Rachel Deans of Grantham Running Club takes part in the Ultra X Scotland event in the Scottish Highlands

Adjusting her strategy paid off for Grantham Running Club member Rachel Deans as she took part in the Ultra X Scotland event.

Having supported her husband last year on the 50k event, Rachel desperately wanted to give the ultra marathon a go.

Training was going well until an issue with her heart meant a three week pause and a tough decision of either withdrawal or take a cautious approach and walk more than run.

This bore fruit as Rachel felt strong throughout and finished the event in eight hours 52 minutes.

The event took place in the Scottish Highlands, a mountainous region known for its stunning scenery and trails, with the Great Glen and Loch Ness at its centre.

Following a geological fault line formed more than 400 million years ago, the Great Glen runs arrow-straight from Fort William to Moray Firth.

Surrounded by some of the United Kingdom's highest mountains and filled with four immense lochs, it is a unique wilderness rich in Highland heritage.

It offered four event distances - 110km over two stages (Saturday and Sunday), a 60km (Saturday), 50km (Sunday) and 25km (Sunday) event.

The route started in Fort Augustus with the piper playing 650 runners off the start line.

Immediately runners were met with six miles of epic hills before reaching the summit and the breathtaking sights of the Loch which glimmered in the chilly Highland sunshine.

Challenging terrain and brutal descents tested both skills and confidence.

The route followed woodland, fields, fire tracks and across babbling brooks before ending in Dores, where runners could look back over the Loch and on the distant horizon see the start line.

The first male finished in an incredible three hours 59 minutes and first female back was in a time of four hours 23 minutes.