The OMM The Adventure Show

There's no-one around, it's totally and utterly deserted,

not a dicky bird.

But not for long, because this is one of the best-kept secrets

in the outdoor events calendar.

Welcome to The Adventure Show.

-Whoa, there's the map gone!

-I don't think I can do anything any more.

Not long to go now before the start of the race

and over 2,500 runners from 14 different countries

are here in Comrie, Perthshire, registering for the event.

-Away!

-Charge!

-It's rough, it's tough, yeah.

-It's a test.

-It is a test.

Very soon, these hills will be alive with the sound of heavy breathing,

because this - all this -

is the location for the Original Mountain Marathon,

the toughest event of its kind,

and no-one knows where they're going until the very last minute.

You know it's going to be on the mountains, you know it's going to be 18 or 20 miles,

and you know you're going to be out for six or seven hours. That's the event.

Also in this month's Adventure Show, I'll be finding out why

these hills are an inspiration to a family of artists.

Cameron McNeish heads up one of his favourite glens to discover

the secret of taking that perfect wildlife photograph.

And Deziree joins 30 teams as they hurtle down

from the Cairngorms in handmade carts.

They rely on gravity, but the speeds they reach are amazing.

Everybody here reckons that going down that hill

and the buzz you get out of it, racing head to head, is worth the risk of breaking things.

So, we'll see if Deziree emerges in one piece later on,

but first to the Original Mountain Marathon.

By common consent, this is the ultimate test of endurance,

navigation and sheer willpower, as competitors tackle two marathons

on consecutive days in rough mountain terrain.

It's always a challenging event,

and this year the weather may make it even harder.

But that doesn't stop competitors travelling here

from all over the world.

It's our first time.

So, initially we thought we can just... I don't know,

we thought we'd just find it,

but everything looks pretty much the same here.

I've spoken to people from Belgium, from Sweden,

and they are very much charged up.

A big bowl of Scottish porridge, which is great.

We are running a little bit late.

We might have to maybe ignore some of the checkpoints.

Love to stop for tea but we've got to get going.

I bet you're glad you got this job today!

It's 7.30 in the morning of the first day

and you can feel the excitement building here

as the competitors get ready to be bussed to the start of the race.

'How are you feeling about the race, guys?'

It's raining, so, we're very happy about this.

This was our worst case scenario, I think.

We went out for a training session a couple of weeks ago and I think reality set in then,

on, er...

how much training we haven't done for this.

The Original Mountain Marathon - or OMM as it's known - is just that.

Founded in 1968, it's the first of its kind.

The rules are simple - teams of two carry all their clothing,

equipment, and food, for two days on the hill,

including their overnight camp.

And there's a strong tradition here in self-sufficiency.

Outside help is banned, and you can't use modern gadgets like a GPS.

That's why competitors love the OMM.

You caught me looking my best, I'm not lost yet.

It's the first time the event's come to Highland Perthshire

and the steep ground here will prove a real challenge.

As ever, the choice of route will sort out

the winners from the rest of the field.

But this is the event where the real fun is just taking part.

-Come on!

-That was a hard one.

'It's good Scottish weather for us.'

Not like the soft English weather we had last year.

It's just minutes to go, and although the racers have been

taken to the start line at St Fillans, still no-one knows

where they're going once they're through the starting gate.

It's a closely guarded secret till the very last moment.

Only now are competitors being given this information.

You don't get the map until now, so there's no planning you can do, really.

-It looks awesome, really, really good.

-Lost already!

-And the weather looks terrific.

It's a staggered start

and many competitors are still thinking about where they'll go.

Not quite sure how we're going to do it yet,

but it's going to be trying to stay on the high features.

'The teams behind me are frantically planning their route before setting off.

'Weather conditions have closed in,'

so navigation's going to be tricky.

It's really claggy and it's just hosing it down now.

Much the same as usual - tough!

The plan always changes within a few minutes.

-Looking forward to the race, guys?

-Er, yeah, very much so.

Certainly looking forward to finishing it.

-Good luck.

-Thanks.

HORN HONKS

Just as long as we both manage to keep together, I'm sure we'll be fine.

-Work out how to use the spinning thing.

-Yeah.

-Is this weather going to be a challenge for navigation?

-Er, yes.

It'll suit those that can navigate.

Morning. You all right?

-Hello.

-How are you?

-Good, how are you?

Excited, wet, cold, nervous... Where are we?

-Fully psyched?

-Yeah.

How is the course looking?

-Er, oh, I don't know, I haven't looked!

-Hilly.

Not as far as last year but probably still quite hard.

-Yeah, hillier, steeper...

-And it's not very nice weather.

-Good luck.

-Sweet, take it easy, guys.

There are seven different categories in this year's race

and over 2,000 competitors will be spread all over the hills.

This is one of the most popular events in the racing calendar,

but with extreme conditions like these the norm,

why do competitors return year after year?

We like conditions like this.

-You do like it?

-Yeah.

Yeah, we like it when it's misty and wet.

-We're disappointed it's not snowing.

-Why do you like it?

-It makes it harder for everybody.

-More challenging, I think.

You come here to challenge yourself so you may as well be challenged.

So you don't want it to brighten up, then?

No, we want it to be like this all night long, all day long.

Yeah, it'll be good.

Our camera team might not agree with that.

What makes you keep coming back?

I don't know!

That's a good question!

It's good to stretch yourself sometimes.

I keep thinking, "I'm too old to do this," but I keep coming out.

So far we are just fine.

Right, let's go.

'There's been some pretty horrific ones,

'where it's been either very windy or very wet'

and you just lay in your tent overnight and you're wet and cold,

and you can't wait for it to finish.

But then other times it's absolutely glorious

and, you know, you can't... Being out there all by yourself,

you know, you're given a challenge, it's great.

