JOHN DAVIDSON previews Scotland's first taste of a Hellrunner event - and finds out why they're calling it Scots To The Slaughter Boggy areas, lochs, hills and pools lie in wait for the unsuspecting as the lunacy of Hellrunner is staged in Scotland for the first time.

JOHN DAVIDSON previews Scotland's first taste of a Hellrunner event - and finds out why they're calling it Scots To The Slaughter

Boggy areas, lochs, hills and pools lie in wait for the unsuspecting as the lunacy of Hellrunner is staged in Scotland for the first time.

Mugdock Park near Milngavie will be turned into a mess of water and mud as runners - including me - tackle the fell run from hell this Saturday.

The course will be peppered with surprises, from water-filled areas for wading through to steep, slippery slopes and a few other as yet unidentified obstacles.

The 11-mile course is designed by an independent company so no participant has any idea exactly what it holds in store.

Duncan Riddoch, managing director of Run4It, who helped bring Hellrunner to Scotland, said: "It is not a race, more of a running experience.

"There are so many runs, such as the Women's 10k and the Great Scottish Run, which are great with the crowds and the atmosphere, but the thing with Hellrunner is that it is different to anything else.

"Part of the event experience is the unknown. There are no mile markers and you've no idea where the finish is.

"They really do want to surprise you. You can expect some steep bits, some very boggy bits, a loch or river and a few well-placed obstacles."

This is the first time Hellrunner has come to Scotland after the success of Hell Down South and Hell Up North in England.

The intimidatingly-named Scots to the Slaughter event will see hundreds of runners get their feet - and everything else - wet and dirty in the name of running fun.

And, believe it or not, this extreme fell running is supposed to be fun: one previous entrant on the message board enthusiastically described it as "school cross-country gone wrong".

And Duncan, 35, assured me the organisers don't want it all to feel like hell for the runners.

"They want you to get a bit wet and a bit muddy," he admitted. "But they want you to cross the finish line with a smile on your face too."

• Entry is £17, £20 on the day, or £7.50 for 2-mile Little Devils fun run. For more information and to enter visit www.hellrunner.co.uk

Scots to the Slaughter

Extreme challenges

Running isn't the only sport to cover itself in mud, delve into vast depths of water and send competitors home with a whole new take on the sport they once loved. Here are some other extreme challenges for you to plunge right into...

SWAMP FOOTBALL

Like the real thing but, well, messier. Pitches are dug up by JCBs and watered for 24 hours before putting two 6-a-side teams and a shiny white ball on what remains of the centre spot.

If you can drag your feet, ankles and legs out of the mire, the rules are more or less like normal football, except there's no offside and unlimited substitutions.

But - according to the Evening Times team who tried it out at its first Scottish contest - a sense of humour is more important than silky skills in these less salubrious surroundings.

For more info visit www.swampsoccer.co.uk

BEN NEVIS RACE

Hundreds of fell runners each year take on Britain's highest mountain to race to the top of Ben Nevis' summit and back down again.

The men's record for the race is 1 hour, 25 minutes. The top lady has been up and down in 1 hour, 43 minutes and 25 seconds.

This year's race takes place on September 1 ... whatever the weather.

UNDERWATER HOCKEY

Altogether cleaner but a whole lot wetter ... in underwater hockey the puck plunges to new depths. Also known as Octopush, teams of six players dive into a swimming pool armed with special hockey sticks to scoop the puck into goals at either end.

Glasgow has its own club. Find out more at www.gbuwh.co.uk

GOBI DESERT MARATHON

A 16-year-old boy recently took on a gruelling 140-mile week-long race in some of the most unforgiving terrain on Earth.

Jonathan Graham, a pupil at Bishopbriggs Academy in East Dunbartonshire, is the youngest person to tackle the Sandbaggers Gobi Challenge.

Covering terrain which includes a baking 40C (104F) desert, ice gorges, mountains and dunes, the event takes seven days.

Talented Jonathan, who played the bagpipes at the end of each gruelling day, was raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. His 15-year-old best pal Shaun McBride died of a brain tumour last year.

Gobi Challenge 2008 takes place between June 26 and July 7.