Our sport has a much shorter history in Wales than in England or Scotland (why?). A fair proportion of my fell racing has been in Wales and, having recently posted about the Cilcain race here and having had an article about the "oldest fell race in South Wales" in the Fellrunner magazine a couple of years ago, I thought I would put together what I know about the early days of the sport in Wales. Additional information, corrections, outright denials, etc., all welcomed.

North Wales: The 1000m-metre Peaks Race has been going annually since 1971, although the route was used by the military for training exercises for many years before that. The Cilcain Mountain Race has been run annually since 1973, but was also run as one-off in 1960: the first ever fell race in Wales? The Snowdon Race has been run annually since 1976. I don't think there were any other races in the 1970's, although there was a great upsurge in activity in Snowdonia and then the Clwydian Hills in the 1980's, the former following the formation of Eryri Harriers in 1977.

Mid-Wales: Races that have appeared in the FRA Calendar from time to time include the following. The Offa's Dyke 15 (Hay-on-Wye to Kington, so partly in England) was held annually from 1977 to 2000, revived in 2015. The Sarn Helen Hill Race (Lampeter) and the Man vs Horse race (Llanwrtyd Wells) have both been held annually since 1980. None of these is Category A.

South Wales: I have recently seen it written that the Machen Welfare Mountain Race started in 1979 (and has been held annually except for 2011-2013). But when did it first appear in the FRA Calendar? If it did start in 1979, my claim in the magazine that Llanbedr-Blaenavon is the oldest fell race in South Wales would be wrong. That race was first held in 1980, followed by Brecon Beacons in 1981 and many more races in South Wales during the 1980's.

I can't help wondering if there are races associated with village shows, etc., that have been going on for much longer without anyone in the fell-running community being aware. After all, Wales consists almost entirely of good fell-running terrain.