Those who enjoyed the adventure on the Isle of Jura in 1997 may be wondering what we have in mind for the 1998 event. We have obtained permission to hold the 1998 event in a wonderful, remote and rarely visited area of the Scottish Highlands. As we said to the Elite and A teams on Jura, "beware - things may not be what they appear". This year we can promise some ‘special adventures’ for all courses and we are depending on you to enter into the spirit of the event – please trust us, don’t ask questions and don’t panic!

The organising team will do their very best to provide you with far more than just a race - this will be an adventure!

THE VENUE: The challenge begins right now. The venue is about 2 HOURS DRIVE NORTH OF GLASGOW/ EDINBURGH and 3 hours west of ABERDEEN. The exact location of the event will NOT be divulged to any competitor until 36 hours before the event. From 18.00hrs on Thursday 11^th June there will be two ways to obtain brief details of the location:

• Those with Internet access should look on web site http://www.staminade.demon.co.uk, where details will remain until after the event.
• If you are still living in the technological Dark Ages, please telephone Lowe Alpine on UK 01539 740840 (7 lines) between 18.00hrs on Thursday 11^th June -> 08.00hrs on Friday 12^th June to hear a brief recorded message. This message will be removed at 08.00hrs on Friday 12^th June and no further assistance can then be provided. Please do not jam Lowe Alpine’s switchboard during normal business hours on Friday 12^th June with questions about the event – they will not be able to assist you.

To avoid too much pressure on the two facilities described above, we would recommend that where you have friends competing in a few other teams, you should all appoint one representative who will obtain the location and then disseminate it to the other teams. If you expect to be en route to the area or on holiday in Scotland before the Thursday evening, it may be best to arrange to telephone a friend who has retrieved the information you require – we will not be able to assist you with any more clues! We realise that this makes it difficult to book accommodation for the Friday night but would prefer teams to camp at the Event Centre. We suggest that where possible you plan the Friday so that you are able to arrive at the Event Centre NOT LATER than 23.00 (if travelling by car, this means passing Glasgow or Edinburgh by 21.00hrs). We guarantee that you will all be able to make it home on Sunday night.

DON’T SPREAD THE WORD: Should you become aware of ANY ASPECT of the event by accident, we are relying on you to keep it to yourself and under no circumstances to spoil it for others by ‘spouting off’. We have spent 8 months trying to create this adventure and anyone found to be passing on this information will be disqualified, have their entry fee returned and be barred from future events.

A SPECIAL WELCOME TO FOREIGN COMPETITORS: A number of teams are making the journey from Holland, France and Switzerland to take part in the event.

TAKING THE COACH FROM GLASGOW? If you have already notified us of your wish to join a coach for transport from Glasgow Bus Station or Airport on the Friday afternoon/evening, we will be sending you details within a week. It is not too late to take up this offer, but please return the Coach Booking form (sent out with confirmation details) to us as soon as possible. Our coaches are not leaving until 15:15 and will travel a little slower than a car. If you would be prepared to offer a lift to the centre of Glasgow and expect to leave the area between 13:00 and 15:00 please tell us at the Information Desk next to Registration and we will find some way of introducing you to 'potentially stranded competitors'. Likewise, if you think the coach will not get you to Glasgow in time for your transport, please come to the same desk.

ARRIVING ON FRIDAY: Yellow LAMM signs will direct you to the parking area. The car park will not open until 14.00, so it will not be possible to park your car until then. Wherever possible please share transport with another team, as parking space is especially limited this year. Parking will be on forest roads and the later you arrive on Friday, the further it will be necessary to walk (up to 2.5KM) to the event centre and camping area. There will be no car key deposit so please keep your keys with you. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage, should an unfortunate incident occur. Do not arrive at the parking area after 23.00, as it will be closed. If you cannot make this closing time, you should camp en route and see the note below for those arriving on Saturday morning. As you enter the parking area there is a small pull in area (0.5KM walk to Event Centre), where you may drop all your kit and passengers while the driver parks the car. It will only be possible to stop here for a few seconds and so your kit should be packed and ready to ‘throw’ out of the car. It might be worth stopping a few KM before the parking area if you have any last minute packing to complete. Because of the distance involved, we suggest that you take everything you will need for the weekend to the Event Centre and only return to your cars when you wish to leave the area.

