21st and 22nd May The F1 Barcelona Grand Prix

The summing up of my day at the F1 races would be, hot (it must have been 30c sat in the sun), very loud, and expensive.

The qualifying on Saturday was good, and the other Porsche and GP2 races were good to watch. I did a lap of the track whilst watching these to find the best spot to view the qualifying, and the Grand prix the following day. Eventually I settled for grassy banks with a view of the screen.

On both days I was sat in the sun gently cooking. But the Sunday was particularly hot, people weren’t flooding in to the toilets to use them (dehydration will have seen to that) only to douse themselves down with water. I followed this trend.

Both days were fun but in truth it confirmed what I already knew, in that watching it on the BBC on a TV is the best way to follow the race. At the circuit it was very hot, the screen was a bit too far to see clearly in the bright sun, the radio commentary couldn’t be herd over the car noise and using an ipods radio with ipod earplugs wasn’t enough ear protection. So all this made the race hard to follow, especially during the pit stops. Never the less it was a great experience, and Hamilton2nd and Button 3rd was a pretty good result for the Brits. I think it will be a long time until I go to a Grand Prix again so it will probably be a long time until I pay £3.50 for a cornetto!

19th May A trip up to a very large cross.

I had a nice run up the mountain at the back of the campsite. It has a huge cross on its summit, it is the most impressive cairn i have seen so far on my travels. On inspection, after sweating mt way up all of Viornas 1088m I found that it has solar panels sympathetically placed on its sides so as to power the lights at night, it makes an impressive sighttowering high up atop the mountain above Potes. My route up their was a little dodgy as my map didnt show the tracks. I ended up short cutting and bushwackering my way through dense clawing vegetation until I eventually intercepted the large forest track I should have been on.

My route down and around the back of the mountain was nice. I got a little lost on the lower slopes at one point, but again a little fortunate bushwackering had me back on track. I then made it to Frama were a lovely old lady from the farm assumed that as I had a map in hand I was lost. i wasnt. But i couldnt help thinking, when it would be usefull to bump intto people you dont around here, but you always get help even if you dont really need it, I think the locals are just very king hearted. The mountains are empty, but so majestic, I dont know why they are so little walked or run. Perhaps it is because they are tough and unforgiving?

I have photos to add to here and Picasa at another time. I am packing up now for a long drive tomeorrow to mataro 23miles NE of Barcelona. It is a long drive so i am going to pack he big tent away and sleep in a pop up tent so that i can get an early start to a 9 hour + journey.

17th May A trip into the Picos de Europa

Yesterday was my first forray into the Picos de Europa it was hot but beautiful. I managed to bag one Pico (Pico Soliveno 1226m) despite having a less than great 1:40.000 map (1:25.000 is what I normally use). The true Picos are hard to get at from Potes. It was a fairly tough 4 hour run /walk, and that is to one of the smaller Picos they go upto 2,000 + mteres. It also feels a bit exposed as their are some steep cliffs and in the entire 4 hours i saw one guy about 20 minutes after leaving the road. The lake district it isnt. For solitude its unbeatable. But on you own these could be dangerous hills. Picos sounds cute but these have a bite to them. My next trip will be tomorrow Friday up to Sierra De La Viorna the same name as the campsite I am staying, and looming 1100 meters above.

Earlier today (Wednesday 18th May) I walked to the Monastry about 2 miles uphill from the campsite. It is a beautiful building and very peacefull. Or it was until all the tourist coaches came and emtied out their hoardes. I half expected Brendan (coach trip tv programme C4) and his union jack topped coach to pull up. I then walked to Santa Catalina, I assume it is a dug out relic of an ancient place of worship, all the info was Spanish, so that was me stumped and guessing. Then I met a charming Spanish chap at San Miguel (same deal as Santa Catalina but not a relic, forgot photo) who insisted on showing me Potes far below. He thought me looking at a map meant that I was lost. Half an hour after trying to explain the Pico in the distance that I was on yesterday. I realised I could show him the pictures on my camera. I will look up the Spanish for yesterday. The trip ended with a visit to la Isla the campsite I should be at, but went wrong on the way here. I think I struck lucky though the views here are much better.

