This is a road marathon in the Scottish Highlands, and it’s one of the more scenic destination marathons in September.
🏃 Race basics
- Date: Sunday, 27 September 2026
- Start: 10:00
- Distance: 42.195 km
- Start: Between Whitebridge and Fort Augustus, on the south side of Loch Ness
- Finish: Bught Park, Inverness
- Minimum age: 18
- Format: Point-to-point
- Terrain: Paved road, with rolling Highland terrain rather than a flat city course.
The route runs alongside Loch Ness, through Highland scenery and eventually across the River Ness into Inverness. The race is particularly attractive if you want the marathon to double as a Scotland trip.
⚠️ Important for 2026
General entry is already sold out. As of August 18, 2026, the official race site says the remaining way into the marathon is through one of its charity places. There are no race-day entries for the marathon.
🏴 Loch Ness Marathon 2026
Date: Sunday, 27 September 2026
Start: 10:00
Finish: Bught Park, Inverness
Distance: 42.195 km
Minimum age: 18
Course: Point-to-point, starting south of Loch Ness and finishing in Inverness.
🗺️ The course
It’s a rolling Highland road course with some substantial downhill running.
The middle portion follows the southeastern side of Loch Ness. You get long stretches of Highland scenery, with the loch, hills and forests around you.
The final section becomes considerably easier: around mile 20 there’s another downhill stretch, followed by one final uphill around mile 21. From there it is essentially flat toward Inverness. The last few miles run through the city, alongside the Caledonian Canal/River Ness, before the finish at Bught Park.
In other words: don’t use the first 10 km to chase a fast pace. The downhill can feel deceptively easy, but you’ll pay for it later.
⏱️ Cutoff
The official cutoff is 7 hours, with the finish closing at 17:00.
The organizers ask runners who expect to take more than about 6:30 to use the pavement during the final three miles through Inverness because roads begin reopening around 16:30.
So it’s quite accessible to runners who are aiming simply to finish rather than race for a time.
Have you ever run on Loch Ness Marathon, Scotland?
Please,share us your previous experience with us in the comments.
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