The UK's highest mountain race will follow a different route this year after concerns were raised by conservation groups.
The organisers of the Ben Nevis Race said the decision to alter the course had been taken following "many meetings and deliberations" with landowners and environmental bodies including the John Muir Trust and Nature Scot.
The area near the Red Burn has been damaged by erosion and landslides and concerns were raised about the safety of runners.
Entrants taking part in the race on Saturday, September 2, will now have to stick to the main path, both up and down passing through four checkpoints.
Organisers, the Ben Nevis Race Association, said a failure to follow the route would result in disqualification from the race and "puts the future of the race at risk".
An additional 15 minutes has been added to cut-off time by which time runners should have reached the half-way mark with a new completion limit of 3 hours and 30 minutes.
The route was changed once before in 2016 when runners were forbidden from using the grassy bank on the Ben for their ascent or descent.
The route starts and finishes at Claggan Park football ground on the outskirts of Fort William, and is 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) long with 1,340 metres (4,400 ft) of ascent.
The first 'race' was attempted by William Swan, a Fort William barber who set off on the first recorded timed ascent and descent of Britain's tallest mountain in 1895.
In the late 19th ad early 20th centuries a number of races were organised on an ad hoc basis but it was not until 1951 that the Ben Nevis Race Association was founded with the intention of formalising arrangements for an annual race.
Today, the event has a field of 600 runners accepting a challenge that organisers say is "not for the unfit or faint-hearted".
The event is so popular it is generally oversubscribed within two days of the entry forms going live in late January.
It has been run every year since with the exception of 1980 when bad weather forced a last-minute decision was made to cancel the race for the safety of the runners and officials on the mountain.
The record times for both men and women have stood since 1984 when Kenny Stuart and Pauline Stuart (nee Haworth) respectively recorded 1h 25m 34s and 1h 43m 25s.
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