 

I have posted, and will continue to post most of my photos on picasa just go through the folders for the relevant days.
https://picasaweb.google.com/102186521105057411582/

15 th MAY A EUROPEAN ADVENTURE BEGINS

Well its been a long time since I posted anything, I have done a few runs since late last year, but I think my lack of fitness due to a long illness over the winter (2 month long chest infection = no fitness for 5 months curbed my enthusiasm for it this Blog.

I will update these missing mini adventures at a later date, and slot them in so as to be chronolgically correct. Anyway i thought this would be a good way to keep in touch with friends to let them know what I am upto in Europe. So here goes.......

I didnt start my journey too well I whent to Davenport terminal in Plymouth, queued up and realised that the ferry looked a bit small. It was a small car ferry / barge that goes to Torpoint. Oops. Luckily I had plenty of time and soon arrived in a bigger queue for a much bigger Ferry.

Just after we sailed, as i was having a luck around the impressive Pont Avon ferry, to my amazement Matin Taylor (an ex work collegue) called me over and explained that he was on his way over to Spain on a motor biking holiday with his girlfriend. So we had a couple of drinks and a chat. Most unexpected. A good start. I decided that a "comfy chair" wouldn't be comfy enough for me that night and reluctantly coughed up the extra £80 for a cabin. It turned out that was a good move. It was only a 65 mile drive to Potes (where I am now typing this up) but the roads were mountainous and tricky for much of the way. It was about a 2 hour drive. It is a beautiful place with nice "Picos" or peaks all around. I am lucking forward to having a run in them tomorrow armed with a brand new map.

My overly large 4 man tent was a challenge to put up. It provided some entertainment to a Dutch lady, who seamed to enjoy me wrestle with the tent. No matter, I won and its up.

                        

Bills 4th Ramsay attempt

21st August 2010

20 miles and 11,000 feet
plus and up and down of the Ben 9 miles and 4,200 feet

The 4th attempt was an epic effort both from Bill, and in the end from Will and I. I can’t remember feeling so tired during and after a support run. Knackered doesn’t even come close to describing how I felt.

Will decided that it would be (it wasn’t) a good idea to join Bill and Andy at the start and accompany them up the Ben. We were already planning to walk in and meet him at allt na Slochdaig and support him on the Mamores ridge to the end at Glen Nevis, and this itself is about a 10 hour stint. So on a cool breezy Saturday morning at 11am we set off up Ben Nevis for Bills 4th attempt on the Ramsay round. The first climb went without incident and Bill held a nice steady pace. Will and I left him to continue to Carn mor Dearg and beyond with Andy as we turned and descended back to Glen Nevis.

We spent the day fuelling up for what we knew would be a tough night. We just didn’t know how tough. We decided to walk in with the mid section support, so we set off earlier than needed in order to help Ian and Rhiannon out. By the time we reached allt na Slochdaig it was 9.45 pm it was dark and had started to rain. As soon as we got there we discovered Yiannis curled up on the floor in a bivi so Will and I copied him and got into our bivi bags (think Orange bin liners with a peep hole). It was the most miserable hour of my life. It was cold, boring, midge ridden, uncomfortable and dark. I could feel the energy being sapped out of me and we hadn’t even begun running yet.

After what seemed a life time huddled in our bivis, but in reality was only about 1 ½ hours, Bill and his pacers head torches appeared. When I got out of the bivi I instantly felt very cold. I was glad when Bill had finished refuelling and we were on our way onto Sgurr Elide Mor. Will Yiannis and I set off at a good pace and soon warmed up on the eastern flanks of this monster climb. Will and I remember this being very tough on our round, we still have mental scars from it. Bill was attacking it more from the eastern ridge to try and ease the gradient. It didn’t make much difference it was still tough. On nearing the summit we could see Bills previous leg and mid section support heading back to Mamore lodge on the track far below. The summit was very cold and windy, especially for this time of year.

