Carbs & Craic at Baxters Loch Ness Marathon

The Baxters Loch Ness Marathon and Festival of Running is warming up for its annual festival of fun and running in Inverness on 28th & 29th September.

With over 9000 runners expected to take part in the five races scheduled on the Sunday, organisers are starting the weekend festivities on the Saturday with the Baxters Pasta Party. Chefs will be serving up a nutritional three course spread of tasty carbs as well as an afternoon of live music and an hourly show hosted by BBC Radio Scotland’s Bryan Burnett, with experts on hand to help banish runners’ last minute nerves.

New for 2013 is the Sports Expo at the Event Village, which is open on both the Saturday and the Sunday. Bigger than ever before, there will be a great range of running products and exciting offers from leading brands.

On Sunday, the day of the race, the ‘festival’ atmosphere of the Event Village kicks up a gear. The Baxters Food & Drink Fayre showcases a selection of the best ready-to-eat offerings from around the area and there are plenty of Baxters’ finest chutneys, relishes and jams available for sampling.

Other tempting foods from local suppliers range from seafood paella and venison burgers to risotto, hearty soups and hog roast rolls, as well as ice cream, hot and cold drinks and locally brewed beers.

There’s no shortage of activities and features to keep the kids occupied this year. They’ll literally be jumping for joy and spoilt for choice between super jumper trampolines, bouncy castle, inflatable slides, bucking bronco and a merry-go-round.

And, of course, no Highland festival would be complete without the stirring sounds of a pipe band. This year the 1 Highlanders ACF Pipes & Drums are performing in the event village, and The Lochaber High School Pipe Band will be providing the theme tune to kick off the start of the marathon.

During the day Jack Badcock & Ciaran Ryan will be providing acoustic entertainment in the food tent on both Saturday and Sunday, and popular Scottish ceilidh/folk band Schiehallion is the headline act on race day.

For full details of all events and activities over the weekend, visit lochnessmarathon.com.