, so it goes on with your shorts in the morning.

Keep the number on the front, where officials and photographers can see it.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Electrolytes
A tube of electrolyte tablets
Illustration · drag to turn

SiS Hydro electrolyte tablets, tube of 20

One tablet in a bottle puts back some of the salt you sweat out.

One tablet in 500 ml of water in the hour before the start.

Only if you have used them in training: nothing new on race day.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.

Blister plasters
Compeed Blister plasters, medium, 6
Photo: Compeed

Compeed

Compeed blister plasters, medium, 6

Best selling on Amazon amazon.nl, read 2 Nov

One in a pocket cushions a blister if one starts.

Put it on clean, dry skin and leave it until it comes off by itself.

Give a couple to whoever comes to cheer, so they are there at the km you need them.

Get it on Amazon

We earn a small fee if you buy through these links. The price is the same.
distance
42.2 km26.2 mi
climb
139 m456 ft
cut-off
7:00 h

The Loch Ness Marathon is a course of 42.2 km with 139 m of climbing. Its lowest point is 4 m and its highest 297 m above sea level. Next race: Sunday 26 September 2027, starting at 10:00.

Race week

Bib pickup at Event Village, Bught Park, Inverness

Timetable

Saturday 25 September Bib pickup

  1. 10:0010:00 AM

    Event pack collection Event Village, Bught Park, Inverness. Pre-race registration runs from 10:00 to 18:00; bring photo ID.

Sunday 26 September Race day

  1. 07:007:00 AM

    Arrive for the start coaches Inverness Ice Centre, Bught Drive. Arrive between 07:00 and 07:30; coaches leave between 07:30 and 07:50 and the journey takes around an hour. No pre-booking is needed from Inverness.

  2. 10:0010:00 AM

    Marathon start Between Fort Augustus and Whitebridge. Point to point; the start is not open to spectators or vehicles.

  3. 16:304:30 PM

    Roads in Inverness start to reopen Final 3 miles, Inverness. Roads along the final 3 miles start to reopen from 16:30.

  4. 17:005:00 PM

    Marathon cut-off Event Village, Bught Park, Inverness. The cut-off is 7 hours after the 10:00 start; the finish line and Event Village start to be dismantled from 17:00. 7:00 limit: 9:57/km for 42.195 km7:00 limit: 16:01/mi for 26.2 mi

Times as published by the organiser, in Inverness time, checked .

Add to calendar .ics file, times in Inverness time

Trip

Getting a place

Entry through the organiser

lochnessmarathon.com: this address now sends you somewhere else, so it is not linked.

The organiser, a third party. We take no entries and have no part in the race.

Sources and licence

Last checked.

Course line matched onto OpenStreetMap road geometry: (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License 1.0 (ODbL). Elevation sampled from GEDTM30, Global Ensemble Digital Terrain Model at 30 m (v1.2): Elevation: GEDTM30 (Ho & Hengl, OpenGeoHub), CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

Elevation gain computed by us from that line, smoothed over 1 kmsmoothed over 0.6 mi.

The line follows the road down its middle, so it measures 0.36% longer than the certified distance, which is measured on the shortest legal line through every bend.

Every source and licence behind them →

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