One of Scotland's top fell runners is Colin Eades.

Normally he'd be competing,

but this year he's volunteered to help with the marshalling.

He'll be our eyes and ears on the hill throughout the event.

It's a misly, rainy day, but that's what these guys have come for -

they want to test their navigation skills, survival skills,

in the worst the weather can throw at them,

so hopefully most of these guys

will actually be relishing the challenge that this brings.

Out on the hill, the elite racers are nearly halfway through today's course.

They've been running for over three hours

and the three leading teams have reached this checkpoint together.

Douglas Tullie is running with John Rocke.

Tom Owens is with Alasdair Anthony,

and Steve Birkinshaw has joined forces with Jethro Lennox.

'A whole group of the teams have got together and running in a bunch.

'They're all very similar matched in terms of fitness.'

They're just racing hard against each other,

but it's getting away in these weather conditions, very difficult.

It takes a lot of confidence to go a different way from everyone else.

-Hi there.

-Hi there. All right?

-Yep.

'We got in a good group.

'There was a couple of other teams, we were all working together,'

but I think we were probably going a bit too fast for some of the guys

cos at the steep climb

'everyone was really struggling up that.

'But we managed to keep it together.'

'Hopefully there's some interesting legs where navigation

'allows more than one route to be a similar in term of speed,

'so they can try and go a different route, maybe push a bit harder

'and get the edge, get through a couple of minutes earlier.

'With weather conditions like this, with the cloud down,

'you could sneak through a control without the others seeing them

'and just get away at that point, but you do need to have spread out'

a little more than they were when they came through that checkpoint.

While the fastest elite competitors have barely stopped on their way through,

others find time to grab a drink and check their maps.

Good old Scottish river water.

All right, mate, follow the watercourse down to the track on the reservoir corner.

It's pretty good, cold and damp - I'll be honest - but, er...

Hey, it's checkpoint five - we're half way down, aren't we?

Another five to go.

It's tough going on the ground, there's no tracks,

it's heavy tussocks, it's pretty hard going. The sunshine helps, though.

How's it going?

-Not bad, not bad.

-Cold.

How's the mist, is it...?

Lots of bog-trotting.

Could do with some running, really, you know.

Fingers crossed.

Different muscles, easier on the legs.

Right, we're going across the dam, are we?

Well, no-one's approached us from that direction.

No, that was just poor route choice. We did exactly what we wanted.

-That was good route choice! We're ahead, we're sure of it.

-OK.

-You're the first to arrive from that direction.

-We went wrong, precisely.

This race is about far more than who are the fastest hill runners.

Each team decide the best route between checkpoints

and it isn't always the obvious line.

I reckon we bag these two because they're so close together

and then we'll be able to get on that path.

We're having to use a compass a lot more than just going for points

and stuff, so yeah, it's a bit more tricky.

Quite challenging today with the mist.

It needs a lot more concentration from one minute to the next

in keeping an eye on the lie of the land.

As soon as you get a glimpse of features that you can recognise,

you have to locate yourself as accurately as possible,

but it's a good day.

Ooh, beautiful! I'm so glad we got lost(!)

We didn't find the point three, but now I think, finally,

we've got a strategy to find the next one -

just walking in the right direction.

Yes, that worked pretty well. So my partner is just coming down.

It's our first time so initially, we thought we can just...

I don't know, we thought we'd just find it,

but everything looks pretty much the same here

so we are now heavily relying on our compass and that works pretty well.

Yes, the fog makes things more difficult.

We just climbed that!

-Did you mean to?

-No, we meant to come here.

So, a bit of a pain,

but the weather and the visibility is making it quite difficult.

And yeah, I think I'm wet from the waist down,

and most of that has gone in mud and bog and pretty much everything.

Oh, we are going up! Oh, right. Bye.

Well, we've managed not to get lost, which is unusual.

-There's plenty of time yet, though.

-For everything to go horribly wrong.

I'm sure we'll end up in a loch or wandering aimlessly round the hills.

It's amazing to see so many smiling faces.

Many would think these conditions are soul destroying,

but it's not always like this.

When the skies are clear, it is beautiful here

and it's a landscape that provides inspiration for a local family

who've all become artists with an eye for the unusual.

To most people, this would be a pile of scrap, but to Heather Cumming,

this is the inspiration to create artwork, isn't it?

Yes. Yep, most of the time!

Sometimes you blindly look at it and wonder why, but...

-So you create art from this?

-I do indeed.

I like pieces like this cos they're almost like sort of bones.

Here, for example, I see this as being a strap for a gate,

which I'm guessing what it was.

-Yes, it was indeed.

-What do you see it as?

I would use it maybe in the back of a vulture

or the bottom of a belly of something.

There's lots of things you could do with that.

For generations, this has been the village blacksmith's

in Keltneyburn near Aberfeldy.

Heather's father worked here and her mother trained as a fine artist.

She has taken inspiration from both.

It was only just, almost by accident, that she came along

and had a go at this and decided it was something she could do,

and just got stuck in and has been here ever since.

-And what was that like for you?

-Um, interesting at the beginning.

No, she's very good and she gave me a lot of inspiration as well,

especially the fact that she started so young.

I mean, she was only 18. She was full of life, you know,

full of youth and enthusiasm and...

I think at the stage where you want to kind of change the whole world,

and she certainly turned us upside down!

But it was good fun and it's been good for all of us.

My husband joined the business last year, which is very exciting,

and we kind of thought he would do more practical things like my dad,

sort of gates and railings and things, but actually he's rather artistic, as well.

I was out here most nights after work, watching Heather work away

and just started playing about with the stuff too and found

that I maybe had a wee spark for it as well, and really enjoyed it.