We ticked off the peaks nicely and on time, when we approached the long out and back to An Gearnach I made the decision to refill the water bottles at the stream and wait at the col. I knew I would get cold doing this but never realised that for the next ½ an hour I would start to think seriously about not getting hyperthermia. I had to keep moving slowly up the next peak Stob coire a chairn in lea of the ridge just to keep some heat flowing. I was seriously cold and just before dawn it was a very hard place to be. It was a mistake to wait I should have gone with them. I couldn’t believe how miserable I was for the 2nd time in one night. I was so pleased

when I could see their head torches descending the slope opposite.
Re united we continued in cold and ever wetter and windier conditions. Bill was slowing down and not even daylight and the ability to see where we were going made a difference. By the time we reached the last 3 peaks it was obvious that Bill would not make it inside 24 hours, the 11 o’clock Glen Nevis deadline looked impossible. We tried to encourage Bill along but the conditions had drained him. Even meeting Chris Armour on Sgurr a Mahaim didn’t make a difference, although I think it took the strain off will and I, as both of us were feeling very tired. At this point Bill vowed to continue and finish the round.

Will and I found some more energy, and after Stob Ban moved off ahead and carried on, on our own, deciding that Bill had enough help with Chris and Yiannis and that we needed to get off the mountains. We were both at our limits, So when we got to the jumble of logs at the bottom of the last munro were the loggers had made the worlds toughest assault course, we were less than amused. Several cuts from trees later we had cleared it. We then ran the track reminiscing of our round the previous year. We had the dubious task of informing the waiting support that he was o.k. but would be late.

All credit to Bill for toughing out those 26 odd hours. The weather was less than favourable and at this time of the year the longer nights make it tougher. Knackered doesn’t even come close to how I, and Will felt. But compared to Bill when he came in we were full of life, he really had given it everything. As it is his final 1 of the big 3 I’m sure he will be back for a rematch and next time with better conditions I’m sure he will win.

(top image) Me and Bill before the start and the food that proved to be only just enough.

Bills Ramsey Round take 3

3rd July
11.5 miles and 8,200 feet
plus up Sgurr an Luhair and back down (3,200 feet and 6 miles appx)

It has been a while now since Bill attempted the Ramsay round for his third time. I have taken ages to type this up mostly due to the disappointment of writing a report on another unlucky failure.

The weather on the day started off o.k., not too hot but cloudy, and at midday I set off up a packed (as usual) Ben Nevis with Bill. Bill was rushing when overtaking the tourists, so I reminded him to keep the pace even. We did and by the top of the Ben we were bang on schedule. It was raining and very cold on Ben Nevis, this meant slippery rocks on the roughest part of the round. The traverse to Carn Mor Dearg along its arête was hard going burt we made good progress. By the time we reached the next summit of Aonoch Mor we were just a couple of minutes down. The ascent of Aonoch Beag was good and a steep drop down to Will and Carwyn (who were sheltering in an orange bivvie bag) went without a hitch.

I left Bill here and Carwyn and Will continued the rest of the leg to Loch Treig Dam. I ran into the valley in improving sunny weather, to follow Glen Nevis back to Wills car and drove back to the campsite. Bill made good progress all the way to Loch Treig, but on the next section over the 3 Munroe’s around the loch he lost ½ an hour and by the time he was at the foot of Sgurr elide Mor he was still a ½ hour down.

At first light, on a wild wet Sunday morning Will and I made our way up out of Glen Nevis and onto Sgurr an Lubhair to meet Bill. We tried to time this right as we knew it would be very cold on the top. We were right when we arrived on the top at 08:00 squally gales were blowing through. Will and I huddled into a large orange plastic bag with feet sticking out of the bottom AKA an emergency bivvie bag. 1 hour of trying to keep warm whilst soaking wet, sitting on a rock in rain, driven by a gale, up a 3,200 foot mountain was not easy. My feet and hands were numb despite constantly banging them together. By 09:15 Will and I decided that Bill did not have enough time to finish it form here and made our way down. He needed about 3 ½ hours in those conditions. On the descent to Glen Nevis we pondered how much use we would have been to Bill anyway. The fight had been knocked out of both of us.

I think in reasonable conditions Bill would have succeeded as he only retired on Am Bodach (1/2 an hour away from Will and I) at 09:00 hours. So given the severity of the wind, he was still moving fairly strongly, until he realised that the weather was slowing him down too much, then the mind probably gave in to the fatigue, and it was game over on Am Bodach with only 3 Munroe’s to go. You will do it next time Bill.

Roll on the 21st of August Wynn and I have booked some good weather.

