Home   News   Article

Loch Ness Beast Race participants hit by stomach bug – organisers are working with Highland Council's environmental health team to monitor the situation


By Ian Duncan



Participants in the Beast Race.
Participants in the Beast Race.

Organisers of this year’s Loch Ness Beast Race are working with Highland Council after a number of entrants fell ill.

A total of 1475 people completed the 10k event which was held at the Aldourie Castle Estate, overlooking Loch Ness, last Saturday.

However, around 95 of them have since reported symptoms typical to that of a stomach bug.

Jono Buckland, the Beast Race event organiser, said they were monitoring the situation and this was the first such incident in the event’s history.

He added: “We’re really sorry to hear that some of our Beast Race participants have fallen ill following our event. The safety of our participants, volunteers and staff is our number one priority.

“We have had 95 people out of around 1500 participants reporting symptoms typical to that of a stomach bug.

“We have been in touch with the Highland Council’s environmental health team and we’re working closely with them to monitor the situation.

“During the eight years of operating this event in the same location this is the first time we have received reports of sickness.

“We are recording all reports, monitoring any new cases and have contacted all race participants by email to make them aware of the situation.

“We are wishing all the Beast Race participants a full and speedy recovery.”

A council environmental health spokesman said: “Our service is aware of the reports that several competitors have reported illness following the Loch Ness Beast Race that took place on Saturday.

“Our service is currently investigating the reports and liaising closely with both the event organiser and the local health protection team to try and establish the potential source of illness.

“Should anyone who participated in the race feel unwell then we would advise them to contact their GP and seek their advice.”

• If anyone wants to contact the organisers, email them at info@beastrace.co.uk


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More