The inspiration you can pull out of things -

it's amazing what actually triggers you off. It's really good.

Sometimes, maybe, you'll have a day that you can't think of what to make

so you'll go and rummage round the scrap heap and, you know,

find something that will inspire you to make

a particularly different animal to what you were thinking

in the first place.

I'm just intrigued, for example, how does a couple of radiators and a bit of a bike

become a black-faced ram?

I don't know. Somewhere up here it just ends up that way.

I mean, the racing handlebars are quite a good sort of...

idea of rams' horns, so yeah, I guess that's where it came from,

and with using them, I kind of thought

"Well, why not put the seat and the pedals on, as well, and make it a racing sheep?"

Is humour quite important to your work?

Yeah, very much so with what I do. And I love to make people laugh.

When someone walks in and sees what I've made

and has a little chuckle, it makes me really happy with what I've achieved.

Take me through the process of creating something.

Is it kind of fairly physical?

Yeah, it can be, actually. Heavy lifting and things.

But I quite like it for a challenge.

And the actual welding bit of it is obviously a big part of it.

Yeah, you burn yourself a lot.

I go to the hairdresser and she laughs

because I've got short bits in my hair because sparks land in my hair all the time!

And you've always got to wear your trousers over your boots

because otherwise the sparks go in your boot, it's a nightmare!

-You don't want that.

-No, you don't because you're hopping around like mad!

Would you have had imagined that when you first started here

as a blacksmith that your business would be doing this?

Never. No. I thought I would be a plodding blacksmith all my life,

and just how it has completely changed.

It's a great feeling. I just picture it where it is and weld it up.

We'll be back in Highland Perthshire catching up with all the action

from the Original Mountain Marathon shortly, but right now

we're off to The Cairngorms to join Cameron McNeish for his wild walk.

This is Glen Feshie and later in the programme, I'll be meeting

one of Scotland's most exciting wildlife photographers.

Someone who's chosen to make his home here.

But before that, I'm going to take a walk up to a historic ruin

at the head of this, one of my favourite glens.

This isn't going to be one of my normal wild walks where I go

and wander round the high tops.

It doesn't look very nice up there today. It's probably raining

and probably snowing, and very, very windy.

But I don't mind because a walk through Glen Feshie

is always a delight.

To wander into an area like this with the ancient pines,

a tumultuous river like this one, the River Feshie,

and I just kind of enjoy being in the woods for a change.

There's a long history of people living and working here in Glen Feshie.

During the 18th and 19th century, many people were employed,

extracting timber from the glen and floating it down the River Spey.

That's an industry that continued right past the First

and the Second World Wars, and today, you can find big areas like this one

that are completely devoid of trees.

There's a very encouraging trend in land management in Scotland

to try and allow the regeneration of our indigenous trees

like the Scots Pine, and here in Glen Feshie, the management techniques

are really bearing fruit because we see little trees like this

sprouting through the ground all around us, and all quite naturally.

You know, I've always been an advocate of the high places,

but now and again, I love to come down here

and just take a wander through the streets of the pines.

And each tree itself is deeply anchored.

It's sort of rust red on its bark and sometimes looking up at them

they give me the impression of being like the masts of big, billowing sailing ships,

They're lovely.

But the best thing of all is there's a kind of sense of timelessness here.

If you consider these trees are between 2-300 years old,

that's only 30 generations of trees.

It would take us right back to the Ice Age.

In the 18th century, there were quite a number of dwellings here in upper Glen Feshie

and Queen Victoria would often travel round from Balmoral to visit,

and she described Glen Feshie as "The Jewel in the crown of the Cairngorms".

There's not much left of these dwellings now.

This is one of the few structures that remain.

And this is the old chimney stack of one of the buildings

and it's said that the famous artist, Sir Edward Landseer, came here,

and this is where he painted his famous painting, Stag At Bay,

which is probably one of the most familiar paintings of the Scottish Highlands.

And it's said that he'd drawn a number of frescoes

on this chimney stack. Frescoes that unfortunately vanished

about 30 or 40 years ago and this is all that's left

of what Queen Victoria once described as "the dining bothy".

I'm heading back down the glen now to meet a wildlife photographer

who has moved from England to live and work here in the Cairngorms.

Peter Cairns has promised to share some of his secrets of taking stunning images,

and also introduce me to some of Glen Feshie's wilder residents.

So join me for that later in the programme.

Back on the hill and it's painfully clear that running into rain like this is not easy.

A twisted ankle, with no outside help, in a remote location,

could have serious consequences, so having the right kit is essential.

I have a spreadsheet where I put everything in,

so usually the food will be the heaviest thing I'm carrying,

so the tent's down at 700 grams, the sleeping bag's down at 500,

but I'll be carrying about 1.8 kilos of food at the start,

and I should be coming to the finish with no food at all.

Competitors pare everything down to a minimum to try and maximise

their speed on the hill. Rucksack, sleeping bag and waterproof clothing

are all essential, but one of the most psychologically important items

is food - and each team have their own favourites.

-Flapjack.

-Marzipan and a rocket fuel flapjack, home-made.

-Look at that. Wouldn't you be tempted?

-Yes, I am, yeah(!)

I haven't eaten yet really, so...

I think it's time to whack on some chocolate, yeah.

Rice Krispie Squares - fantastic!

You've got a small water bottle. Are you replenishing it as you go?

One bottle goes with me. It'll have an electrolyte in it. A weak electrolyte solution

to make sure I'm getting plenty of salts on,

and in actual fact, that cup, which is also my cooking cup,

will go on top with the windshield over the top of the jet burner.

At the end of the day, that actually goes on my belt,

so they'll be through my rucksack belt and when we stop at a stream,

I'll refill that and we'll both have a drink as we cross the stream

and, once we've had enough, we'll chuck it away,

and we might replenish the water bottles, but again, it's weight saving.

