I was going to post my effort yesterday on here, but thought I might have been accused of taking over the thread
I was going to post my effort yesterday on here, but thought I might have been accused of taking over the thread
Richard Taylor
"William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
Sid Waddell
In answer to some of the earlier posts regarding the Arenig Fawr race; it can be considered a Bowland Fell Runners event - Yiannis is a BFR member. He now spends a lot of his time on his beloved Isle of Andros, where he was born & bred, tending the vines and olives on the family farm, plus assisting with footpath repairs for eco-tourism.
The joint ROs are now Bowland members Andy Jackson (Crewe) and Rob Morris (Liverpool); they take it in turns to "front" the event, alternate years. The marshals are a mix of Bowland members and members of the old Lancaster Thursday Night Running Group that Yiannis used to run with.
I've been down to marshal every year since the first event in 2005. I usually help with car parking. On the original route I used to do a head count by the bothy at the dam, just to be certain how many were actually out on the mountain then I would sweep the course.
Nowadays I flag up through the quarry, marshal and head count at the wall crossing below "the gully" then de-flag the quarry before marshalling at CP6 - "The Heathery Knoll".
Yes, about 4 years ago, on a particularly nasty day, one of the the pair of marshals that usually go on Moel Llyfnant was ill and could not make it to the race. His (solo) buddy failed to hit the summit of Llyfnant in the clag & gale and finished up on that crazy little road that runs from the 'A' road at the S end of Lake Bala across to the 'A' road S of Trawsfynydd. He self recovered by hitching a lift with a local farmer!
Last edited by wheezing donkey; 29-08-2020 at 04:52 PM.
I was a bit of an oddball until I was abducted by aliens; but I'm perfectly OK now!
Ran a loop of the Llyn costal path clockwise around the headland from Aberdaron a couple of weeks ago. It looks easy on the map, but I reckon it ended up being about 6m 1500'. The final top, Mynnyd Anelog, actually had a ridge path to the cairn, but the Englishman straight lined it through the horse and ended up with prickled shins.
Not as bad as The Master's shins on that ill-fated trudge over the pewitts at xotf, mind.
It's a lovely path - if a little hard! We had our wedding party at the campsite at the end with views over Bardsey and seeing Ireland every evening.
I did a fair section of the Llyn path, West from Morfa Nefyn/Ty Coch... Very scenic, although my abiding memory is of taking a big fall on a slippy rock and landing flat on my upper leg, which turned an interesting shade of purple!