From the Start to Foyers (6.3 miles)

It’s difficult not to get carried away by the sense of occasion, the excitement and the nervous anticipation as the adrenaline pumps through your body at the start of a marathon.

You’ll be on the starting line eagerly waiting to get your big challenge underway. It’s a fantastic feeling, but it needs to be harnessed with a degree of ice cool self-control.

One of the best pieces of advice I was given about marathon running was to make sure that the best six miles of my race were the final six miles, not the first six miles. So, remember you have 26.2 miles to run. There’s no prizes or medals for being first to reach Foyers.

The opening six or seven miles of the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon course are predominantly downhill although there’s one or two minor climbs as you follow the line of General Wade’s military road in a north-easterly direction. There’s one particularly tough little climb after about 4.5 miles, but you can afford to push just a tiny bit harder on these uphills because you know you’ll get the chance to recover on the next downhill.

At this early stage in the race, however, you shouldn’t be working too hard at all. Keep it all very relaxed and calm. Enjoy the views of the hills to your right and left, and look out for glimpses of the river Foyers when you turn down through the first wooded section of the route.

It’s best to flow through the downhills. Allow gravity to do the work, lean slightly forward – not back – marginally extend your stride length and relax. Don’t run wildly out of control.  Some of the downhills are quite steep, especially the final mile towards Foyers, and at this point it’s particularly important not to run too hard. Steep downhill running can do more muscle damage than running on the flat or uphill, so take it easy – there’s a long way to go.

There’s another little uphill section into Foyers itself but you’ll get a boost at the village where supporters will come out to cheer. You have reached the first significant staging point and you should be feeling nicely warmed up and into your stride, ready for the next stage of the journey along Loch Ness.

Water stations with first aid and portable toilets are located at 2.9 miles and 6.5 miles, with a High5 gel station at 6.25 miles.

Read on for the next section of the route from Foyers to halfway point (6-13 miles).

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