There's plenty of streams, especially up here.

Competitors in the Elite class are making good progress, with two teams in particular ahead of the field.

Douglas Tullie who's running with John Rocke, and Tim Higginbottom

who's with Chris Near, seem to have covered the most ground.

Tim's done some fantastic training. He's built a fantastic conservatory at home.

But the running side of it, his legs haven't done an awful lot

in the last few weeks, so you know...

and I had long races in the summer

and I've not really done a lot since,

so it's all been a little bit last minute in terms of training and that.

Working out exactly who is ahead is difficult at this stage

because of the staggered start.

Also in contention are Jethro Lennox and Steve Birkinshaw.

They're previous winners of the OMM and eating up the miles today,

but the conditions are grim and Steve's finding it hard going.

Just wet underfoot and just saps you, you know.

I had a bad patch and got a bit better

but then I was just sort of...

Lots of sliding around and stuff as well, I bet?

Yeah, I mean, Jethro was awesome.

The Elite course is the longest and hardest.

For those on the shorter courses, the end of day one is in sight.

Lovely weather!

And, with relieved legs, they tackle the last few miles to the campsite.

Mega! Better than Christmas!

-I've had enough for the day.

-Yeah!

Looking for a nice spot to pitch our tent.

Er, sole fell off about 3K away, something like that.

-Have you run in your socks?

-Yeah. Well, one sock. I've got the other one on so I can contour.

And he's still faster than me anyway!

-Hi!

-Beautiful day for it!

Perfect Scottish weather!

Finally, the last one of the day. Yeah, not bad. A few navving errors

but the weather's been like this so it was ace.

Not a dry spot on us but no injuries.

Oh, fantastic!

We're here at the finishing line for the first day of the event

and waiting for the Elite teams to come through.

Some of the other classes are coming through

and by all accounts the weather has been foul.

It's really bad down here but I think it's been really cold, wet and windy up on top,

so some very bedraggled-looking runners

who are now going to a very wet campsite and a very wet tent.

The weather was abysmal.

It absolutely cut through you on the top of the hills and things, yeah.

-Is it much windier up there?

-Yeah.

-Oh, yeah.

-I lost my map twice.

-I had to do some heroic dives to catch it!

-Chasing it down cliffs!

Very tricky navigation in all the mist and the rain on the tops.

We got kind of lucky with about control six, seven?

Yes, we sort of hit on it.

Coming down, and it was just...

Through all sorts of peat hags on a long bearing,

and we got within about 200 metres.

It's either skill or a bit of a flukey one, that one!

It was really good.

Enjoyable. As much as it was wet and a little bit cold, but it was good.

-Ooh, I'm so tired. Aah! Aah!

-It's his first one.

Was it good though? Enjoyable?

-For him!

-No, you did it.

It'll be brilliant in hindsight when you're all dry,

and you've had a nice hot meal, and a shower.

-Ooh!

-Fantastic!

-Yeah.

First back for the Elite competitors are Tim Higginbottom and Chris Near.

They've taken just over six hours to complete today's course.

Because of the staggered start, they'll have to wait to find out

their exact position, but they're pleased with progress.

Wet. Tough out there.

There's a fair bit of water and God knows how many times

we fell over today, but it's quite nice to be here.

So there were some very good runnable bits to start off with.

Very unrunnable bit in the middle there. Very tough section.

A long, long distance between the controls.

Slow speeds, which is demoralising, but you've got to keep going.

-Just keep plugging away.

-Yeah.

-We're taking the rest of the day off.

-Yeah.

-We're definitely not running today.

-No.

-That's it.

We're going in to have some food and drink, and some sleep.

Next in for the Elite are Steve Birkinshaw and Jethro Lennox,

and their time is quicker.

They've done it in just under five hours, forty minutes.

A great time but they've also found it arduous.

It's really hard on your feet. You start cramping up a lot.

Towards the end, you're really cramping up.

You don't normally cramp up after just five, six hours of running,

but just because all day you're sinking in the bogs and your muscles are really under pressure,

so that was the hardest thing towards the end of the day.

Yeah, cramping up.

Dread falling in a bog and your whole legs go into spasm,

and you think, "Oh, no!"

But that's not the end of the day's work.

Now they must pitch their tiny tents before they can get

even a little bit of comfort.

Experienced fell runner Colin Eades knows just how hard this is.

They're all coming into the campsite, trying to get tents up

as quickly as possible when they reach this overnight camp,

because, as soon as you stop running,

that cold and wet that you've been fighting off

disappears and now it's a race against time to get into your tent,

into your sleeping bag, and get food started to get yourself any comfort

you can get at this point in time.

Tea and coffee, plenty of it, I think, is our plan at any rate.

-And couscous.

-And couscous? Is that cos it's easy to cook?

It's easy to cook so all you've got to achieve is to boil some water, and we think we can achieve that.

So if we can boil some water, we can make couscous.

It's quite light to carry and it's reasonably filling, so that's why we've got loads of it.

So I've got some soup and there's some hot chocolate,

and then some curry and then some sweeties.

What's the plan from now on?

Food, sleep. Just eat constantly.

What sort of foods are you going for?

Dehydrated curry.

-OK.

-And best of all, malt loaf with custard.

-Oh, that sounds delicious!

I'd have that for tea normally, I think!

Your shoes are pretty wet. Are you putting these back on tomorrow?

That, for me, would be the worst part of it!

Getting up out of a slightly damp sleeping bag and putting all this wet kit back on again.

I suppose in the scheme of things, that thing of putting wet socks on

is pretty small, really, compared to the general suffering!

-But you're still smiling.

