The Moray Marathon

The Race

History

The Moray Marathon held its first edition in April 2024, organised by Chilled Running, a Scottish events company set up specifically to give Moray, Highland and Aberdeenshire runners access to local, competitive, qualifying-standard races without the cost and travel of heading south for one. The organiser markets it as the only road marathon in the North and East of Scotland during spring, and the race carries Scottish Athletics approval, making results usable for Boston Marathon qualification and London Marathon Championship entry. From 2025, the organiser added the Chilled 20 Mile Race, described as the only 20-mile road race in the North of Scotland, which joins the marathon’s own route at the 6.2-mile mark, roughly at the College of Roseisle, and runs the same course to the finish. The organiser has stated an intention to keep the event at its current, deliberately small size, prioritising a genuinely supported experience for runners of all abilities over field growth, and supports Logan’s Fund, a Scottish children’s cancer charity, as its nominated cause. Course records stand at 2:26:50 for men, set by Adam Gray of Penicuik Harriers in 2026, and 3:01:58 for women, set by Muriel Macleod of Stornoway Running & Athletics Club in 2024, both fast times for a race in only its third or fourth running.

The course

The Moray Marathon starts and finishes at Morriston Playing Field running track in Elgin, IV30 1AW. The route leaves the track via the riverside path, runs out through Elgin on Bruceland Brae, and descends onto flat, fast country roads toward Burghead by mile 8. From there it follows the coastal road through Cummingston, Hopeman and Covesea before reaching Lossiemouth at mile 15, running along the harbour and seafront through a dedicated cheer section at Lossie Bridge, East Beach. Beyond Lossiemouth, the course runs through Oakenhead with forest on the left between miles 17 and 19, continuing toward the A96 before turning onto a cycle path at mile 23, through Cooper Park, and back to Morriston for a finishing lap of the running track itself. This is an open-roads course, not a closed-road race: traffic remains present throughout, managed by four safety cars and cycle marshals rather than full road closures. The organiser describes the course as flat and fast throughout its own marketing, but the official GPX file published on the organiser’s own site tells a more textured story: a genuine climb out of Elgin on Bruceland Brae to almost 175m by mile 1.2, a long, gently rolling middle section through the coastal villages, a sharp descent to sea level at Lossiemouth around mile 13, and a climb back up through the 60-98m range on the return leg. No numeric elevation-gain figure has been sourced, and this profile should not be published as an official statistic, but it is not the flat course the marketing alone would suggest.

Logistics Map

The map below shows the course: the loop out from Morriston Playing Field, Elgin, along the Moray coast through Burghead, Cummingston, Hopeman, Covesea and Lossiemouth, and back through Oakenhead and Cooper Park to the finish. Tap a marker for details.

Pacers

Not applicable in the standard sense. No pacer programme with named pacers or target finish times exists; instead, the race offers “Elite Support” to runners who can demonstrate a qualifying time of sub-2:40 (male) or sub-3:00 (female) within the previous 16 months: a lead bike on course and their own pre-supplied nutrition placed at aid stations. This is not a free entry and is a different mechanism from a standard pacer group, governing on-course support rather than entry itself.

What to wear

Early April on the Moray coast is generally cool, and the course’s long, exposed coastal-road stretch between Burghead and Lossiemouth offers little shelter from wind coming off the Moray Firth. The organiser bans headphones except bone-conducting models, a rule tied specifically to the course remaining open to traffic throughout rather than a blanket policy. Runners are told to bring their own nutrition, since gels are not provided on course beyond the six staffed and two unmanned water stations. Given the course closes to full medical and chip-timing support at 2:00pm, runners expecting a longer finishing time should plan clothing and nutrition for a genuinely long day out on an exposed coastal route, not just the headline marathon distance.

