The inaugural Cairngorm Charmer event was very successful with 65 teams from a pre-registered entry of 76 teams starting on the day and it was fantastic to see such a wide range of competitors turning up to take part.

The team of two format was designed to attract friends, mates, couples, partners, married, parent/offspring teams and of all ages and the starting line up certainly showed that this worked with the juniors from the GB Cross County Skiing Teams rubbing shoulders with the legendary ‘vintage stars’ like Bert McIntosh, Neil Robertson, Peter Ferguson and Ewan Paterson. There were over a dozen married couple or partner teams taking part and it was suggested tongue in cheek that in future one marshal should be a trained counsellor or solicitor! Teams came from all over Scotland and it was highly gratifying to welcome ‘The White Lady Duo’ from Northumberland and ‘Wookey & Fraz’ from the Lake District. There was also continued great support from local teams who hopefully used their local knowledge to good advantage! Special mention and plaudits also go to the Aviemore Primary School Staff team of 11 folk who took part in their fetching school mascot squirrel t-shirts and raised over £300 in sponsorship - a lot of which came from the school children who each made a donation to the team in return for wearing their favourite sports kit at school on the Friday. Wherever you came from – thank you for turning up to support the event.

Cairngorm Mountain Ltd generously hosted and provided the facilities on the day as well as supporting all the event planning and organisation. There was ample room for car parking, refreshments, registration, changing and domestics and I am most grateful to Fergus Ewing MSP who found time in his busy SNP conference weekend schedule to come and start the race and lend his support. The weather overall on the day stayed dry, snow free and there was even some spells of bright sunshine all providing great views of the fantastic Cairngorm Mountains and surrounding beautiful countryside for those who came along either to take part or to spectate and support. However … there was that bit of a wind at the top wasn’t there? Recorded gusts of 100mph on Cairngorm summit meant that even the funicular railway had to be suspended for a time and the strength and chill of the wind at Cairngorm base station made walking about pretty difficult for everyone. The runners nevertheless took it all in their stride/stagger using the strong tailwind to propel them down the hill on the outward leg and showing truly amazing tenacity, courage and sheer guts to fight the headlong storm force wind on the way back up the steep hill to the finish line. Every competitor should be fully and duly commended and applauded for taking on the Cairngorm Charmer and for battling the force of the wind as well. Thankfully, there were only a few very minor injuries and a couple of withdrawals on the day. My genuine appreciation and gratitude also goes to the many marshals, stewards and CML staff who stood or operated in the strong winds for many hours on end.

Reviewing the event and looking at the welcome feedback received to date (see our What People Say page), it seems that the overall format worked pretty ok. The staggered start system prevents overcrowding on the route narrow sections, spreads the field out from the outset and importantly reduces the impact that large groups of runners might cause to the paths by running off path. A mass start was not practical and most people seemed to enjoy the timed lap and relay handover system; we will look at whether an earlier start is better and if there are options for increasing numbers.

The run section is very scenic, initially very fast downhill and of course has that ‘charming last mile hill’ on the return to contend with! The cycle section around Loch Morlich was fast and simple but suggestions have been made it should be longer; we will definitely look at this and balance any decision or change against our desire to attract as many standards of competitor as possible to ‘have a go’ at the Charmer rather than make it too challenging. There were reports of a couple of signs being blown over by the wind and so future events will have sturdier signage. Some good comments were made about the size and layout of the transition area and lanes. Competitors have been most complimentary about all the stewards, helpers, medical team, physio and CML staff who willingly gave their time and efforts in an amazingly enthusiastic and professional manner not just on the day but before and after the event too. Well done and thanks to Ben the Cairngorm Ranger who set up the popular Cairngorm Rummage geo cache treasure hunt for youngsters on the day. I personally apologise for both the delay in the prize giving presentation time and for some errors in the results format; no excuses … I should have been better organised beforehand and we will be next year! Thank you to those few teams who were affected by this error for their understanding and graciousness and hopefully the finalised results and prize awards are now sorted. In particular, my thanks and full congratulations on their very impressive efforts go to the overall male winners ‘Dazed and Confused’ who completed the course in an amazing time of 2:27:00 (the record now) and yet were missed out and unmentioned at the prize giving! A full list of award winners is now posted on the Results page.

The event was held in order to raise funds for the new Aviemore Community School;
a badly needed facility that will greatly benefit the growing population of the Aviemore area and hence enable the community to continue to grow and support the fantastic innovative buzz and development all around the area that so many increasing numbers of people are coming to savour in many different ways. Thanks to the support from competitors, helpers, donors and supporters the event looks likely to raise around £1500 for the community school project. Particular appreciation must be given to the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Aviemore Business Association and CairnGorm Mountain Ltd who assisted greatly with event funding. Thanks too go to Forestry Commission Scotland, SNH, other CRAGG members and local businesses and residents who gave access approval and support. The incredibly generous prizes and goody bag contents, freely volunteered services, equipment and skills and lots of other support and assistance were so kindly and freely donated and given by so many people whose names are listed on the supporter’s links page. My sincere personal thanks go to everyone who has helped in any way to make the Cairngorm Charmer event happen and be so successful in its first year. Next year's event is already on the action grid and will be held on October 25th 2008. Entry forms and details will be available in the New Year. Please continue to provide me with any comments and feedback so that we can improve and enhance the event in the future.

Once again my genuine thanks to everyone – you’ve all been so ‘Charming….’

Paul Corrigan
Event Organiser
6th November 2007