-Aye, yeah. That's cos we've got here.

-Yeah.

We're just trying to dry off first.

We've picked up the water from the stream.

The next thing to do will be to cook, eat, drink all our powders

and gels or whatever, then basically get whatever dry we've got on,

get in sleeping bags and get some sleep.

It's now 4.30 in the afternoon here at the campsite at the end of the first day

and we've just found out from the marshals that the leading team,

Jethro Lennox and Steve Birkinshaw, have actually just been disqualified.

We're not sure if that's a final decision yet

but if it is that's a really huge blow for those guys.

Towards the end there were two controls quite close together, very close together.

They're on separate features. One's in a sort of valley,

the other's in a stream.

The weather we've had today, there's water everywhere,

so there's obviously the possibility of some confusion,

and some teams have gone to the wrong one.

Now, each control has a separate code and the competitors know

which code they should be looking for

and therefore they shouldn't go to the wrong one,

but at the end of a long race, the brain isn't functioning

quite so well as it should - bad weather - so we'll have a chat

later on to see if there's any discretion that we can make.

It was a hard decision

and the judges couldn't completely make up their minds.

Disqualification was the obvious choice, but in the end,

they said that, for the moment at least, Steve Birkinshaw and

Jethro Lennox would have a 30-minute penalty for missing the checkpoint.

A final decision would be made at the end of the race.

That means the final time for Steve Birkinshaw and Jethro Lennox

at the end of day one is six hours, nine minutes, and one second.

It's pushed them down into fourth place.

Shane Ohly and Duncan Archer are lying in third place

with a time of 6:07:57,

with Douglas Tullie and John Rocke just a few seconds faster.

But now, out in the lead are Tim Higginbottom and Chris Near,

who completed the day in 6:01:38.

So with just eight minutes separating the top four,

everything is set up for an exciting race on day two.

It's now quarter to seven in the morning and dawn is just breaking.

Our runners have probably had a pretty uncomfortable night here

at a cold, wet camp, and now they're just preparing for their second long, hard day in the hills.

-How are you feeling today?

-A bit sore, like.

-Pretty good, I think.

-We're stoked to the challenge.

-Good luck, guys, thanks.

-Cheers.

We had these inflatable beds. A lot of people sleep on the floor

and we had inflatable beds. Another 200 grams, but worth it.

You've done so many of these, you know, you just get on with it

and come out the other side.

-They're all pretty miserable.

-Yeah.

But...this was very miserable because it was very wet and windy

And it got quite cold in the night, but like Tim said,

we're used to it and we've tweaked our kit over the years

and actually we're quite comfortable now.

-It's all relative. There's comfort and comfort...

-Yeah.

-You're not comfortable but...

-I fancy a bit of comfort now!

-Yeah!

Given that it was 15 hours in a tent, it didn't feel like 15 hours

so we must've slept at some point along the way, but er...

-How are you feeling about today?

-Psyched. Pretty keen, yeah.

Not long. It's only a few hours and then back to the grind, you know,

-so I think it'll be all right.

-So far, so good.

And you're both looking remarkably fresh this morning for having

spent the night in a very wet, cold camp by all accounts?

It was. It might be wet but I think, compared to previous OMMs, it wasn't

that cold, and the ground was nice and damp, it was nice and level.

-Do you feel like you've still got lots of energy for today?

-Oh yes, definitely.

-Brilliant! You could just keep going all week could you?

-Yes. Oh, yes.

-We'll try!

So, as the racers start another long, hard day in the hills with a second marathon ahead,

we're taking a short break to head into slightly better weather,

and Deziree's about to try her hand at a completely different sport.

It's young, it's home-grown, it's cartie racing.

Everybody here is not a fair cross-section of the population.

Everybody here has to have some degree of eccentricity or lunacy,

depending on your viewpoint, to start with.

The thrill outweighs the risk.

Here I am in Aviemore.

It's Friday night, I'm out and about in the hills, as you can see,

but I've got a slightly unusual evening ahead of me.

I'm up here with the Cairngorm Soapbox Extreme Team

and have just been introduced to my trusty steed for the evening, The Bandit.

This is the third year for this extraordinary event,

where competitors hurtle down the Cairngorm ski road in handmade carts,

And it's fast - the top speed last year was over 60 miles an hour.

Tonight it's time for the practice runs.

The race begins in earnest tomorrow.

I'm feeling a bit nervous.

It sounds like we're going to be going downhill really, really fast.

Just be very careful into the first S bend, the Switch.

It's a very tight right-left,

so brake hard into that one,

keep your speed on. No brakes through the flatlands,

and when you get to the end of the flatlands, tight in off the flatlands

and the speed will drop off down the Sugarbowl, then your speed will pick up and just keep going for it.

-I've got to remember I don't have an accelerator.

-If you get into bother,

-you don't have an accelerator.

-I just have a brake.

-Yeah.

-No clutch either?

-No clutch.

-OK.

You've only got brakes and your steering.

Racing cart 12.

Tally ho!

'Just looking around, all these other carts look...

quite high-powered. I'm sure mine is going to be absolutely fine.

It looks like a reliable, solid...

..piece of equipment.

Racing 16.

This helmet is really heavy. I can't hear very much.

And you won't be able to hear my screams.

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, it's going to be great!

OK, releasing number one, and this is the last cart.

Woo-hoo!

You're right on the limits. This year we're breaking records again.

You're getting towards the Holy Grail, which is like 70 miles an hour.

It was 60 miles an hour a couple of years ago,

it's now up to 70 miles an hour, so that's where everybody wants to be.

And this course is... There's nothing else in the UK like it.

It's technical. It's not a straightforward drag race. You've got to have your wits about you

and it can be very, very fast and very interesting at times.

