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Thread: Four Fans

  1. #11
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    Cracking report

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Travs View Post
    Arrived early (even before the race organiser) to give plenty of time to warm up, and met the venerable Anthony Kay.... nice to meet you.
    More vulnerable than venerable, it seems . . .
    Quote Originally Posted by Travs View Post
    Anthony I hope your foot is ok?
    I'm fairly sure it's plantar fasciitis, so I don't know how long it will be before I am running again. Anyway, I wasn't going to let that spoil my long weekend in sunny Wales (apparently it's been raining most of the weekend back in the English Midlands). It made a nice change to be standing by the last checkpoint, admiring the view in between watching runners come through. You did well to move up from about 11th to 4th, Travs.
    In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
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  3. #13
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    Was surprised to see you on the final top. Was expecting to see my dad up there, but the climb was too much for his 70 year old inexperienced legs (although he does a fair bit of cycling), and he was waiting at the finish line.

    It was certainly a lovely view up there, although at the time I was pre-occupied with the view behind to the next runner!

    The whole race was great, but from the 2nd top to the finish was absolutely fantastic running... steep, challenging, barely a path to be seen...

  4. #14
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    Well done Travs. Great report. On paper the race looks like quite unassuming but your experience shows it to otherwise. I love it for its true open-ness and escalating toughness....just like you describe. How does it compare to your races in other parts of the country?
    Simon Blease
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  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wheeze View Post
    How does it compare to your races in other parts of the country?
    I’d rate it at the tough end of medium Fell races. In terms of technical difficulty and steepness, I’d say it’s on a par with other tough AM races in the UK. Long Mynd Valleys is a similar style race, where the majority of the climb and steepness comes towards the end. Although the climbs on LMV are shorter, I’d say it’s a smidgen harder than Four Fans just because of the sheer ferocity of the final few miles. But it’s close. Of course it depends where your strengths and preferences lie... it was far more difficult than “runnable” courses like Fairfield and Kentmere Horseshoes, but then I love the steep climbs as it slows the real runners down!

    The one thing that makes the South Wales races more challenging in my eyes is the smaller numbers, remoteness and lack of paths. I think this would take a lot of runners way out of their comfort zone. I’d consider turning up on sight and getting round something like the Black Mountains Race in poor weather, to be a far bigger achievement than getting round something like Borrowdale. (I was discussing something similar at the weekend with someone regarding the Trigger/Marsden-Edale... which with “only” about 5000ft across 24 miles doesn’t sound too bad. But factor in the time of year, weather and terrain, and it’s up there with the toughest races of the year).

    Four Fans would be a ferocious opponent in zero visibility, and even in clear weather I was quite glad that I’d covered much of the 2nd half of the race in the South Wales Mountain Trial earlier this year, so I knew what was coming.
    Last edited by Travs; 29-07-2019 at 01:46 PM.

  6. #16
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    I'd agree with a lot of that. LMV is a good comparison but you're right....in bad weather the Four fans would turn from tough to lethal! Also, you now have bragging rights as just one of a select band of 23 that did the race this year!
    Simon Blease
    Monmouth

  7. #17
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    I was surprised that in such a small field, the overall standard seemed incredibly high. When I looked round the start line, the vast majority looked fit, lithe and fast... as opposed to myself who spent most of the warmup creaking at the joints and standing with my hands on hips, shaking my head.

    In fact, such was the tightness of the race, I reckon I’ve scored less points points for coming 4th, than I did in the other SW Series races where I came 6th and 8th but with a better average time compared to the rest of the field.
    Last edited by Travs; 29-07-2019 at 02:03 PM.

  8. #18
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    I was sure there was another thread somewhere relating to this race... more specifically discussing the main route choice (i.e the Beacons Way or Sarn Helen route from the first to the second tops). Various esteemed forum members posted on it... but i've searched and can't find anything. I certainly didn't imagine it...

    Anyone know where that thread is? Or any of the South Wales contingent care to throw in their two-penneth on the route choice? Wheeze/Moley/Llani...?

  9. #19
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    This is going ahead on saturday, using the Maprun app.... you install the App on your phone, download the event map, and (in theory) it does all the rest, recording you through start/checkpoints/finish...

    Will be staggered starts, no marshalls on course, and an "unofficial" race, as there is no WFRA insurance... although the event is open only to WFRA members (the theory being that if you're a member of the WFRA you should hopefully have the experience to get round without requiring marshalls/sweeper/prayer/etc...)

    I had a good race here last year and my best ever race finishing position (albeit in a small field).... but hopefully fitter, and now know the route and hopefully can cut out a couple of errors made last year... hoping for an improvement. Although the time-trial nature means we'll all have to work hard to keep the pace up... i know last year it was the incentive of chasing a top 5 finish which spurred me on, and i'll have to find that motivation from within on saturday...

  10. #20
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    good luck! I'll be missing it (again).
    MapRun should run fine but:

    download the map at home/somewhere with a good data signal and

    make sure you set your phone up to run the Maprun App in the background. If you don't, it will stop recording when your phone goes to sleep.

    I've used it before and it works well.
    Should be a nice weekend, in any case!
    ....it's all downhill from here.

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