The Lakeland 100

23rd - 24th July
104 miles and 24,000 feet



Over the last few months I had regularly made visits to the lakes to recce the route of the Lakeland 100. It is actually 103.5 miles which pretty much encircles the Lake District. Starting and finishing in Coniston it visits numerous passes and all the major valleys on mainly rough bridleway paths. During my recces I had realised that the roughness of the trails was going to be very difficult on the legs and feet, I only whish that I had given this more consideration prior to setting off.

Section 1: Coniston to Seathwaite (6.4miles)

It felt a privilege to have Joss Naylor start the race, the weather was perfect and 123 runners set off for the first climbed loop over Walner Scar. Some set off fast but I decided on the restrained approach. Running and walking as I intended for the full length of the course. I ran on my own all the way over Walner Scar and down onto Seathwaite. When I reached the road a polite young lad asked me if I knew were a farm was, I politely replied no sorry. Strange what happens in these ultras? Anyway I went with my pre prepared idea of being quick in the first 2 CPs. I spent about a minute eating some cake and filling my water bottle.

1 hour 26

Section 2: Seathwaite to Boot (6.7miles)

On the next section around Wallowbarrow woods was the first boggy wet section through trees. My feet got wet here and would continue to get wet all the way around due to the large amounts of standing water. 2 miles before entering Boot I met a guy whom I would chat to over the next 2 hours. It certainly made the time go faster. We arrived in the CP together and I left just before him.

1 hour 38 : 3 hours 04

Section 3: Boot to Wasdale Head (5.4miles)

On the climb up to Burnmoor Tarn he caught up with me and we chatted again as the sun began to set below the Mosedale hills. We made our way at a steady pace over and down the rough decent to Wasdale head CP. An indication of how much water was around, was that the organizers diverted the route slightly here so instead of going around the back of the campsite we went across the bridge and joined the road to CP3 avoiding a fast flowing Lingmell Beck.

1 hour 15 : 4 hours 19

Section 4: Wasdale Head to Buttermere (6.8miles)

This is a tough section going over Black Sail Pass and then Scarth gap pass before dropping into Buttermere. On the way up Black Sail We latched onto 2 other runners and eventually the guy that I was running with was 300 meters behind, it just happened naturally and I was now chatting to 2 new guys Neil and Simon We stayed together apart from when I got carried away descending Black Sail wearing my head torch for the first time. They were great company and it felt like we were all very evenly matched pace wise and going into the Butteremere I started to feel like we would be together for a long way. I knew the route and they were good company. So we all gained.

2 hour 05 : 6 hours 25

Section 5: Buttermere to Braithwaite (8.6miles)

Another tough section we made a pact whilst leaving to stay together during the rest of the night to make the navigation easier, I was fairly confident of the route, but it is always more difficult at night and collectively we were less likely to go wrong. We made good time and ran well on the long edges of Whitelss Pike and Crag Hill. On the decent around Outerside we came to another 3 runners and made a large group. It was fortunate for them as they nearly overshot the left turn for Barrow Door. Never mind we all made it and descended to Braithwaite CP together.

1 hour 45 : 8 hours 10

Section 6: Braithwaite to Blencathra (8.2miles)

I picked up some Marmite sandwiches here and ate some soup. I thought Marmite sandwiches were going to appear elsewhere as they were good, but sadly that was a one off. I set off before Neil and Simon running slowly down the side of the A66 knowing that they would catch me up, they did and after a long road run, we made our way up the track to Latrigg. I explained that this is one of the few points were the course meets the BG route. On the way up Lonscale Valley we were caught by 3 other runners then we caught 2 others and soon we were a large group making our way to CP7 in the beautifully still night.

2 hours 07 : 10 hours 18

Section 7: Blencathra to Dockray (7.7miles)

We left the CP taking care not to go the wrong way but soon we caught a guy that left just before us and he guided us through a tricky section that I wasn’t totally sure of. We then passed him on the long flat cycle path. Here a badger sprinted out of the undergrowth at the side of the track and off away from us he mustn’t have liked the head torches, I think we really spooked him. Finally on the climb up to the Old coach road we could take our head torches off and I vowed not to put it on again (a good finishing time is needed to avoid this). The sun raised a brilliant red over the Yorkshire dales as we ran to CP 8 the rest of the section was uneventful all the way to Dockray.