ARRIVING ON SATURDAY MORNING: We think that you will enjoy the event more if you are able to arrive on Friday. However, if this is not possible, the parking area will be open from 07.00 – 08.45 on Saturday morning. Please send us an email, a FAX or drop us a line at the address shown below, warning us that you intend to arrive on Saturday. We will try to reserve enough parking near to the Event Centre and the maximum distance you should need to walk is 0.5KM. You have been provided with a start time, based on the assumption that you will be arriving on the Friday. As it may prove difficult to arrive in time for your start if you are travelling on Saturday, we will generate a new start time for you when you are ready to start.

We have been offered a large, well-drained field in a marvellous position to use for the Event Centre and camping. Two marquees will be used for registration, sale of food/drink, tees/sweats and storage of kit while you are away on the hills. We are having a water supply piped into the field and will, as is usual at these events, provide rudimentary slit trench latrines for your convenience. You have the option to leave a ‘base camp’ tent erected throughout the weekend at the Event Centre containing spare kit. If you like the venue, you may also camp there on Sunday evening and grasp the opportunity to chill out after the event.

WILFS OUTDOOR CATERING who attend orienteering events and mountain marathons all around the UK will be present to provide a variety of food for purchase on Friday evening from about 16.00. This will include Soup, Pizza, Chilli in a bowl, baked potatoes, pasta bowl, a number of cakes and the usual brews. On Saturday morning, cereal and bacon rolls will be on the menu. A free meal is provided to each competitor on Sunday at the end of the event. Charlotte Webb could do with a few extra helpers to serve the meal on Sunday, so if you would like to help them, please telephone Charlotte on 015394 88271.

LOCAL ORGANISATION CAKE STALL: It is likely that a local group will provide a cake stall with the aim of raising funds for local causes.

YOUR OWN FOOD: If you feel there is any risk that these sources of food will not suffice for Friday night, you should supplement it with your own supplies. These are the only options available at the Event Centre, however we do hope to have a bar, selling beer and lager.

REGISTRATION will take place in one of the marquees from 17.00 – 22.00 and from 22.45 – 23.30 on Friday night. All teams arriving on Friday, must register on Friday. Teams arriving on Saturday morning may register from 07.30 – 09.00 on Saturday morning. Each team will receive 1 tyvek control card, 2 small control description poly bags and 2 special maps.

CALLING ALL DOCTORS: We realise that it would be nice to get away from the ‘day job’, however it would reassure us to be able to identify a few doctors at the mid-camp who could liaise with members of the mountain rescue in case of emergency. If you don’t mind the imposition, please make yourself known at registration.

CHANGE OF PARTNER OR COURSE: Although we have no problem with name changes, this year we would prefer teams wherever possible to remain on their original course. Should it be necessary to make a change, please do NOT telephone us. You can email, fax or write to us with this information until 6^th June. After this date, inform us of changes at registration. If a team member has changed, report to the Information Desk otherwise proceed to the desk handling the course you originally intended to run.

CONTROL CARD: Each team will receive the Day 1 control card, marked with your team number. Please fill in details in the spaces on both parts of the card.

THE MAP: Each team will receive 2 copies free. The map is a special compilation of adjoining OS 1:25000 sheets, contour interval is 10M. The normal OS vegetation symbols have been omitted for clarity. The paper is not waterproof. This is quite a large map and a suitable map bag would be between A2 and A3 size.

MERCHANDISE: Biros, indelible marker pens, suitable-sized map bags, videos of Jura 1997, the handbook "Mountain Navigation For Runners" and the number one glucose/electrolyte drink STAMINADE will all be available in the marquee. Additional maps may also be purchased.

T/SWEAT SHIRTS: Based on a photograph of the area, an atmospheric and abstract design has again been created. We hope that you will like it as much as the Jura design. It has become apparent to us over the past few events that for a number of competitors, the quality of the design now makes these garments a ‘collectors item’. The owners would like to be able to wear them for years to come and in view of this, we will experiment with some up-market, higher quality fabrics in 1998. This will by necessity be reflected in the price, but we hope that you will feel it is worth while and would value any comments you may have. The T-shirts and sweats will be available during the weekend in the marquee. Should these sell out, a mail order list will be compiled and items despatched by the middle of July.

COMPASS POINT SHOP: The mobile shop will be present at the Event Centre and provide an opportunity for any urgent last minute purchases before the event and replacement of trashed gear afterwards. Compass Point is a supplier of Lowe Alpine kit, so telephone Rick Houghton on 01253 795597 to ensure that the shop can bring whatever you will be needing.

