A friend has decided that his next fitness challenge is to do more “unusual” and “adventure-style” events. He’s a generally fit guy and keen to do more running off-road, and some cycling. But  with two young children, a busy job and his final year of an Open University engineering course he has little time for himself, or fitting in hours and hours of exercise. So he’s planning to keep as fit as he can running and cycling to work, and he’s looking to participate in a few off-road runs or hill walks when time and family allows. He’s also keen to do a few fun adventure races. I said I’d keep him up to date with any Scottish events that I come across. So, here you go David.

This is the first blog of many to come. I plan to rename one of this blog’s categories to Adventure Races. That way people can send me news about up-and-coming events and vistors such as David can find out more about the events they fancy. Why not create an RSS feed so that each new blog on this site comes into your email system?

Sat 18 Sept 10 – £1000 Cashback Cycle Cairngorms
5 stunning mountain passes. 1 or 2 days. 120 miles on day 1, 50 miles on day 2. Cycle one day or both.  This is unique challenge to cycle round Britain’s largest and highest Mountain Massif. Free Campsite. Raise funds to help people with a disability enjoy a respite care holiday in the National Park.

Other events: There’s a wealth of event info on the Cycle Cairngorms website

Sat 25 Sept 10 – Ullapool Sportive
A monster of a ride from Cycle Sportive experts Hands On Events, which is designed to be the final big test of the season. The route takes in some of the wildest scenery Scotland has to offer from rugged cliffs and tiny islands to lonely moorland and remote sandy beaches with superb panoramic mountain views. The longer cycle is 130 miles. A shorter Ullapool Beag extends to 65 miles. Take your pick!

Sun 3 Oct 10 – Dalbeattie Hardrock Duathlon
The Dalbeattie Hardrock Duathlon covers the marathon distance of 26 miles within Dalbeattie Forest. There’s a 10-mile run of which 8 miles are on good forest road and the remainder on woodland track. This is followed by a 16-mile bike run over the 7Stanes red route, of which 10 miles are on forest road and 6 miles on rough and steep single mountain bike track.

Sat 13 Nov 10 – Grampian Mountain Challenge
A 2-day mountain running challenge with orienteering. Similar distances to other mountain marathons, however this event is in winter. The event is for solos and pairs. There is a wild camp overnight, but tents will be transported to the camp.