ENDURO RACING HAS BEEN POPULAR AMONG MOUNTAIN BIKERS FOR YEARS – BUT COULD A FELL RACE EQUIVALENT BE EVEN MORE FUN? WE SENT DR KERI WALLACE TO FIND OUT

DR KERI WALLACE

The start line was like no other. No waiting runners, no portable loos, no people warming up and no mass start. Just competitors dressed in lurid Lycra, wandering casually through town. Runners had received wrist bands with digital timing cards from the registration desk, from where there was a short walk through the town centre to a wooden gate, marking the first checkpoint of the day. Here you just ‘dibbed your dibber’ and you were off! In this race, you could start when you felt ready – any time between 9am and 10am.

The No Fuss Events Fort William Runduro is a 21K multi-stage race, taking in some of the most popular running trails in and around Glen Nevis, Scotland. The route consists of eight timed ‘racing stages’ linked by seven untimed ‘transitional stages’. Final results are based on the total time taken for the timed stages only. This unusual format has been adapted from Enduro racing events, popular with mountain bikers, where downhill stages are timed but uphills are not. In this running version, however, the timed stages are not all downhill – or uphill for that matter. Instead, each one has a different character, requiring a different set of skills. Some are short and steep, while some are longer and more gradual. Some are rocky underfoot, while others take place over tree roots and pine needles.