are trips where a crew will tend to runners at checkpoints along the route, offering backup in case of an emergency. They are generally the fastest and lightest fastpacking style and also fun and social trips. Every year since 2003, for example, a group of runners from Edinburgh and Aberdeen Hash House Harriers take on an Easter Challenge – a four-day run along a long-distance path or a bespoke route – with a driver and minibus. The end point of each day is the next day’s starting point. By night, instead of camping, the friends return to a hotel for food, drink and a comfortable bed.
Baggage transfer
Although marketed largely to walkers, it is easy to use baggage transfer services (available on many long-distance routes in the UK) for multi-day runs. For a small cost, your gear will be moved between your overnight stops, allowing you to run with just a day pack carrying essentials. Some companies even deliver bags to campsites. Often hotels can organise this for you too, using taxis, and there are now companies that offer self-guided trail-running holidays where all of this is taken care of.
Where to stay
On a multi-day route there may be guesthouses, hostels, bunkhouses and hotels to stay at, but when fastpacking there are additional options that allow you to explore wilder, remote or mountainous areas. These are covered below.
Wild camping
Wild camping means you can stop wherever you find your perfect spot (Photo credit: Chris Councell)
For the purist, fastpacking is about being totally self-sufficient through wild camping and carrying all your own gear and food. This has the advantage of allowing you to travel through remote areas and get off the beaten track. Strictly speaking, in the UK this is only officially permitted in Scotland and Dartmoor.
In Scotland you are allowed to camp on most unenclosed land. However, due to overuse, East Loch Lomond is subject to wild camping byelaws which restricts wild camping in the area. Be sure to familiarise yourself with the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (www.outdooraccess-scotland.scot) – basically, campers should follow a policy of ‘leave no trace’.
On Dartmoor it is legal to wild camp in some sections of the national park. You can find a map on the national park website (www.dartmoor.gov.uk) which shows the permitted areas. Some sites are used as military firing ranges, so you should always check the firing schedules (www.gov.uk – search ‘Dartmoor firing times’) as this would override any permission or right to camp.
Elsewhere, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, wild camping is illegal; the right to stay overnight on open access land is not granted in the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act. This means that you cannot wild camp unless you obtain the express permission of the landowner first. In practice, this can often be impractical or impossible to do, and wild camping is usually tolerated in more remote areas – typically, more than half a day’s walk from a campsite or other accommodation – as long as it is done sensitively. The following guidelines should help:
Arrive late and leave early
Sleep well above the wall line, away from houses
Leave no trace of your camp and take out all rubbish
Don’t light fires
Toilet duties should be performed 30 metres from water and the waste buried
Pack out all paper and sanitary products
Be respectful at all times; if asked to move on, do so
Aim to leave a wild camping spot in better condition than when you found it
Close gates behind you
Avoid disturbing wildlife, particularly during the moorland lambing and bird breeding season, from 1 March to 31 July
Always remember that landowners have the right to move wild campers on.
Bothies
Inside Strathchailleach (Sandy’s bothy), Sutherland, Scotland
Bothies are free mountain huts in the UK – usually old buildings that are left unlocked for walkers and other outdoors folk to use as an overnight stop. The Mountain Bothies Association maintains, through volunteers, around 100 bothies, mostly in Scotland but with a few in England and Wales, while there are others run by private estates.
Accommodation is basic and camping in a stone tent is a common description for bothying, but they are generally located in wild, remote locations making them a great option for running adventures. When staying in bothies, you will often meet new people, which could mean a memorable evening by a fire, sharing stories, food and a hip-flask.
You will, however, still need to carry most, if not all, of the same gear as you would when wild camping. Assume that there will be no facilities – no water, electricity, lights or beds and if there is a fireplace, there probably won’t be anything to burn. Also, you will need to carry or find water and there may not be a suitable supply nearby. And bothies generally don’t have toilets apart from a spade!
The continued existence of bothies relies on users helping to look after them. The Mountain Bothies Association has developed a Bothy Code which sets out the following guidelines (reproduced with their kind permission):
The bothies maintained by the MBA are available by courtesy of the owners; please respect this privilege
Please record your visit in the bothy log-book
Note that bothies are used entirely at your own risk
Respect other usersPlease leave the bothy clean and tidy with dry kindling for the next visitorsMake other visitors welcome and be considerate to other users
Respect the bothyTell us about any accidental damage. Don’t leave graffiti or vandalise the bothyPlease take out all rubbish which you can’t burnAvoid burying rubbish; this pollutes the environmentPlease don’t leave perishable food as this attracts verminGuard against fire risk and ensure the fire is out before you leaveMake sure the doors and windows are properly closed when you leave
Respect the surroundingsIf there is no toilet at the bothy please bury human waste out of sight. Use the spade provided, keep well away from the water supply and never use the vicinity of the bothy as a toiletNever cut live wood or damage estate property. Use fuel sparingly
Respect agreement with the estatePlease observe any restrictions on use of the bothy, for example during stag stalking or at lambing timePlease remember bothies are available for short stays only. The owner’s permission must be obtained if you intend an extended stay
Respect the restriction on numbersBecause of overcrowding and lack of facilities, large groups (six or more) should not use a bothyBothies are not available for commercial groups.
To find out more, see The Book of the Bothy (Cicerone Press) or the Mountain Bothies Association website (
