Nearly 100 walkers have braved chilly autumn weather to complete an inaugural 50-mile walk in Moray.
The field of endurance competitors departed Grant Park in Forres on Saturday morning for the first Laich o’ Moray event, returning in the early hours of yesterday.
Organisers hope the event is the first step towards bringing the annual 100-mile course to Moray, which would bring about 500 people from across the UK to the region.
Entrants from Denmark and south Wales were among the 65 walkers at the weekend while about a dozen opted to run the undulating course, which stretched along the course from Findhorn to Lossiemouth before heading south to Elgin and back to Forres through Rafford.
The fastest runner completed the route in about 12 hours with the quickest walker returning home about two hours later.
>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter
A total of 62 finished the course within the 24-hour time limit and will now go forward to the 100-mile event in the north of England, which moves to different parts of the UK every year.
It is hoped that the first Laich o’ Moray 50-mile challenge will eventually lead to the larger event heading north to a potential route which could cover Moray’s coastal train, the Speyside Way and the Dava Way.
Volunteers manned six checkpoints along the course at the weekend to ensure all of the entrants remained accounted for during the walk.
Pete Mitchell, secretary of the North West Grampian Long Distance Walking Association, explained vast quantities of home bakes, soup and hot drinks were supplied through the night to keep the walkers energised.
He said: “The weather was magnificent and all the participants had a lot of great coastal scenery to walk through in the warm autumn sunshine.
“After nightfall, a few managed to take some wrong turns in the Quarrelwoods but all managed to find their way to the next checkpoint at Torrieston unscathed to tell their tales of misadventure.”
