In these fiery days of bright lights and cable television, few had the motivation to get off the couch and seek other races when they were given the "didn't get in" notice from the Flora London Marathon fraternity. This letter of rejection, thankfully, did not deter the irrepressible Howard Houlston.

For the 4th time of asking, the London Marathon graciously declined my humble advances, much like a coy young maiden in a trendy bar. Unlike the poor misguided maiden however, FLM have kindly furnished me with practically a full wardrobe of running gear for my efforts. Frustratingly it seems that the only place I can't get to run the marathon is my home town...

Undeterred I hit the web for alternatives - the obvious one, Paris, I ran last year and although highly recommended, I wanted a home grown option. Thus it was that I found a little known but increasingly popular event in Fort William, Scotland - the Lochaber marathon. It's been going nearly as long as some of the big city marathons, 23 years, but it's still quite small and race day would turn out 550 competitors.

The event was also targeted for the Scottish Veterans Championships, so I was fully expecting to see a large concentration of wiry granddads (and grandmas) showing me just how this running lark should really be done. Being soundly thrashed by someone past retirement age is one thing, but at least this year I wouldn't be beaten home by a woman in a Goofy costume (I still have flashbacks to that dark day in Dublin)

But first we needed to get there, so it was a brief flight from Stansted to Glasgow and then a hire car for the last leg. The drive up to Fort William was worth the effort in itself - we were blessed with glorious sunshine and the views around Glen Coe and Loch Linnhe were stunning - you forget the beauty of Scotland from the confines of a London flat.

Reaching Fort William itself the views of a snow covered Ben Nevis, the highest peak in Britain, were incredibly clear - reportedly the best for a long while. This peak looming over the town would be the backdrop as we struggled back on the return leg.

The course is a pretty flat road race, leaving town and following Loch Eil to the half way point, where we were to turn back on ourselves and retrace our tracks back to the finish. Running through a tree lined road by the Loch, rugged peaks on the horizon, it's certainly one of the more scenic routes the UK has to offer with the added bonus of excellent PB potential.

Race day - there was a cool light drizzle - perfect for the task ahead. The start went off with a minimum of fuss and the field quickly thinned out. This is the joy of a small field - no messing around at the start and no weaving through crowds for mile after mile. On the downside, the support tends to be quite thin on the ground, but when it was there it was very enthusiastic, including some guy who had rigged up his stereo outside his house, blaring out some thrashy rock music to which he was dancing around like a man possessed, shouting out encouragement all the time.

I slipped in behind a 100 Club member, an elite group whose qualification is simply to clock up 100 marathons - I guessed his pacing would be pretty steady. "So, how many is it?", I asked him. "Oh, I stopped counting somewhere after 200", he replied - my 5 including this one was looking like sheer laziness. This race wasn't even a big one for him - just a training run for Prague in a few weeks time. I stayed with 100 Club to around mile 10, before pushing ahead to stay on pace for my target 3:15. I heard of another runner who was even more impressive (crazy?) - the marathon wasn't enough - he had decided to get up early and cycle from Kendal in the Lake District, some 250 miles south of Fort William, run the marathon and then cycle home afterwards. He clocked 4:50, but I'm sure he must have been quicker because I don't think he made the start on time. Those must have been some pretty sore legs the following day...

For a small marathon, Lochaber has slick organization and, a huge bonus in my opinion: bottled water. It's so much better to run with a bottle than to splash most of the contents of a flimsy plastic cup down your front. The sun came out on the return leg, offering beautiful views to take our minds off the growing aches and pains.

Before I knew it I was into the home stretch, trying to hold together those last 2 or 3 miles. A couple of small but surprisingly painful hills and the finish was in sight. I was a bit off my target but came in with 3:18, a 9 minute PB so I was very happy. With the hard bit over we could look forward to a couple or more celebratory ales at the Grog N Gruel, Scottish Real Ale Pub of the Year 2005, where we could exchange war stories with our fellow runners.

The verdict? A cracking, well organized marathon in glorious surroundings with strong PB potential. If you're looking for a London alternative, give Lochaber a serious look!

Link: Lochaber Marathon