The racing part of it is actually

the smallest part of it, in terms of what the teams are doing.

They spend hours, days, weekends, entire weeks, months,

in sheds building these things, and the race is two days.

It's not even two days, it's two evenings.

So it can't be to do with the racing,

it must be to do with the engineering and the challenge

and the fun of building something you are going to throw yourself down a hill at 70 miles an hour.

There's literally thousands of pounds in some of these carts.

We have 26-inch wheels. Most people have 10 or 12-inch wheels.

I think nearly every person has come up to us today

and told us our wheels are too big and that they're going to bend or break.

Some of us are professional engineers, a lot of us aren't.

And what you find is, when somebody brings a new cart,

everybody sort of swarms round it and you're just trying to see

how they've done things and you start thinking, and...

You know? It's an evolving sport.

The speeds increase as people find that these hubs are better

and these wheels are better,

and then they tell everybody else - everybody else fits the new gear.

I'm at over 70 on that last one.

70.31 according to the GPS speedo.

It feels very, very quick. I reckon I could go quicker

but I think the main limiting factor at the moment is bottle.

I haven't got enough bottle.

That was such a hoot. I went far too cautiously down the first bit

and actually lost too much speed,

so next time I'm really going to go for it, I think.

I ended up having to kind of push with my foot

and then a couple of young lads came and helped me out

and shoved me off down the hill a little bit.

As you can see behind me

the competitors are making some last-minute adjustments

to their carties and getting ready for tonight's races.

It's going to be a bit different this evening,

because there'll be four competitors at any one time on the road.

So as well as just thinking about your own driving,

you have to think about people around you,

which is going to be a little bit more intimidating, I think.

It's kind of slow in, fast out.

Not fast in because that's just how you're going to have an accident.

You should be faster. You should be taking more risks. You're too tame.

Don't worry about bending the cart. Get after it, get down there.

Quicker - you're too slow!

If you're not in front, then let the others go through the Switch,

cos that's the really tricky bit. You may get through yourself OK,

but if someone else is side-on then you may end up hitting them and you don't want that.

And if you're in the front, keep your eyes open. But you have to hope for the best.

If someone's behind you, hope they'll avoid you cos you can't see where they are.

This is one of the tougher races in the circuit because it's the fastest.

This is the fastest, steepest, longest - everything-est.

And it's the only one in the country that does four carts head-to-head,

which makes it even more interesting.

SHE LAUGHS

Just really surreal.

15 way out in front already.

-Oh, they're miles ahead of me already!

-Go on, Deziree,

faster, faster!

The other three getting way ahead. You're number one in your cart

but somehow I don't think you'll be number one down today.

At the top of the course, all eyes are on last year's winner,

number 30, Stephen Thomas. He's in the black and white cart.

Further down, and he's way out in front,

and that looks very quick indeed.

Top speed 70 miles an hour.

I cracked 64 last year and I was trying for 70 this year

and I got it.

A second win for Stephen Thomas, but how's Deziree doing?

Hmm, maybe just a wee bit slower. But she is down in one piece.

I think I came last but I don't mind because I had a brilliant time,

loved my little cartie and I met brilliant people.

Definitely coming back again because it's a really nice vibe, and I might even take my own cartie next time.

'But back to a more usual form of transport - two feet -

'and I'm just down the road from Deziree.

'I'm on my way to meet a wildlife photographer

'who's chosen to make his home here in Glen Feshie.

'He's captured breathtakingly powerful images

'in far-flung corners of the world, but here in Scotland

'he seems to concentrate on wider environmental themes,

'and that's why I'm interested in the work of Peter Cairns.'

-Hi, Pete.

-Hi, Cameron.

-How you doing?

-Good to see you.

How did you end up in a fantastic place like this?

Well, it is a long story, and I won't bore you with it,

but, in essence, I had a business and sold it.

Eight months later, I ended up here.

A convoluted set of circumstances - you don't want to know.

-What kind of business was it?

-Haulage business.

-That's a bit different!

-It couldn't be more far removed, I guess.

What are going to show me? Let's go for a wander, shall we?

-I thought we could perhaps have a look at our local red squirrels if you like.

-Fantastic.

A bit of pine forest in the back there. So, yeah, we'll get going.

I take lots of photographs through the course of a day

and I tend not to hang around. But, you know,

I've been with wildlife photographers and you guys seem to be happy

to sit around for hours waiting for wildlife to appear.

I don't think I've got that sort of patience.

Well, I think it's not through choice, to be fair.

I think there's a lot of wildlife photographers,

myself included, who you wouldn't necessarily look upon as patient, but it is a necessity.

It's not the Serengeti here and you do have to work really, really hard to get your shots.

Maybe patience is not the word, but tenacity is certainly something that is needed,

and, yeah, a lot of people haven't got that

or aren't prepared to invest that sort of time and energy.

So what have we got here, Pete?

Effectively what we have is a wooden box in the middle of the forest! It's my squirrel hide,

or one of them, and it's put here, you know, it's in position because of the light,

the viewpoint, the background. And what I do

is put out food every day - have done for probably about ten years -

and the squirrels become used to it, it becomes a routine for them.

So they know to come here every day, and that's how you get shots.

I think there's a little guy over there.

-OK.

-Let's get inside...

-Sure.

-..and he might come closer.

Ah, here we are. He should go to the food. Yeah.

-Oh, great!

-He knows where it is.

-Yeah. Oh, that's perfect.

And you can see that lovely pose of the squirrel

with the tail coming back over the head

and ear tufts up in the winter.

It's always best if you photograph them in the winter.

-That's just perfect.

-Yeah.

-They're such beautiful creatures, aren't they?

-Yeah.

They've got these lovely engaging eyes -

those big, black, beady eyes which catch the light,

so from a photographer's point of view

-they are really a perfect subject.

