Limitless Trails organise this event, along with a 20 mile and (for the truly hardcore / bonkers) a 40 mile event on the same day. Having run the 20 miler previously I was looking forward to this and feeling pretty relaxed - just 10 miles! And an 11am start time. What luxury.
The day came and it was a beauty - just a few wisps of cloud in an otherwise blue sky, the birds were singing and it was going to be a delightful day. Due to rain in the days before there was a slight change to the event parking arrangements - a swap from one farmer's field to another, where I was greeted by a friendly pony who seemed keen to sample my race nutrition. One of my fellow participants was kind enough to offer me suncream - that hadn't been on my packing list for Wales in early March, but should have been. (When I ran the 20 mile version there was snow on the ground; at this time of year you can get any season!). For that reason the mandatory kit is pretty thorough, even for the 10 miles so there was a quick kit check before getting my race number.
After a race briefing that explained the signage to look out for, we began with a relaxed start - no shoving to toe the line here. After a short canter through the village of Llanbedr we hit the first climb - straight up! So steep, I don't think there were many people running this bit. Even at a walk my calves were soon burning. Just before the summit of Table Mountain we turned right, to join the the trail undulating along the hillside and gradually down into the valley. After the up it felt like flying, jumping streams and rocks. So much fun, but as it gets steeper I found my pace picking up and the path gets more tricky - it’s a long way down and by the time I got to the bottom I was feeling it. My legs felt like jelly and I was only 2 miles in.
There’s a mile or so along quiet country lanes at the bottom of the valley, with an aid station before we started the next climb, a long gradual rise up the valley - the views behind us were gorgeous! Though it’s never that steep it just goes on and on and you can see the line of runners ahead and behind you the whole way.
There’s next downhill was super tricky narrow paths through bog, deep furrows, drops, rocks - descending's not my forte so I was just trying to go as quick as I could and stay on my feet. From here for the next mile or so there was another lady right behind me - I’ll admit knowing she was there was definitely spurring me on! We turned a corner from the flat to the next up and she was off - no way I could keep up. This time the hill wasn't such a long one although we came up to the highest point of the race (Crug Mawr at 550m - get your altitude training in). Of course, there was a photographer right on the top of the hill so I had to run that bit!
Pretty much all downhill to the finish now - about 3 miles away. I was flying down - I could still see the lady in front of me and couldn’t catch her but was trying to hang on to the gap. We were passing the 40milers coming up the hill , lots of mutual “well done”s. As we got back down into the fields in the valley there were plenty of stiles to get over, and then a very steep drop through woods to the river. At this point my quads were thoroughly tired and I had slowed a bit - there's a lack of hills to train on where I live and my lack of training was showing. Short scramble up the other side, into the village where it was easy to hear the party atmosphere at the finish line. I crossed the line and received my medal and the surprising news that I was 3rd lady, so was also given a lovely plaque of Welsh slate. In the village hall there was a great spread of homemade cake, fruit, etc and outside there were catering options - the pizzas were definitely popular. While I normally keep my race numbers as a memento, they were collecting them back to be reused which I was happy to do - after all, I've got a chunk of slate...
Comments