Entry

Entry is direct and online only, with no ballot, via entrycentral.com/moraymarathon. Online entry closes 1 April 2027 or when the event sells out, whichever comes first. The race has a genuinely unusual dual-start structure built around ability rather than a single mass start: runners expecting to finish in under 5 hours 15 minutes start together at 8:00am, while runners expecting 5 hours 15 minutes or longer are asked to email the organiser after entering and start an hour earlier, at 7:00am, specifically so they receive full aid-station and marshal support for the whole race rather than risking reduced support after the 2:00pm withdrawal of medical cover and chip timing. Registration and race-number/timing-chip collection is available the day before, Saturday 2:00pm to 7:00pm, at Morriston Playing Field, and again race morning from 6:15am to 7:30am at the same location; the organiser strongly recommends collecting the day before given limited staffing on race morning itself. “Elite Support,” a lead bike and on-course placement of a runner’s own pre-supplied nutrition, is available to runners who can demonstrate a qualifying time of sub-2:40 (male) or sub-3:00 (female) within the previous 16 months; this is explicitly not a free entry, simply enhanced on-course support. Specific 2027 entry fee has not been sourced.

Fast Runner / GFA Standards

Not applicable in the standard sense. The Moray Marathon has no GFA entry pathway for general entrants. Its “Elite Support” qualifying standards, sub-2:40 male, sub-3:00 female within 16 months, govern on-course support access, not entry itself.

Race Weekend

Expo

There is no separate multi-day expo. Race number and timing-chip collection is available the day before the race, Saturday 2:00pm to 7:00pm, at Morriston Playing Field, Haugh Road, Elgin, IV30 1AW, and again on race morning from 6:15am to 7:30am at the same venue. The organiser explicitly advises collecting the day before given limited staffing capacity on race morning itself.

Race Morning

The mass-start field, runners expecting under 5 hours 15 minutes, starts at 8:00am on the riverside path beside Morriston Playing Field track; runners expecting a longer finishing time start an hour earlier, at 7:00am, having pre-arranged this with the organiser by email. Runners are asked to line up nearer the front or back of the field depending on estimated finish time, to avoid bottlenecking in the first half mile before the course reaches open road; marked starting pens assist with this. Free parking is available nearby, with Elgin Academy on Morriston Road, a 0.4-mile walk from the start, and Lossiegreen Car Park both recommended by the organiser. Two male and two female toilets, plus urinals, are available in the Athletics Club building beside the track, with additional facilities in the leisure centre 150 m from the start; separate changing facilities exist at the same leisure centre, along with drop-bag storage, left at owner’s risk. Runners who are members of Moray Fit Life, HiLife Highland, Sport Aberdeen, More4Life, LiveBorders, Orkney, Western Isles or Argyll & Bute leisure networks can use the leisure centre facilities directly. The race uses four safety cars and cycle marshals to manage the open-traffic course; a sweeper vehicle and cyclist follow the last runners, with the vehicle able to access the course again at the mile-23 cycle path, mile 24 and mile 25 if needed. Any runner unable to continue should alert a marshal, cycle marshal, safety car or other official rather than simply leaving the course unannounced, so the race director can account for everyone. The finish is a lap of the same Morriston running track the race started beside, crossing timing pads for an official time, followed by a medal, refreshments, changing facilities, and access to nearby food and drink vendors and cafes in town.

Nutrition on Course

Six staffed drinks stations offer water along the route, supplemented by two unmanned water stations, giving hydration roughly every 3 miles across the full course. Gels are explicitly not provided on course; runners are told to bring their own nutrition for the full distance. Runners who qualify for the organiser’s “Elite Support” tier, sub-2:40 male, sub-3:00 female within 16 months, can supply their own personal nutrition up to two days before the race, which the organiser then places out at aid stations for them, a bespoke arrangement rather than a general on-course offering. The organiser asks runners to drop cups and bottles as close to aid-station drop zones as possible, or, outside those zones, only near mile markers, specifically to avoid littering the towns and villages the course runs through.

Spectating

The organiser actively encourages spectators at the start and finish, with an MC, coffee, cake, refreshments and toilets laid on at Morriston Playing Field, and names three specific recommended cheer spots along the route itself: Lossiemouth by the bridge, roughly mile 15, the end of the cycle path at mile 25.9, and throughout Cooper Park near the finish. Given the field is genuinely small, roughly 300 runners on the road per the organiser’s own spectator guidance, and the course remains open to traffic, the organiser specifically asks spectators not to drive the route themselves, to help keep the race safe.

Itinerary A: Remain at Morriston Playing Field, Elgin for the 7:00am/8:00am starts and the eventual finish, with MC entertainment and refreshments provided; this single location covers both the start and the finish, given the race is a loop returning to the same track.

