Runners say pants to the recession!
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A TOTAL of 35 sets of bras and pants participated in a fun run from Aviemore to raise awareness about the plight facing independent brewers.
Beer drinks and running don’t normally go together but that’s not the case for The Bras and Pants runners, many of whom are members of CAMRA - the Campaign for Real Ale.
Their latest run was organised by Audrey Docherty, (52), and attracted 35 people.
Volunteers received an offer of a pint from the Cairngorm Brewery on Dalfaber Industrial Estate before a piper sent them on their way to the tune of Happy Birthday which was played for two of the runners.
Participants legged it past the brewery and Spey Valley Golf Course along the Speyside Way path to Boat of Garten all the while being cheered on by onlookers.
However there was a peril of being thrown into the nearby River Spey - and being organiser was no exception.
Ms Docherty said that she had to take the lead over a rickety bridge to persuade others to cross it.
She explained: "There were a bunch of girls who didn’t want to be thrown in and ran away. So I volunteered to do it instead of the girls. They thought it would be a laugh to chuck me in the river!"
Ms Docherty was not the only one to get wet – birthday boys John Anderson (63) and Pete Laing (29) were also thrown in the river.
The route that they took was not set prior to the race because the idea was for runners to orienteer themselves back for a pint and a tour of the brewery.
The cross-country run attracted a wide age range of runners, the youngest being 24 and the eldest was 65. The seven and a half mile course was completed in an hour and a half by a mixture of walkers and runners.
The Bras and Pants have now done 19 awareness runs in six years for breweries around Scotland. The regular members aim to complete three a year - and enjoy the local ale.
Organiser Audrey Docherty, a former gym instructor and the participator with the most runs to her name with 19, began six years ago.
