‘The DRAMA-thon’? No, it’s a DRAM-athon!

When I posted on Facebook the morning of the Dramathon with a photo of Paul and I outside Glenfiddich, more people assumed we were doing some drama, rather than a whisky marathon. I think I need new Facebook friends.

Anyway, when I decided that, for Paul’s Christmas present, I’d enter us both into a marathon on the Speyside Way to celebrate a year since our wedding in Scotland, I hadn’t really thought about how far a marathon was, or how the date was 6 weeks after the biggest race of Paul’s life: UTMB (I’m still trying to get him to write a blog for that!). Anyway, missing the trip to Munich was enough motivation to ensure we must have a good time, and the promise of 8 drams of whisky upon completion of course!

We spent the preceding week hiking and camping in the highlands by way of a warm up for the marathon. Not the best prep I suppose.

The ‘race’ itself was on a Saturday. We pondered why this was, but concluded that it must be because of the huge number of international participants and the famous ceilidh that happens as an after party on the Saturday night – no dogs allowed, so don’t expect a report of that part unfortunately – we were at home and in bed by 10!

On the Friday, we made our way to Dufftown and registration to allow us optimal faff time in the morning of the event. Registration was in a little village hall; easy: pick up your numbers, pick up your wee Dramathon Glencairn (whisky glass) and you’re on your way. We’d not opted to buy a tshirt, because we have so many, but they had free versions of the 2021 event to take. They were high vis, and didn’t have a year written on them. BOOM. Everyone loves a freebie. You’ll all see me in it on club nights forever more…

After a quick pub stop it was off home for pizza and an early night.

Race morning involved more faff than it’s usually done in the past due to our furry friend. She was going to doggy day care in the next village for the day so we dropped her off there and headed to the start. The incredible benefit of these smaller local races is available parking; loads of toilets and the resultant lack of stress! Our car was parked 100m from the finish line. We jumped on buses to the start at Glenfarclas for a quick 20 minute drive to the start. The run is a point to point along the Speyside way and around, so the idea of not running back to where we started was great.

Alighting the buses to the sound of bagpipes, all 400 marathon runners joined the queue to the 5 portaloos. There was 45 minutes til the start – loads of time, right?

44 minutes later, I get into a portaloo the race organiser announced that there was a minute to the start. Perfect timing. There wasn’t much else to do, so a toilet queue is a good a use of time as any, right?

Anyway, we put ourselves at the back, knowing we were in for a long day out, and set off with the crowd on our journey along the Speyside Way. 42.2km and 8 distilleries to go. The whiskey isn’t provided until the end, which I was pleased about, hardly a refreshing thirst-quenching drink is it?

There are three distances available every year at the Dramathon: marathon (also available as a 4 x 10ish km relay), half marathon and 10km. All distances join the route along the way so the logistics are complicated but incredibly smooth on the day. The marathon route follows a little windy, slightly downhill path which goes through Ballindalloch castle in the first 5 or so miles. The gradual downhill is definitely enjoyable, and the group started to settle into a nice little pace. The number of different nationalities is astounding. At times, we were running with a group of Swedes, other times with a group of French runners all dressed like, well, French people. They’d even brought their own baguettes. A good marathon snack, I’d imagine.

Within the first hour, the freezing drizzle subsided and we’d passed through two distilleries. We made a turn, now on the real Speyside Way, which we’d follow for the next 30km. My watch beeped ‘next turn in 8km’ – that’s mentally tough. Anyway, we settled into a good routine of me chatting away to Paul and him grunting at me, rueing the day we met and wishing he’d found himself a different wife. I kept reminding him it was only a quarter of UTMB and that, well, WHISKY!!

The route was beautiful, passing through little old stations, towns, distilleries, all with great support. I discovered that the brownies at the aid stations were one of the best things I’ve ever tasted, so resolved to snack my way through, started munching away.

At the half way mark, we pretended to run and look happy for the photographer, and then settled in for a slog Whether is was my incredible chat, or maybe the great snacks, the time passed in a bit of a blur. By the time we reached Jonnie Walker (Cardhu), the sun was blazing and it was a beautiful day. Conversation dried up whilst I worried for my marriage and we plodded and plodded.

Finally… the watch showed we were in to the last 5 miles. Unfortunately it also showed that it was all uphill. Nothing mega, 150m in 5 miles but enough to make our legs feel very sad.

Powering on, and realising that if we got a bit of a wiggle on we’d make it in under 5 hours, we emerged from the forest and onto the trail that meant there was 1km to go. Enjoying the distillery views, the sun on our backs and the growing number of people on the route due to meeting up with some of the back of the half and 10km packs, we passed loads of people in the last stretch. We even found a Wetherby Runner and decided to finish Yorkshire altogether.

Crossing the line with a grin, we were immediately passed our jingling bags full of 8 drams of whisky and a medal made from a thing they used to use to open whisky barrels. A few poses for photos and then a coffee, hot shower and a sit down was calling. No Ceilidh for us this year (that’s the bigger challenge – who can dance the night of a marathon!?).

A gorgeous little run, you can check out my Strava here if you want to see more… oh, and if you’re planning to sign up, you’ll need to be quick – entries fill up within minutes! https://www.strava.com/activities/7966864263