1 hour 54 : 12 hours 13

Section 8: Dockray to Dalemain (9.8miles)

After a quick stop to eat a banana we were off, still all going at almost the same pace. My blistered feet were now not just something I could feel but something that was giving me significant pain. I started to run as efficiently as possible and tried to avoid slipping on rocks and standing on the pointy ones. We negotiated Gowbarrow o.k. and the woods and farm and after another long road run we arrived at Dalemain.

2 hours 24 : 14 hours 38

Section 9: Dalemain to Howtown (6.8miles)

It was good to see Will and Ian here. But feeling a bit light headed like I was in a dream, and trying to patch up my feet whilst eating and changing clothes I was a bit preoccupied and probably didn’t show my appreciation enough. So thanks, you were a real boost. After 20 minutes of foot repair and food we were underway. My feet were better and we made good time to Howtown were we met Ian and Will again.

2 hour 04 : 16 hours 41

Section 10: Howtown to Mardale Head (8.3miles)

Will encouraged us to get up out of the comfy armchairs that were in the Bobbin mill and leave. I didn’t need much encouragement as I was now feeling awake again. Neil was pleased as he pointed out his count down of CPs had hit double figures, I preferred just to think of the next CP as a rest and press on to the next. We trudged off up to the high point of the round and I made a couple of small navigation errors that meant we had to contour around to pick the track up again. Not too bad though. We were soon over and down the other side to the shore of Haweswater were we all filled out bottles in the water fall. Whilst running strongly along the shores we very quickly caught a runner. He was suffering and had a jacket on even though it wasn’t cold. We were a little worried about him.

2 hours 57 : 19 hours 39

Section 11: Mardale Head to Kentmere (5.9miles)

As we got up to leave the guy in question came in so at least he was safe. I was just about to set off when Simon said he wanted to sit down on a rock for a bit. So I decided to slowly make my way up Gatescarth Pass. Not long after it started to rain and I donned my jacket. Simon and Neil had now been passed by a strong looking runner with sticks who told me they were on their way. My racing head was telling me to go but morals wouldn’t let me, it would have been rude not to have even said goodbye. Anyway we carried on over the pass together in strengthening wind and a heavy shower. When we started descending it was just on off drizzle and this would carry on the rest of the day.

2 hours 05 : 21 hours 44

Section 12: Kentmere to Ambleside (7.1miles)

This CP was beautifully sereal, jazzy trance type music played in an almost empty village hall. It was nice and relaxing, a total oasis of calm. We spent a nice 6 or 7 minutes here before setting off on the long climb to Garburn pass, this was the only part of the route that I hadn’t recced. However we all made it up the rough ascent, my feet were now complaining and I knew the descent was going to trouble them. A guy in front kept appearing then rapidly disappearing I kept thinking that his poles must be really helping him on the climbs. On the rough decent it rained and I rang Mark my waiting friend in Ambledside to buy me some new socks and compedes and warn the waiting physios that I may need to use the Lakes runner shop to patch my feet up. Whilst going up from the post office at low fold the 2 leading 50 milers went steaming past running the steep incline whilst being cheered on by an over exuberant old chap shouting “go on f*****g give it some”. Not long after I had realized that our pace was too easy and asked Neil and Simon if they were o.k. with me pressing on. They said go for it, I did. At high Skelghyll I caught the chap with the sticks and pointed him the correct way. We ran into Ambleside together.

2 hours 14 : 23 hours 59

Section 13: Ambleside to Chapel Stile (4.8miles)

It was good to see my sister and Adrian with their 2 kids and Mark. It felt like a real support group. I ended up with a long stop of about 25 minutes whilst the L100 team assessed and treated my feet. What an amazing thing to do, thanks again to them for that, and for all the CP marshalls and organisers, it was great. I left the CP just before Neil and simon (they had a more usual length stop). I vowed to run hard to the end, forget the feet and go for it. So I did, powering on over Loughrigg and on to Elterwater. On Loughrigg I got the map out for the first and only time as I was unsure of a turn, but the 3rd placed 50 runner put me right whilst telling me how well I was running. At Elterwater I caught up with the stick guy, we chatted for a while but eventually he stopped running and I carried on running almost all the way to CP 14.

