The volunteers and runners who take part in the Saturday morning parkrun in the castle grounds paid tribute this weekend to regular volunteer Mairi Fraser, who has died at the age of 57.

It is traditional for all volunteers at parkrun to get a round of applause from participants before the start of the race, as well as anyone doing their first parkrun or achieving a milestone.

On Saturday, run director Jane Watson paid tribute to friend and teacher Mairi, who was a popular member of the Lews Castle parkrun family and touched many lives through her work in education and beyond.

There were 74 finishers at the day’s parkrun and they gave an extra loud and loud volunteer applause for Mairi, who would volunteer as a marshal on the course, often distinctively snuggled up in her dryrobe and bright beanie hat.

Run director Jane said: “Mairi was a very willing and enthusiastic volunteer even though she didn’t run herself. She walked the route once – the day this photo was taken.

“While others may have been freezing or soaked she would be sensibly snug in her distinctive barefoot trainers, dry robe and beanies.

“She was very friendly to all and regularly joined the post-parkrun coffee in the Woodlands Centre, eagerly engaging with the other volunteers and parkrun tourists.”

The parkrun run directors have asked runners to consider donating to the Bethesda Hospice were Mairi received excellent care.

Mairi, who hailed from Ayrshire and had connections to Uist, Barvas and Laxdale, worked in marketing before retraining as a primary teacher. She worked in international schools in South Korea and Japan before moving to Carradale as a primary teacher and coming back to Laxdale and working for Early Years.

The Comhairle flag flew at half mast on Monday and Friday (24 and 27 August) as a mark of respect.

Tributes have been paid to Mairi from different corners, including her former colleagues at Carradale School, and multiple people, from her priest to her personal trainer, have noted how “inspirational” she was.

Ian Macdonald, writing on his Ian Mac Fitness Facebook page, shared how Mairi had been one of the first people to come to him for personal training when he set up on his own.

She kept coming, “even through the Covid years, training outside in the snow” and coming “week in week out over the years” until she was too unwell to continue.

As others have also done, Ian noted how positive and happy Mairi remained through her illness and was “just talking about all the things she was grateful for”.

Ian said: “She was kind, caring, a hard worker and intelligent, so very intelligent. She might have come to me to learn about weight training but I learnt so much more from her. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family who she loved so much and spoke about all the time."