Last Saturday 18th June was the annual V3K ultra race, the first race of the year in the UK sky running calendar, and I had, rather stupidly, booked myself a place. I say stupidly because the last running race I attempted I didn’t finish, the one before that I finished but didn’t get my food and water intake right, and the race before that I didn’t finish either! Add to that, that I had only just returned from a long expedition and had only done a couple of runs in the last 6 weeks and you’ll understand why it was becoming a ridiculous idea. But then there was nothing to lose. 54km of running over my local mountains, with 4000m ascent.
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| Looking fresh at the V3K ultra start |
3:45am alarm clocks ring, banana oaty pancakes and coffee for breakfast (kindly cooked by Jim who got up at 3:30). Dressed in running kit, double check compulsory kit, check 4 safety pins holding race number onto shorts, check phone and watch charged, check heart rate monitor is on and working, check food and water are all in the correct pockets, put midge spray on, check check check and check.
4:20am driving to the race start and find ourselves behind the coaches of runners, at least I won’t be late then.
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| The race start, full of lean sky runners, marshalls and midges! |
5:00am race begins with a fast ascent of the South Ridge of Snowdon, leaving the midges behind. Initially starting up the Watkin path, you soon split off to the left as you would to climb Yr Aran. I raced up, alternating between jogging and power walking, trying hard to focus on breathing steadily and keeping a pace of 800-1000m ascent per hour. My initial goal was to get to Snowdon’s summit within 90 minutes of leaving the road, having eaten some food; I got there in 78 having eaten 1 and a half bars. Feeling great I hurried past the summit ‘rush hour’ as hundreds of walkers plodded up, and was soon joining other runners along the way to Carnedd Ugain. Peace again.
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| Balancing along the Crib Goch ridge in the fog |
Crib Goch, the ‘knife edge ridge’ was covered in low fog, enabling you to see around 100m infront and no more. Being local definitely helped here as I knew roughly where some of the faster more runable sections are, in addition to feeling confident travelling purposefully along the ridge. The first section of Crib Y Ddysgl was incredible slippy and greasy. Passing a few groups heading in the opposite direction, in addition to some slower runners I made great time and felt confident in my abilities, so far so good. But the worst was yet to come, the screes down to Nant Peris.
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| Running along Crib Goch is always fun, even in the fog Photo by Andy Milton |
7:47am arrived at the aid station, I couldn’t believe I was there around an hour before my estimated time, this worried me a little, but also gave me a much needed boost (maybe I could actually finish the race after all I thought). Filled water bottle with half coke half water mix, ate food, packed another bar, packed jam sandwiches, picked up trail running poles.
7:52am left aid station and started the long 800m ascent to Elidir Fawr. Despite being a long ascent, time seemed to pass quickly, and by now my feet and shoes were soaked through having chosen bog and marsh over the long way around. More food and water consumed. The fog remained thick and I only saw a few other runners. 2nd checkpoint stamped.
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| Energy levels were still high as I powered up Y Garn into more thick fog |
How pleasant it was to be descending quickly, my legs still felt strong and I would be up Y Garn in no time at this rate. The next peak was over, more descending, a cup of tea from the lovely marshalls at Llyn Y Cwn, and then a 300m climb to Glyder Fawr up more scree. This wasn’t too bad either, however I was very glad that I knew the area so well, as the course markings were rather sporadic at times and I would have had to navigate properly across the Glyderau. An occasional check of my phone GPS sufficed for peace of mind.
Glyder Fach soon arrived as I skipped across the uneven rocky terrain, but no sign of the checkpoint stamp or marshall. Descending downwards we spotted them, some misinformation as to their true location was given beforehand. Phew, I picked up my 3rd stamp and continued on, legs firing, to the Miner’s Track. Traversing to the Tryfan wall, and the hills began to get busier again. The summit was littered in hill walkers and runners, and soon the descent straight down the gully started. This was the only section of the course I had never done before, and I couldn’t believe how direct and easy to follow it was. After a short section of bum sliding and down stepping, man made steps arrived and I galloped down them, overtaking several other runners, yes… overtaking while running downhill. This seemed preposterous to me, the runner who can’t run down hills.
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| Descending quickly down the steps from Tryfan Photo by Andy Milton |
12:09 Arriving into Glan Dena aid station, I felt tired for the first time, and knew I was as I could only manage 8km/hr rather than 9km/hr along the road. The Carneddau would be difficult. The good news was that this eating and drinking while running thing was actually working, I couldn’t believe the difference it made. Over the Glyderau I had consumed 1litre of liquid, 2 jam sandwiches and a bar. Sitting down inside the bunkhouse I ate some vegan lemon drizzle cake - actually quite nice (I’m not a vegan), topped up bottles, put more jam sandwiches in my bag and dropped off my 2nd extra warm top.
12:19 Ran out of Glan Dena towards Pen Y Ole Wen, the last big climb of the day. Having taken each section of the day in small stages so far I only thought about getting to the top of this climb, forgetting the other 25km running left to do. Impressed that I could still ascent at 800-850m/hr I still felt positive, but my legs were tiring. This showed as I could no longer bound from rock to rock across the Carneddau, everything began to ache. At times the fog cleared and you could see for miles, then it would return with a vengenace, requiring the occasional GPS check. Although familiar with this section of the course, the GPS could tell me exactly how much further I had until the next peak.
Soon the first out and back to Yr Elen arrived, flagging, a couple of people who had overtaken me earlier passed me by, fleeting words of encouragement were passed, I was still smiling! Carnedd Llewelyn came and went, and I tried my hardest to get those sprightly legs to return to me. Come on legs… They didn’t, patient jogging over the rocks took over, until the grassy tracks towards the northern peaks replaced them. Patient jogging continued, a forced injection of speed running did nothing to invigorate them, so I was damned to forever plod on at this pace of 6-7km/hr. Secretly I wished to do the 3000ers top to top in 8-12hrs, and finish the race in under 12hrs. Ambitious.
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| Nearing the end of the Carneddau and the uphill, this track went on forever |
15:43 Relief poured over me upon reaching Foel Fras, the last top in 9hrs 25 top to top. No more big climbs left, and the only way back was on foot, I had, effectively finished, as I now had to get down unless injured.
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| Jogging slowly towards the sea and the finish line at Hendre Hall, all downhill from here. Photo by Andy Milton |
Returning to Hendre Hall, Tal Y Bont, from the Carneddau is beautiful. Whatsmore, the fog began to part and I could see the sea in addition to all of the peaks previously summitted earlier today. It was stunning, but I just couldn’t stop to take photographs. My legs were fading fast, and all I could concentrate on was getting down, not tripping over, and trying not to cry with excitement!
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| Running into the finish line at Hendre Hall |
I can’t describe how thrilled I am to have finally finished an ultra race. After another year of trail running, trying to work on my descending, and having the guts to enter another ‘crazy’ race I think it all paid off. To summarise, all I can say is, it was a great day in the hills, and eating and drinking while running definitely helps. Thanks Jim.
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| At the finish having just received my medal. |
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