Kong Mountain Marathon

Description:

A Mountain Marathon is a challenging race held in mountainous terrain and often off footpaths and maybe (hopefully not!) in difficult weather. The race is run in Teams for safety and for atmosphere. You and your partner can choose from different courses. There are linear courses where you navigate to check points in a set order and score courses where you determine your own route and can visit as many check points as you would like and in any order, but within a time limit. Courses are not marked.

At registration you and your partner receive a so called dibber, which is used to ‘punch’ control boxes at check points marked by orienteering kites. Every team has an allocated start time on Saturday morning and after you start you receive the map for day 1. You then navigate and run your course to the finish at the mid camp. If you are doing a score course you have a time limit for collecting as many controls as you can, after which penalty points will be deducted. More difficult controls will have higher point values.

All Teams bring full light weight kit (small tent, sleeping bags, cooking gear, food, etc.) and pitch their tent at mid camp. You will find a great atmosphere with everybody discussing their route choices. Sunday morning an early wake up call with the leaders of the linear courses in a chasing start followed by everybody else. When you make it back to the finish a hearty lunch awaits as well as prize giving of course.We are very excited to have been given the opportunity by the landowners to organise the first Kong Mountain Marathon on the Isle of Arran, Scotland, United Kingdom from Brodick on the 5th and 6th of June 2021.

Beaches, palm trees, the Gulf Stream and mountains – what more could you want for a perfect weekend? There may be some midges, bogs, crags and enormous tussocks to add extra fun.

Arran can be easily and cheaply accessed by regular ferries from Ardrossan. There are linking trains from Glasgow Central Station to Ardrossan and the event centre is within walking distance of the ferry in Brodick.

Registration will be open on Friday evening and for a short time on Saturday morning. After the race on Sunday a hearty meal is included in the entry cost for all competitors; there will also be a prize giving.