1 hour 19 : 25 hours 18

Section 14: Chapel Stile to Tilberthwaite (7.7miles)

The stew here gets my vote as the best food of the day. I was almost tempted to break my rule and have more than 1 helping. It started raining as I left and I passed the stick man on the way out. I was running strong and never gave much of a thought as to weather anyone in the 100 would catch me. I didn’t really care although I knew that I was now in 7th place and was very pleased about it. I just ran as well as I could so as to maintain my effort to the end. Whilst running through Great Langdale I was passed again by the 4th an 5th 50 runners who were running together this didn’t phase me although I did check to make sure their numbers background were white (white background = 50, yellow = 100). Again they told me I was running really well, whilst easily passing me. I did think that I must be making a good fist of it even with screamingly sore feet. I made a couple of small errors at Side house and at the campsite before the tough climb over to Blea tarn. Blea Moss I knew to be rough but with very painful feet it was torture, I was glad to get on the road and head for Tilberthwaite. This was agony too but I was nearing the end, on the final bit of road before CP 15 I was caught by the 7th placed 50 runner and vowed to try and stick with his pace, sub 28 hours was still on, just, and I had said to Mark I would see him at the finish at 9.30 PM (I don’t like being late).

1 hour 53 : 27 hours 11

Section 15: Tilberthwaite to Coniston (3.5miles)

A quick stop and I set off at the same time as my “pacer” he pulled out a 300 meter gap by the top of the quarry and I kept working hard and ignoring my feet. I ran along most of Hole Rake and was only 100 meters behind on the decent but I then struggled on the rough ground. My feet were screaming, so I hobbled down as best I could and eventually made it to the cinder path that we had gone up on 28 hours earlier. I ran hard to the line but just missed the 28 hours by 4 minutes.

53 mins : 28 hours 04

I am pleased with how I ran from Ambleside. I managed to run it (including foot treatment) faster than any 100 runner and also ran the last 2 sections from Chapel Stile to Coniston faster than anyone. I have to be pleased with that and the overall run. I feel that with more comfort in my feet I could have done better, but that’s for next time. I ended up 42 minutes ahead of 8th place and 50 minutes behind 6th. 7 th is my best ever placing in any race.

Will and Carwyns Paddy Buckley attempt

5-6 th June
22 miles 10,500 feet



Due to a lack of support for Wills planned Friday 18:00 hrs start he decided to team up with another contender, Carwyn Philips. It was a good plan as it meant if the stuck together they would have enough pooled support. The only down side was that Will had to change to a Saturday start.

Carwyn started his round at Bwlcgwernog so as to get the road section done first, Will decided to wait at Aberglaslyn car park and join Carwyn from here and do, as is tradition, the road section last. I waved Will off on his attempt knowing that his foot had been bothering him lately, but also knowing that unless it got really painful he would finish it in good style.

After some food at the Royal Goat hotel in Beddgelert, we waited at the next road crossing at Pont Caer gors. We spotted them on the Nantle ridge as the completed the last hills of the first leg. I prepared myself for the impending arrival. 45 minutes later they were in and the midges swarmed over the food and the sweaty bodies. Christ was I glad to finally get underway with Carwyn, Will, smudge the dog (who was also unwittingly attempting the round) Bill, Ian and I set off for the first hill of this section, Craig wen.

We soon topped out on Craig Wen and on the way to Yr Aran we had probably the most spectacular view of the ridge ahead. I would go as far as to say it was the most beautiful mountain scene I had laid eyes on. The clouds were draped over the ridge and banked in the valleys with Yr Aran and Snowdon popping out of the clouds ahead, behind was a perfect cloud inversion, only the tops of the highest peaks poking through the clouds, and in the fading light it was spectacular. Good decision not to bring the camera. Ouch. We continued into the night and onto Snowdon a surprisingly busy place at midnight, a troup of walkers were descending and 2 tents were pitched on the summit. Will was a bit slower than Carwyn but held a respectable gap, Bill with Carwyn and Ian and I with Will.