-Yeah.

You're showing me a couple of photographs on the computer.

-Tell me the stories behind the photographs.

-Yep, sure.

-Well, this first one...

-That's great.

I'm a great fan of just sort of simple graphic images, really.

I'm a great fan of silhouettes.

This was a really fantastic morning on Loch Insh just down the road.

Whooper swan that winter here from Iceland, just caught at dawn

standing on the frozen loch with the sun coming up through the mist.

-Quite sort of non-Scottish in a way.

-It could be anywhere.

-It's almost got a Japanese feel to it.

-Mmm.

Yes, this is a...

-A pine marten.

-A pine marten, yeah.

One of the things that I tend to concentrate on now

is species, and/or landscapes,

or issues, shall we say,

where there is a kind of a human-wildlife dynamic.

By dynamic, it often means conflict.

Pine martens are a case in point. These are still rare animals

but are much more numerous now

than they were perhaps even ten years ago.

But, of course, they're a predator

and they're at a number where they're starting to have,

in some cases, an impact on prey species and that would include

other rare species like red squirrel and capercaillie, for example.

So I love pine martens, I love photographing them, but, for me,

it's the back story that motivates me to go after a species like this.

And ditto Scottish wildcat.

This is again a slightly controlled situation.

It's a free-living cat

but it's a cat that was released into the forest around here.

I ended up baiting it in over a number of months with roadkill rabbits,

and it got to the stage where I could kind of almost predict

where it was going to be and when.

It allowed me to get an unusually wide coverage

on what is normally a very, very elusive animal.

So can you define your work?

What is the sort of end purpose of you going out and taking photographs?

Is it to sell a pretty picture or is it something wider than that?

Yeah, I've got to put food on the table, of course,

and there's an element of commercialism to it inevitably,

but I think what photography can do is tell people a story

and the human condition has always been receptive to having stories told to them.

I've not got a particular bent towards red squirrels

or pine martens or golden eagles or whatever,

but what I do care passionately about is ecosystem health, if you like.

And that sounds again pretty worthy,

but unless we get this stuff right, you know,

this river's not going to be healthy for ever and ever,

these mountains are going to start crumbling, and you know, erosion and all that sort of stuff.

So I suppose the message, if there is one -

I'm a bit wary about standing on a pedestal saying, "This is the message," -

is one of ecological health, because...

And you don't have to be interested in conservation to care about

the cleanliness of our river and the quality of our air,

and that's kind of the message, really.

-This wooden box is the buzzard feeding station.

-Right.

There is a greater awareness of wildlife than there ever has been,

but equally there is this alienation from nature as more and more people live an urbanised existence.

And so I think what photography does

is reaches an audience that perhaps the written word,

and certainly the scientific written word, just simply can't.

But the two are not mutually exclusive, they can work hand-in-hand,

and, really, what I'm trying to do is fuel that process -

to feed that shift in societal behaviour, if you like, in my small way.

Welcome back to day two of the OMM.

The Elite racers have been set off in the order they finished yesterday -

the fastest team started first.

As they head through an early checkpoint,

yesterday's leaders, Tim Higginbottom and Chris Near, are out in front.

But Steve Birkinshaw and Jethro Lennox,

who had a 30-minute penalty added to their time, have been having an incredible morning.

They've virtually made up all the deficit

and they go through this checkpoint just a few seconds behind the leaders.

A minute later Duncan Archer and Shane Ohly have also made up time

and are now in striking distance of the first two pairs.

D63.

But there's still a question mark

over whether Jethro Lennox and Steve Birkinshaw will ultimately be disqualified

for missing that checkpoint on day one.

We made a holding decision last night

to let the team that's in dispute carry on,

and I think I just need to do some more thinking

before we reach a final decision on how to handle it.

It feels quite political, I suppose, in some respects?

Is this quite an important decision for you to make today?

I feel very uncomfortable about it, and it's so hard,

especially in the evening of the Saturday when everybody's tired,

to really think things through very logically.

So I think what we did yesterday was right

and then we can pick it up and have another look at it later today.

The OMM is without doubt a supreme test of teamwork,

self-reliance, and navigation,

and none of this is made easier by this rough mountain terrain.

-How's it going this morning?

-Yeah, very good. Some stiff climbs over there, though.

-Yeah.

-But we're going OK.

We'll see at the end of the day.

I used to like heather, but not so much today.

It's tough. Very windy. The terrain's hard, very hard.

Walking's really difficult. Just, you know, not steady at all.

At one stage, we decided to go through this marsh, sort of as the crow flies,

and then there were people behind us

-and it looked like they'd found us a nice road rather than...

-Oh, right!

Back with the fastest runners, and things are definitely heating up.

Colin is out on the course, waiting for the leading teams.

The racing guys, they've been running for over two hours and 15 minutes -

they're the first ones out.

They'll be coming through here soon. We're expecting them to come down the hill,

into this re-entrant here, and then climb up past us.

And in a huge turnaround following yesterday's penalty,

Steve Birkinshaw and Jethro Lennox are now, amazingly, in the lead.

Well done, guys. Good to see you back in the competition. Are you glad about that?

Yeah, very glad.

'I've just seen Steve Birkinshaw and Jethro Lennox coming through.

'Last night, they had been disqualified,'

but then I think the competitors have asked the organisers to reconsider their decision.

They've just come through this control point in the lead,

racing hard to prove they're the best.

Just behind and still challenging for the lead are Tim Higginbottom and Chris Near.

Hi, Tim. You're not that far behind.

Behind them, currently in third, are Duncan Archer and Shane Ohly,

and they're playing a strategic game -

trying not to get too involved in this ding-dong battle for first place.

Hi.

-Ugh. Come on!

