If you fancy taking part in this year's Illuminator Night Trail Races which will return to the Glen Tanar Estate in Aboyne on 26 October then how about testing yourself over the kind of terrain you can expect at one of two Illuminator Taster Events that are planned for this year.

On Tuesday 2 July the first of two Illuminator trail run taster events will take place at Hazlehead Park in Aberdeen where runners will be guided on a 10K-ish urban trail route. Organisers say: "Whether you’re keen to dip your toes into trail, or just fancy a social run to start your week, this should be right up your street!"

The Taster Events are organised by Run4It so you can expect demo trail running shoes from one of their brands to test out and there will also be an exclusive discount on Illuminator entries available for attendees.

The second taster event will take place in September and provide a better taste of night time trail running with a head torch! To sign up to either event, simply click here.

Looking ahead to autumn, October's night time event offers a choice of three distances - 8K, 15K and 15M. The Illuminator's trademark feature, its colourful atmospheric light zone in the middle of Glen Tanar Estate, will be visited by all three routes.

The 8K race is an easy run on solid trails that are sheltered amongst the trees while the 15K's route traverses the open ridge above Glen Tanar and is more accessible than the classic 15 mile route but more exposed than the 8K route. The 15 miler is the original Illuminator route and a serious physical and mental challenge. This is a hilly route that passes through the heart of Glen Tanar's ancient forest and follows the beautiful Water of Allachy and Water of Tanar.

All of the distances offer full access to the amazing light zone and reflectives and there will be warm drinks and snacks available en-route as well as a unique memento for every finisher.

If you'd like to know more you can visit the Illuminator website here.

Image: Illuminator Facebook