RUCKSACK & BIKE STORAGE: You have the option to leave a ‘base camp’ tent erected throughout the weekend at the Event Centre containing spare kit. If this is not possible, one rucksack per person can be handed in at the smaller marquee on Saturday morning from 07.00. You will be given a baggage label marked with your team number. Please try to attach the number to the top of the rucksack so that when hundreds of items are stored in the marquee in team number order, labels can easily be checked when you come to collect on Sunday. Bicycles may also be left in the baggage marquee. The event centre will be manned at all times, but we cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage in the unlikely event of an incident.

(*One team member must be over 18. A letter giving parental consent must accompany the entry form)

Due to pressure on the B and C courses, a number of teams will notice that they have been placed on a new course, the BC. Most of those whose specified B and C or C and B as their two choices have been placed on the BC course.

Don’t be misled if you feel the distances are short. These are straight lines drawn between the controls, the terrain is extremely tough even by Mountain Marathon standards with plenty of climbing.

NOTES ON VETTING: All entries will be vetted for suitable experience and each team must be able to navigate in the hills. The following criteria will be used: Elite and A entries must have completed an Elite or A course at a recent mountain marathon within 150% of the winner's time. Alternatively they should have achieved a fast time in a long fell navigation race or similar event. Other impressive achievements will be considered! These courses will involve some scrambling.

B, BC, C and D entrants must have completed a course at a recent mountain marathon or long fell navigation race or alternatively have significant experience of mountaineering or long days out in the hills. We are providing a SHORT course this year but it is intended to be non-competitive and no prizes will be awarded. It is only suitable for those who have not attempted a Mountain Marathon before.

All entrants should feel capable of completing their chosen course within 150% of the winners time. Speed and fitness are important factors in mountain safety. Please do not enter this event merely with the aim of finishing a course regardless of the time taken.

COMPULSORY KIT: Each team must carry a tent with ground sheet, food for evening meal and breakfast, stove and means to produce hot food/drink, first aid kit to include wound dressings (one large), triangular bandage, roller bandage & anti-inflammatory tablets/ointments (not compulsory).

Each person must wear or carry a whistle, compass, map, pencil & paper, torch (not penlight) with spare bulb & 6 hours light, sleeping bag, survival bag (not space blanket), waterproof cagoule with hood, overtrousers, hat & gloves, tracksters/thermal bottoms, thermal vest or similar, warm thicker top, hill food for each day with a small amount of emergency rations to remain at the end of day 2. A Goretex bivi bag may be used as a sleeping bag but not as a tent. Footwear must be lightweight boots, fell running or orienteering shoes – no flat-soled trainers permitted.

Teams should be prepared for random kit checks on arrival at the midway camp and at the end of the event.

RECOMMENDED KIT: If you feel there is any risk that the water you may drink en route or at the camp sites is not pure enough, you should consider using suitable water purification tablets. This would be more significant after a period of unusually dry weather.

FORBIDDEN KIT: GPS and any Satellite Navigation device such as Magellan - altimeters are allowed.

HIND CALVING: The event takes place during the hind calving period. Should you discover a newly born calf that is apparently alone and in distress, please give it a wide berth and under NO CIRCUMSTANCES TOUCH IT. On her return, the mother is likely to reject the calf after detecting human scent.

NO DOGS: Sorry but no dogs are allowed on the courses at the request of the landowners.

DAY 1 START: Day 1 start times are between 07.30 - 09.30, as marked on the Day 1 control card. The start is a gentle 20-minute walk from the Event Centre. At the start enter the taped area when your start time is displayed. An official will take the stub section of your control card and note your team number as a safety check.

Once you have been started you should follow a taped route for a short distance to the course description issue point from where you are on your own. You are advised to use the small plastic bags provided at registration to protect the description sheet, which is not waterproof. The description sheet will give a 6 figure grid reference for each checkpoint on your course, plus a written description and code to look for at the checkpoint. The checkpoints must be visited in the order shown on the sheet.

CHECKPOINTS: Each checkpoint will be marked with an orienteering-type orange and white nylon marker. This will be sited at ground level, weighted down with rocks. Use the needle punch to mark your control card in the appropriate box. Always check the identification code letters on each marker to ensure that you have visited the correct one for your course (thereby avoiding disqualification). Some checkpoints will be manned by volunteers who will ask for your team number. Any closing times will be marked against the relevant checkpoint description and you should not expect to find a checkpoint marker if you arrive after this time.