-That was a hard one.

OK, let's go.

'We've raced our own race.'

The most important thing is we've not got too wrapped up in racing head-to-head with people.

Yesterday a couple of teams got together, they were running together,

and I think at least one of them just maybe got really tired,

whereas we were just running on our own, doing our own thing.

This two coming through - Doug Tullie, John Rocke -

started in second place. A little bit down now but pushing hard.

Go on there, Doug. Come on, John.

'Navigation is kind of our strong point.'

We've both competed up to a high level in orienteering,

so usually the navigation's not so much of a problem.

We had some minor issues yesterday at some of the controls,

but usually we get on OK.

The competitors from the shorter courses are nearing the end

of this gruelling two days on the hill,

and, for some, that end can't come soon enough.

I did, didn't I?

I just can't stand up in it.

-How you getting on?

-Miserable.

-BOTH LAUGH

-No, we're getting on all right.

-Even compared to yesterday?

-Oh, yeah, miles better than yesterday, but...

-That wasn't difficult!

-That's not saying much.

Right, we're next.

-How's it going?

-Yeah, not too bad.

Looking forward to stopping.

Oh, it's a hard day today.

-What's making it hard?

-The distance and the terrain.

This stuff.

But, yeah, nearly finished.

The Elite racers are still powering over the hills,

and as they approach the finish line,

it's Duncan Archer and Shane Ohly out in front.

-OK, DS.

-Yeah.

They've had a remarkable final part of this race.

They're exhausted, and that's not surprising.

In a supreme effort, they've moved up from third place to come first.

Two of the teams got away,

-and we thought - well,

-I

-thought -

-"Oh that'll be it, maybe we'll be third."

-Yeah.

-We were amazed.

-I think they made a small mistake.

They must have made a mistake. We were on that kind of terrain -

if you're just two minutes behind somebody, you can't see them.

They made a mistake and we were just suddenly right on top of them and we thought,

"Right, let's just take it on,"

and we pushed them hard and they fell away.

And how hard...? Well, you know, how hard was it? Obviously very hard but...

The second half of today we were pushing quite hard.

-But when you can kind of smell the finish, it just feels less painful.

-Yeah.

And having caught the others as well - it's such a positive experience.

We kept saying to each other, "We could win this!"

-You look amazingly fresh.

-That's just...

-Most people do, actually.

-Don't feel it at all.

-That's just cos we're finished and we've won.

-And we've sat down.

Hanging onto second place just a minute behind Duncan and Shane

are Tim Higginbottom and Chris Near.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-You've done brilliantly, given the Elite category.

-Not a perfect race but a decent race.

-Not perfect? What's...?

-Well, we came second.

-It was just hard.

It was tough underfoot

-and pretty wild the first half of the day.

-Yeah.

It was one of those yo-yo days.

The first five or six kilometres were so fast,

the running on big tracks and that, it's not really our cup of tea.

And so we lost a bit of time early on,

and then when it did get rough underfoot

and big climbs, we sort of dug in quite well then.

But, yeah, it was one of those days, really,

where you're sort of up and down all the time,

sort of blowing and feeling OK.

-He was blowing and then he'd feel OK and I'd feel rotten.

-And then you'd blow again.

It was one of those. We never really coincided very well, and then it was a furious finish.

-Yeah, the last 30 minutes.

-We ran well off the last hill,

and then we got down to within 250 metres of the finish probably,

and Shane and his partner, they'd obviously completely blown up

and they were just walking along the track.

-They looked like they'd retired.

-I presumed that they'd missed a control.

All of a sudden, Shane turned round and just glanced us

-and if they hadn't turned I think we could have been...

-You could have had them.

-Oh, yeah.

They were from here to the tree there and it was really close.

-That must feel...

-So it was just a few seconds there. But, hey, never mind.

Coming in third are relative newcomers Douglas Tullie and John Rocke.

A fantastic result for them.

We always go out to try and win but we're quite young comparatively.

Is this your first time racing in the Elite category?

-Yeah, the first time.

-We've done the C, B and A previously.

So we've been working our way up so that it was...

Two years ago we ran the A, so then we didn't have a choice.

It was like, "We're going to have to run the Elite now." It's been good, yeah.

-Well, that's amazing, to come third.

-Yeah.

Presumably you want to come back next year as a pair and compete again?

-Yeah.

-We'll come back at some point. Whether it's next year or not...

Maybe might take a couple of years to recover.

So confirmation of those results...

Steve Birkinshaw and Jethro Lennox had a tremendous burst of speed this morning

to make up for that 30-minute penalty.

But it was too much to sustain and they're dropped down to fourth.

We worked really hard yesterday,

and then suddenly to lose half an hour...

It's pretty difficult to get back half an hour in the Elite class.

You know, you learn and these things happen in these events.

It's not all just about running. There's a lot of other things involved.

An event like this isn't just about the Elite athletes.

It's the Original Mountain Marathon and it's arguably the toughest,

so congratulations to everyone who took part and to everyone who finished.

-We've done lots together...

-Lots together.

-..in the last 15 years.

All through the year to keep ourselves fit,

so we don't get out of sort of training mode.

This is our 25 together.

We've taken 26 years to do it, so we missed out on one year.

There's not many teams who have kept together for that length of time so that's what we celebrate.

-And presumably you are not giving up now that you've done the 25 years?

-Oh, no. We'll be back.

-Well done, boys.

-Oh, wow.

That was hard.

That's it for this month's Adventure Show.

Next time we'll be back with one of the toughest mountain bike races on the planet -

24 hours in the frozen north in the dead of winter - the Strathpuffer.

Please join us for that if you can. In the meantime, from the Perthshire hills

and the Original Mountain Marathon, thanks for your company, bye for now.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd