Only second place from the 57 year old legend. Was happy enough to just about stay within seeing distance of him for a few mile. Such a strong runner. Great to see. What an awesome race.
Spent 5.13 on the hill. Cant wait for next year.
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Only second place from the 57 year old legend. Was happy enough to just about stay within seeing distance of him for a few mile. Such a strong runner. Great to see. What an awesome race.
Spent 5.13 on the hill. Cant wait for next year.
http://www.inov-8.com/New/Global/Team-Inov-8.html?L=26
hmm. Excellent running to beat CD, though his article raises some questions in light of new race regs?
agreed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Athers
The organisation is flawless and the route is possibly my favourite of any race, pushed close only by Duddon.
Soooo......
Who's going next weekend?
My first time out (and probably my last) on the A course
But I have promised for years that I'll do it.
My son (14) is doing the F course (short mountaineers) with his Grandad (71), so it's a family affair
Good sized field this year - posssibly because Ennerdale doesn't clash this year.
Nice to see a couple of V70 out on the A as well.
But no Colin...?
I will be there. Missed the last 2 years due to work commitments but this year I am entering a works team in Class D rather than my preferred Class A.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMoosehead
Yes - I will be there. Have passed a fitness test, a secondary fitness test, and a late late fitness test :o)
Cracking route, looking forward to this one, just hoping the weather stays cool and dry until about 1:30pm and then the heatwave breaks out.
Woop woop - see you on the bus!
What an excellent race- if you haven't considered it before, do, it's proper good.
here's an idea of what to expect - or at least, what happened yesterday.
http://testedtodestruction.blogspot....race-2015.html
It was pretty brutal in the wind across the Carneddau. Glad I did it (fulfilled a promise to do it one day...)
Pyg Track and snowdon were grim. Clueless tourists milling about and getting cold, punishing wind and cold. Was glad to get off the top.
3 generations of family did it - My son and dad did the short mountaineers: they won the family class and junior/v70 prizes respectively.
I was very happy with 5:18 on A considering how little training and preparation I did. :)
Heartily recommend this race to anyone.
well done Moosehead and family!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrMoosehead
Heartily agree...what a great result by Family Moosehead!
People would not believe how severe conditions can be in mid summer up on those ridges. The Carneddau seem to attract massive windspeeds. Well done Moosey and everyone else who finished an absolute classic point to point high level Mountain race.
Must do it myself again someday!
Superb day out (well, it felt like a full day anyway!).
Wind was vicious at times so chapeau to all the marshalls, good job it was a bright clear day because any moisture with those winds could have caused carnage. The drop-out rate was something like 15% as it was!
Having sworn numerous times during the race that i'd never be back, i'm now thinking I could be tempted to go back fighting fit for a crack at a PB.
I'd say 80% of the general public on Snowdon shouldn't be up there, purely for their own safety, but it's always fun fighting your way through them as they struggle up in their flip flops. The idiots with dogs on a cani-cross setup should be shot on sight for everyone else's safety!
Second time around for me. First bash was last year in torrential rain but actually found the weather better that time than the wind speeds we encountered this year. Anyway, PB for me getting that sub 5 but some more to come off for sure in good conditions and a few better line choices but what a great race. Feels like a proper fell race / adventure and definitely sorts the men from the boys (i'm 100% still a boy) :-)
Many Thanks for the organisation and hopefully we see those type of fields (100+) more often on what is an absolute classic.
Results below.
http://www.welsh1000m.org/results/results_A.html
This was a fantastic day out. Great weather but howling wind. This year I was going to enter as an individual for Class A again, but I work with a great bunch of fit lads so decided to enter a team into Class D with the aim of winning the class.
We took the lead after about 400m and our navigation was spot on all the way round. One of the lads took a tumble on the way down to Ogwyn MR post so we dropped him there as he needed stitches before cracking on. The remaining 3 finished and won the Class D so mission accomplished. The other 2 lads who finished had never done anything like this before and were blown away by the fun of it all.
Overall not only did we win Class D, but importantly I am confident that I have sold this event to the other members of my team for future iterations of this race.
Thank you to all the organisers and check point staff and well done to all the entrants.
Anyone else in for this on Saturday?
Can't wait for this. Classic course. Hoping to push towards 5 hrs but probably being a bit optimistic. If the weather is bad then who knows.....
An incredibly tough race yesterday, the sheer size of the climbs and descents is pretty hard to take in.
Found it very important to just "race my own race" on a day like this. Times when I was walking and others were streaming past me, and other times I was able to run when everybody else was walking.
It was very hot and sunny which made it very uncomfortable. Was around 55th at Ogwen, but started to pull a few back on the long grind to Glyder. Managed to nail the descent down to Pen-Y-Pass spot on (where did everyone else go?) People arriving at the pass from all over the place.
Got my head down for the long slog up the Pig track, but 10 minutes in I succumbed to horrendous cramp, was flat out on the floor. Luckily a passer-by rubbed my legs and gave me a gel and I recovered, actually making up another place on this section.
Finished 47th in 6hrs29mins. Interesting because that time most years would see me way down the field, but yesterday I was comfortably top half. Although the winning times were as fast as usual. Perhaps it indicates how tough the conditions were for us mere mortals, and maybe I can go faster on an easier day.
Really was my kind of race, much less about running, and more about sticking it out and keeping going.
Fantastic event. Was great to talk to some of the leading mountaineering class teams at the end, don't know how they do it in trousers and boots yesterday!
Not quite the 5hrs you had planned for then...yep the heat was a killer.
I opted for the short course in the end with Maths Cwm Pennant this weekend i didn't fancy feeling wrecked for the week before. Had an ok-ish run. Came down into PYP within the hour in 2nd place but already about 6/7 mins behind L.Taggert and then just seemed to go backwards up the Pyg track. Felt so tired from the heat and it was like hitting a brick wall. Ended up dropping a few spots and getting a penalty for not having a whistle but all was good. Fairplay to all that did the long. I think the trot down snowdon is the worst bit.
Think i'll skip a year come 2017...just cant enjoy that slog up the pyg with all the walkers. Its mentally a nightmare. Brilliant organisation as always.
Yes it was pretty apparent that 5 hours was way off the mark, although I still managed to finish not too far off the position I was expecting.
Will probably be back next year, with some route knowledge now, and a fresh pair of legs, and maybe even some more favourable conditions, I'm sure I can get a lot closer to 5, certainly 5:45 should be a realistic ambition next year. Will revisit this in a year and see how it pans out!!
Well done on your race. Nearly 20% drop out on the A course, and on some other courses over 50% drop out, points to a tough day out for all involved!!
Well it's that time of year again... Anyone in for this?
Hoping to take a chunk off last year's time, will be interesting to see what I can do. Looks a decent quality entry list with 130 currently on it.
I'm sneaking away for the day from a weekend with my wife's family to get this in. I'm sure they won't notice I'm not there.
MrRTS is coming to play - Race 13 of his 50@50. Beau dog and I are studying the map to see which hill to park our picnic on to get the photos :-) We will probably go to around Aber Falls before route choice kicks in then drive round to Pen-y-pass and climb up to the just before the fork off to Crib Goch (make sure MrRTS is not delirious and head up onto that haha). Then we will trot back down and drive around to Llanberis to meet him on his way off Snowdon. So exciting :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Travs
Hopefully say hello to you.... Look out for delirious of Cov Godiva...!Quote:
Originally Posted by RaceTheSweeper
Note re Aber Falls, the usual route does not pass directly past the falls, but is on the path which is above the falls heading into the valley above.
MrRTS really doesn't believe in making life easy, does he? Insisting on seeking out the toughest AL races for his 50@50, when it could have been done so much more comfortably with a selection of BS races and the occasional AS or BM around the Peak District. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by RaceTheSweeper
Ah but the problem is the daft lad also added 50,000 meters total climb to the challenge. :-) ... great thing is Beau dog and I are having such fun and getting a pretty fit too .. bonus!Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonykay
Missing the W1000 this year. One of my favourites but I have not been able to do hardly any training for a couple of months so it would have been frustrating, although just being up there would still have been good.
Good luck to everyone and fingers crossed for good weather.
Thanks for that. I will check out the map a bit more to make sure I'm where I need to be. Shout as you pass. Beau dog will shout back too I'm sure :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Travs
It was chucking down earlier in Llangollen. Popped into a house clearance sale where, amongst other things, was a telescopic sight off a WW2 tank.
Cleared up nicely now and it's pretty warm in Betws Y Coed, where I managed to snap up a lovely Ogwen MOuntain Rescue buff.
MWIS forecast is still the same as its been for the past few days, I.e generally good, but the possibility of some cloud. But the Welsh 1000 fb page assures us we're in for a warm day and lengthy sunshine.
What a cracking day out today. I'm not saying it's THE hardest race, but today was the hardest I've ever had to work to finish a race.
I was 6:29 last year and hoping to knock off half hour and get under 6 hours. I'd trimmed 12 minutes by the time I hit the A5, and despite suffering badly with cramp over the Glyders I was 24 mins up on last year at pen-y-pass. Unfortunately the cramp hit a new level on way up Snowdon and I was unable to maintain my pace, losing a couple of minutes on that section and finishing in 6:07
So a missed opportunity given the pace I was setting (perhaps went off too fast) but given the struggle from the A5 onwards I'm very happy to finish, let alone knock a chunk off last year.
A big hello to Mr RaceTheSweeper who kept me company up to the first cp, unfortunately a duff line from me, saw you speed off into horizon, never to be seen again. I wouldn't have been able to keep up anyway.
And also a massive hello to whoever bellowed a huge "WELL DONE TRAVS" at me up on the carneddau. Unfortunately I was suffering from the heat a little and didn't recognise who it was.
I often hear the phrase "if you don't do Wasdale/Ennerdale/Borrowdale then you're just playing at fell running". I know it's said half in jest, but the same is true for the Welsh 1000 and Peris. They really are fantastic races and beyond tough. I'm going to commit sacrilege here and propose that they are better races over bigger and badder mountains.
Certainly the 1000's it's the sheer scale of the climbs that seems to do the damage, judging by the way myself and many others were staggering up the Pyg Track today.
Fantastic day.
Took a massive shortcut at the zig zags at the top of Pyg/Miners track, basically leaving the path and going straight up that steep slope. Perhaps I left the path a bit early and lost some time, as I kept looking at the finger stone and thinking I could have been there by now. However when I emerged on the top I'd taken over a couple, but perhaps I'd have taken them anyway.
just entered this year's race
far too long (4 years) since I did this
excited already :D
anybody else...?
I'm sadly missing it this year after doing it the past two years.
It is fantastic, and I'd argue that it is equally as tough as Peris, if not even a shade harder in anything but ideal conditions.., The sheer size of the climbs and descents, guaranteed cramp-inducer.
Did this for the first time this year. I had thought, "It's only three climbs and two descents, how hard can it be?"
Ha ha ha - the answer to that question is usually "Dead fookin hard," and so it was. What an epic!
The first six miles is virtually continuous climbing on rough underfoot terrain - no tracks or trods to speak of. A great expedition. And fewer than 100 runners - none of the riff raff from the lake District.
Well done Mark. It's a monster. The sheer scale of the climbs takes it out of you. If you can find yourself moving well up the Pyg Track you can make up plenty of time and places... easier said than done though...! Regretfully missed it this year, but will be back next year
I did the long challenge race as I was running with a an ex-work colleague who didn't have enough ALs under his belt to enter the fell race. What an event and what a route - I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The final climb up Snowdon seemed to take for ever - it felt about three times the height of the other climbs.
As an aside, it's the first time I've been up Snowdon, and isn't it busy? I was expecting lots of people, but there must have been tens of thousands there that day. It's more akin to being part of a football crowd than it is to being on a mountainside.
It was nice to get a medal at the top. :)
Yes the climb up the PYG track is certainly a trial. The combined effects of the previous 5/6/7 hours effort, cramp, weather, and the crowds, have led to me losing my rag a couple of times, and finding it very hard to keep it together when yet another person walks into you whilst not looking.
The Peris climb (over Lliwedd), despite being significantly harder, is actually more pleasant due to the lack of crowds, and you only really have to deal with crowds on the final 100 yards to get up onto the very summit, and then the short section down the railway until you get to the Snowdon Ranger Path).
Although taking each climb as a separate entity, i find the climb up onto the Glyder to be the hardest on the Welsh 1000's....
Despite the drawbacks in the first paragraph, i still think it's the finest fell race out of all the ones I've done.
When you're coming down off the Carneddau and you look up and see where you're going next, it's frightening!
Yep,after 5+ hours of hard mountain running, having to manoeuvre round a never ending line of people who can barely stay on their feet just adds that little je ne sais quoi to the ascent of the already excruciating PYG track.
Call me elitist, intolerant, hypocritical, selfish or anything else that springs to mind, but I generally find a visit to the top of Snowdon to be a sullying experience. Not that I've ever witnessed one first hand, but it probably does bear comparison to a football crowd.
All that notwithstanding - it is a mighty fine fell race.
Still the finest mountain in the UK in my opinion. (I'll qualify that by saying I've only climbed a handful in Scotland).
I can't understand why they don't let you take the shortcut over Crib Goch instead of using the PYG track :). After all, they take you along Gribin (rather than the Devil's Kitchen path) to go up Glyder Fawr.
Regarding the crowds on Snowdon: I have only ever been up Snowdon three times. The first two were in the Snowdon race, when I was fairly oblivious to the crowds (presumably because the Llanberis path is wide enough that they weren't getting in my way). The third time was last Summer, when I walked up via Crib Goch. I had been completely alone since the Crib Goch pinnacles, where I had overtaken a group who stopped for a rest. The first break in this solitude was as I approached the summit of Garnedd Ugain, and heard the sounds of a steam train coming through the clag, rather surreal in that environment. But then, as I dropped down to the col before the climb to Snowdon, I saw that the Llanberis path was like Oxford Street on a Saturday before Christmas. I walked to the summit and then left as quickly as possible.
I think your comment is in jest... But I guess the organisers are (quite justifiably) worried about Crib Goch, only a few years after that guy died on the race, on the Carneddau.... the checkpoints are now sited to almost give a fixed route away from any massive drops.Quote:
Originally Posted by anthonykay
Take your point re Cribyn, although the scramble section is fairly short lived and unexposed if you take the sensible line. Although last year I was on that section in poor weather and went a bit far left of the best line, and was rather unnerved to find myself on the very crest with a significant bit of exposure on my left side! I do think Devil's Kitchen would be a slower option, as once you get to the top of DK, you turn left and still have that horrible climb up onto Glyder. I think Cribyn is faster.
Entries have been open a while and i'm in again for this year. Already 30+ entries for the long race, so hopefully this fantastic race will get the turnout it deserves.
Despite a couple of drawbacks... dealing with the crowds on the final climb, and the location of the checkpoints making route choice very slim... it's a great race, at least equal to the toughest Lakeland classics. The only race I've suffered as much has been Buttermere Horseshoe. The sheer size of the climbs and descents is a step above the lakes races.
After boldly predicting in 2016 that i'd be pushing 5 hours, I've yet to get under 6 hours! But it's been two years since my last attempt, and a lot of training and improvement since then, so hopefully June will see me knocking off some substantial time.... (that's me nailed on for 6hrs01 then).
Cancelled this year. A great shame as it was the 50th Anniversary (and until the chaos of the past week, was scheduled to be my 100th fell race).
I've got accommodation booked in the Betws-y-coed area, which i'm holding onto for now, in the hope of doing something else that weekend instead.
Tough luck Travs. As a good alternative you could have a crack at the Welsh 3000's. See if you can get under 10 hours!