Annual Events in Aviemore

The aim of Cycle Cairngorms is to raise funds to help people with disabilities enjoy an outdoor holiday in the Cairngorms National Park. It's organised by the Speyside Trust a small, independent registered Scottish Charity, based at Badaguish Outdoor Centre, Aviemore.

First held in 2006, the Aviemore Macdonald mile fun run and Aviemore half marathon are usually run on consecutive days over a weekend in mid-October to raise funds for the Speyside Trust. The first seven miles of the main event take the thousand runners into the Glenmore Forest around Loch Morlich before heading onto the Rothiemurchus Estate. The route then follows the cycle track through Coylumbridge and Inverdruie. The last section crosses the River Spey and leads into Aviemore main street and the finish.

The  Aviemore Big Splash is held in August next to the Old Bridge Inn. The big splash is a mad extreme sports event for people with a screw loose! The main event consists of a large ramp on the side of the river Spey from which you can launch off in a variety of contraptions from wheelie bins and shopping trolleys to bikes skis and snowboards.

Aviemore Sled-Dog Rally, the first Aviemore Arden Grange and Siberian Husky Club of GB event was held on the trails around Loch an Eilein on the Rothiemurchus Estate in 1984. A lack of snow over the following years forced the organisers to move the 4-mile course up the hillside to Glenmore and Loch Morlich, where it remains to this day. From humble beginnings and only 12 teams, the end-of-January Burns-weekend event now attracts more than 200 mushers from around the country.

Thunder in the Glen, hosted by the Dunedin Chapter and first held in 1998, this annual Harley Davidson motorcycle meet takes place in Aviemore over the August bank holiday weekend. It attracts a huge following of more than a thousand bikers from all over the world and is accompanied over the whole weekend by various live entertainment acts.

Keep an eye out for the annual Aviemore Vans Dawn of the Shred  event in the Cairngorms . The ski and board championships are held each winter season in one of the park's three main ski areas: CairnGorm, The Lecht or Glenshee.

The Aviemore Cairngorm Extreme Soap Box challenge is still in its infancy. Night Train beat 16 rivals in the inaugural 2009 race, and driver Graeme Smith was immediately crowned 'King of the Mountains'. The next event is scheduled for the last weekend in July 2010, with many more runners expected to compete over a 2-mile course that boasts a vertical drop of more than 700 feet to the finish at Reindeer house just off Loch Morlich.