OVERNIGHT CAMP: Please adhere to signs and protect the water source by washing downstream of the drinking water collection area. No rubbish is to be discarded on the hills or at the mid-camp. ALL rubbish MUST be carried out and taken back to the Event Centre with you on Sunday afternoon. Spot checks will be made at the finish. The mid-camp will be at an isolated location and unless you have suffered a broken limb or other severe injury there will be absolutely no chance of a lift back to the Event Centre.

DAY 2 START: There will be a chasing start for the leading teams which will begin between 07.00 – 07.30, depending on the spread of fast times. This will carry on until 07.50 and the majority of the teams will make a mass start at 08.00. Day 2 start times will not be displayed on the results board until a reasonable number of teams have completed Day 1. Day 2 Control Cards will be issued from 06.00 at the mid-camp by marshals who will collect your day 2 control card stub. Teams which retire or are disqualified on Day 1 may ONLY start Day 2 if they inform the marshal who is collecting the stubs for their course otherwise it is assumed that they are non-starters. Teams will start from a taped area close to the mid-camp. Course description sheets will be issued in the taped area. Chasing starters will receive description sheets as they start and the mass starters from 07.50.

DAY 2 FINISH – THE EVENT CENTRE: Random kit checks will be made and rubbish generated during the weekend must be displayed. A free meal will be served by Wilf's Outdoor Catering to all competitors. The prize-giving will take place nearby at around 14.00.

PRIZES: First 4 on each course, first mixed and first women's team in each class. A handicap prize will be awarded to the first veterans team where the total age of the team is 80 or more on Saturday 13^th June 1998. The handicap is based on an allowance of 1 minute per hour of running time for every 2 years of age increment over 80 years.

DAY 2 COURSE CLOSING TIME: All teams must be back by 17.00 on Sunday whether or not they have completed their course.

RETIREMENTS: Teams must hand in their control cards if they are retiring, either at the mid-camp or at the Event Centre. THIS IS THE GOLDEN RULE AND MUST BE ADHERED TO WITHOUT EXCEPTION. Failure to follow this procedure will result in the Arrochar Mountain Rescue being forced to stay in the area on Sunday evening. They have jobs to return to on Monday and will be extremely annoyed if you cause a false alarm. Any competitor so doing will be blacklisted for all future events. Should you retire and return to the Event Centre during Saturday or early on Sunday, please place your control cards in the labelled box in the marquee, otherwise hand them in at the finish funnel. It is the responsibility of competitors to make their own way back to the Event Centre and should you be unfortunate enough to retire at the mid-camp it is unlikely that we will be able to offer transport.

ACCIDENTS: Use your whistle to summon assistance from other competitors. Put the casualty in a sleeping bag or tent while someone, preferably two people, go for help. Someone should stay with the casualty at all times, although if you cannot summon help you may have to leave them on their own. Make a careful note of the grid reference, nearby features, time and nature of injuries. Telephone the 24 hour emergency phone number shown on your Control Description sheet and ask for a suitable message to be passed to the Arrochar Mountain Rescue Team who will be present all weekend.

PERSONAL SAFETY: Please be prepared for the worst possible conditions as the area is very isolated and the mountains are high and exposed to serious weather. Bear in mind that you are on your own once you have started. Although the organisers will ensure that the event is as safe as possible, your safety is ultimately your own personal responsibility, just as it is with any trip into the hills. Teams must ALWAYS stay within both visual and verbal contact of each other. Competitors should feel confident in their navigational skills, their equipment and their fitness. Consider training for this event by running on mountain terrain where possible and by practising fine map reading and compass skills.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: The event is taking place at a sensitive time of year as rare birds are nesting in the event area. We have taken part in lengthy discussions with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and RSPB, so that the event may go ahead with minimal restrictions. Representatives of SNH, RSPB and the landowners will be present during the event to observe the way events of this type operate and to determine whether the LAMM is a ‘Potentially Damaging Activity’. To safeguard the future of these events, we must all ensure that we leave these influential organisations with the right impression and this year we must ensure that our conduct on the hills is impeccable at all times. SNH and RSPB suggested that it would be good if the event was to finance a survey for rare birds over part of the event area so that in future we would be regarded as an organisation which is both environmentally aware and responsible. This survey has now taken place and as a result we have agreed some amendments to routes which will avoid sensitive areas.