Ben Cruachan has been called the hollow mountain because of the pipes and underground hydro plant built around its reservoir

The venue for a mountain marathon was revealed to competitors today, just two days before the event takes place.

This year’s Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon will take place in the area around Ben Cruachan, the 1,126m (3,694ft) munro overlooking Loch Awe in the western Highlands.

In the tradition of the LAMM, competitors in the challenge had, up until noon today, only been told the venue was a couple of hours’ drive north of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Teams of two will take part across a variety of courses.

Base for the event is on the Glen Strae estate between Tyndrum and Oban, and runners and walkers in the two-day marathon have been told they will have the chance of adding to their munro tally.

Organiser Andy Spenceley said: “We may be a bit further south than last year, but we’re still in an area with some very high hills and there are at least double the number of munros on the map compared with last year.

“There are very few paths crossing the area. However a lot of the ridges, particularly around the more popular hills and near the munros, will have unmarked hillwalkers’ paths on them which might be worth remembering when considering routes.”

Winners of the elite class in last year’s event around Beinn Dearg in the north-west Highlands were Duncan Archer and Jim Mann.

More details are on the LAMM website.