We remained in these groups until the final 2 hills Foel Gron and Moel Ellio, were we joined forces again ready for the long drop into Llanberis. A quick food stop and Bill and I decided to move slowly on up Ellider Fach, so as to make it a touch easier with our newly laden packs. We were soon caught by a Carwyn and Will and a large support group. The peaks came and went. Bill also went as he was struggling a bit so he gave over his liquid and cut the route short via the devils kitchen.

The rest of the leg went well, the first rays of light cheering everyone up. Soon enough we had topped out on Tryfan and were heading down to Llyn Ogwen. We were guided by Carwyns support on a rather convoluted longer route than I had ever done. It was probably a bit slower too. But no matter we were soon down. I was pretty jaded and must have looked it as everyone seamed to be asking if I was alright. I waved Will and Carwyn off whished the luck and proceeded to have a stand up bath in an icy stream.

They both stayed together over the remaining 2 legs and only parted on the final decent of Cnicht. Carwyn raced ahead and Telitha and I spotted them first on the final steep part. This worried Telitha as there was no sign of Will. But soon enough we spotted another group. It was Will and his support group. I knew he would do it. He walked the final 1.2 miles of road as his foot was bothering him. But he had plenty of time, and finished in 23 hours 12 minutes, Carwyn finished in 22:48, and unfortunately Smudge had to retire at Llyn Ogwen tired, and with sore feet. Will has joined myself as one of the few (less than 40 I think) big 3 completers. Nice one Will.

Robs Meirionnydd round attempt

22nd May
18 miles 5,000 Feet

This was Rob’s second attempt at the Meirionnydd round. Last year he was thwarted by a combination of bad weather and severe fatigue. The round is incredibly tough it is in the very rough hills on the mid west side of Wales. To cover 75 miles and 25,000 feet of this terrain in 24 hours is a real challenge; a serious step up from the big 3 rounds. There is a reason that the only man to complete it in 24 hours is the man that first did the round, and that man is a truly exceptional ultra runner; Yiannis Tridimas.

I helped Rob last year, so whilst running down the side of Llyn Tawsfynydd to meet Rob, I knew that I was in for a tough day. Neil and I ran about 1 ½ miles to the dam to meet Rob with some road shoes. On meeting him he seemed in good spirits. But even at 9am it was apparent that the heat of the cloudless day could be a problem. Rob even said that the night was very hot on the Rhinog section.

Rob had a longer than scheduled break at the main road then Carwyn, Rob and I set off on the section to Arenig Fach. The heat was building and we took every opportunity to dunk Robs hat in any bog water we could find. But on these boggy tusocked hills there was no breeze and at times it was oven like. Carrying enough liquid for Rob was to make for a tough day for support too.

After a long build up on very tough ground eventually we were aiming for a significant hill, rather than the mounds that we had already visited. Arenig Fach proved a tough steep climb on loose scree mixed with heather. We eventually made it up, but it was starting to slow Rob down. We descended well to the next support point. Rob was already suffering with the heat and half heartedly mentioned quitting, but as he said he was going to well to justify it, at this point 20 minutes up I think.

I decided to carry on with a large team over Arenig Fawr and 2 other tops, having agreed a lift with Alan Duncan form a minor road crossing back to my car. The long climb up to Arenig Fawr laden with water started to wear me down. I hadn’t drunk enough and now that I had realised this and started to do something about it, it was too late. Five hours of this heat wore me down and I struggled to keep up, on the last hill I found I had to rest on the nicely angled grassy slope every 2 minutes, I had blown up in a big way. I missed the top out and caught them on the descent. Eventually I met up with Rob and when I asked how he felt, he said he was quitting. The heat had really worn him down and his quads were sore too. At the minor road crossing His support convinced him to finish this section and see if it was just a bad patch. It proved to be more than a bad patch and 3 hours later his attempt was over.

I felt sad for Rob as it was a very antritional day (a high of 29c) for such a tough round. Whilst waiting for Rob at the dam Neil and I mused over how this round would compare to a Bob Graham round, and we agreed that it would be equivalent to moving at a sub 20 hours pace, then doing the 4 plus extra hours at that pace aswell. It has got me thinking of asking Rob if I could have a go at it next year with him. I think it may be possible with him almost as a guide, but I don’t think I could put the time into those hills to be confident at the micro navigation which is needed for most of the route. It would certainly give me a serious challenge, one that would be a true adventure as success would be uncertain at best!