Itinerary B:Drive or take a taxi to Lossiemouth, roughly a 15-minute drive from Elgin, ahead of the field’s arrival around mile 15. Watch from the designated cheer section at Lossie Bridge, East Beach, then return to Elgin in good time for the finish, given the field’s spread finishing times.

Itinerary C: Position at Cooper Park, near the finish, to see runners in the closing mile. No confirmed public transport route to Cooper Park or the mile 25.9 cycle-path point has been sourced; treat this itinerary as car or walking based only.

Post-Race Food

The organiser provides refreshments at the finish itself, alongside the medal and changing facilities, and notes nearby food and drink vendors and cafes in town without naming specific venues. No named restaurant in Elgin has been sourced with confidence for this guide.

Where to Stay

The Moray Marathon starts and finishes at the same point, Morriston Playing Field in Elgin, so there is no separate start-versus-finish trade-off; every accommodation option here is judged on proximity to that single location.

Elgin town centre

The clear practical base. The Eight Acres Hotel, on Morriston Road itself, sits closest to the start and finish of any named accommodation in this guide. The Laichmoray Hotel, a converted Victorian former station hotel on Maisondieu Road, and the Sunninghill Hotel, a five-minute walk from Elgin railway station, both put a runner within easy reach of the town centre and a short walk or drive from the start. The Mansion House Hotel, a 19th-century baronial house on the banks of the River Lossie a few minutes from Elgin’s historic centre, offers a more upscale option with its own spa and pool for post-race recovery.

Lossiemouth

Roughly 15 minutes’ drive from Elgin and passed directly by the marathon course at mile 15, Lossiemouth offers a genuine coastal alternative for runners wanting a holiday feel alongside race weekend. The Golf View Hotel, overlooking the Moray Firth and a short walk from two beaches, puts a runner directly on part of the course itself, though it requires a car for race-morning transport to the Elgin start.

Recommended areas

Booking timeline

There is no ballot for this race, so demand builds steadily through the entry window that closes 1 April 2027 or on sell-out, rather than spiking around a single results date. Elgin and the wider Moray area have limited accommodation stock compared with Scotland’s larger city marathons, so runners should book as soon as entry is confirmed, particularly for the handful of hotels closest to Morriston Playing Field such as the Eight Acres Hotel. Early April in Scotland does not carry the same bank-holiday accommodation pressure some English races see, but the region’s whisky-tourism trade means demand can still build through the spring, so booking a few months ahead rather than in race week is the sensible general approach.

See & Do

These attractions sit close to Morriston Playing Field, along the course itself, or a short drive into the surrounding Moray countryside.

Elgin Cathedral

Around 1 km (0.6 miles) from start/finish. A substantially ruined 13th-century cathedral, once known as “the Lantern of the North,” with much of its original stonework still standing. A short, flat walk from Morriston Playing Field, and a genuinely striking site for a low-effort post-race visit.

Lossiemouth beaches and East Beach

Passed directly on the course, at mile 15. The stretch of coastline the marathon route runs along at Lossiemouth, with two sandy beaches either side of the town, worth returning to the day after the race to see properly rather than mid-stride.

Speyside whisky country

Around 15-25 km (9-15 miles) from Elgin, depending on distillery. Elgin sits at the edge of Speyside, home to the highest concentration of working whisky distilleries in Scotland, including Glen Moray on Elgin’s own outskirts. A car is needed to visit properly, but the region’s defining attraction is genuinely on the doorstep.

Findhorn

Around 15 km (9.3 miles) from Elgin. A coastal village on Findhorn Bay known for its intentional community and beach, with a flat, low-effort waterfront to walk. A quieter alternative to Lossiemouth for a gentle coastal outing.

Moray Coast Trail

Runs along much of the marathon route between Elgin and Lossiemouth. A long-distance coastal path connecting the villages the marathon itself passes through; short, flat sections near Lossiemouth or Hopeman make for a manageable post-race walk without attempting the trail’s full length.

After the Race

The Moray Marathon runs in April. These itineraries stay close to Elgin, Speyside and the Moray coast, or extend further to Inverness, Loch Ness and the Cairngorms, suited to runners recovering from an open-roads coastal course.