Snowdon Race

[Ady]

I can't see the record ever being beaten. There's no doubt KS mark is an incredible record but does the slight course changes make it impossible for the current crop to beat? (No longer allowed to use the train track, stepped section).

[nightingale]

[QUOTE=Ady;332106]I can't see the record ever being beaten. There's no doubt KS mark is an incredible record but does the slight course changes make it impossible for the current crop to beat? (No longer allowed to use the train track, stepped section).[/QUOT

Thats true. And, not allowed to cut the corners.

[TimW]

The word is ,World Mountain running champion K Wilson Chemweno from Kenya is going to run the Snowdon race this year.
this should be very interesting,if he can`t beat the record,then who is capable of doing so?his down fall might most probably be the descent.if he can get down in 22 min he should be in with a shout.if the record isnt broken then this one has taken on all comers and been triumphant(respect) only Mark Kinch has gotten close to it with a sud 63min even the great De Gasperi has`nt touched that.
what ever the outcome, should be one of the best quality fields that Snowdon has seen in years.
i wish i was`nt running now

The course is quite clearly different to what it was in the days of Kenny and Mark (as regards the state of the path) not that they weren't great runners, and I'm sure Wilson if he runs is capable of getting close. I'll be interested.

[cofi_Mynydd]

All who reach the summit in less than 59 minutes will get to use the train track back down to the finger stone.

[bcegkmqsw]

All who reach the summit in less than 59 minutes will get to use the train track back down to the finger stone.

Nice incentive to put a bit more effort in!
I'm almost glad that I'm only able to watch this year. The only dilemma is where do I stand?

[bcegkmqsw]

I'd like to see them do the Tryfan Downhill in 8 minutes!

I don't think that they'd be willing to break both wrists the way Mike did when he set the record!

[TimW]

Wilson is wanting to do a few races in the UK including the Snowdon International.
He said he likes the profile of the race.
For those that saw him race at the Commonwealth Champs at Keswick he was awesome on anything that went uphill or flat but struggled on the descents.
The Keswick races were the first time he had done a hill race where there was any down hill. His only other mountain race was an uphill only in Austria (which he won) a week before Keswick.
Wilson has since been training uphill & DOWN.
Should be a good race.

http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biograp...498/index.html

I didn't think the Keswick race had any descents (not proper ones) so surely on that basis he has about as much chance of breaking the record as England do of ever winning the World Cup (possible?)

[TimW]

Never dont the race mate so dont know but looking at photos you see lots of road shoes which tells me that it aint techinal and theres nothing to steep

Does anyone here ever wear road shoes in fell / mountain races? I've known Holmesy wear them at Ben Nevis (!) which certainly is technical and steep, although he is obviously exceptional in several ways. I get the feeling most people would be better off in fell shoes even on Snowdon, just some wear their roadies either out of habit or out of not knowing any better (in the case of some overseas runners who never do up and down races). I certainly wouldn't feel safe in them and I'm a pretty decent descender who rarely goes over on the ankles.

[IainR]

Never dont the race mate so dont know but looking at photos you see lots of road shoes which tells me that it aint techinal and theres nothing to steep

It's technical enough. On dry rock you could get away with road shoes. you could on any race which is 99% rock. As to whether it's steep it is for about 1/2 mile and in places it's very rough. That's why even really good road runners don't get near Kenny's time, because to get down fast you've got to be a very very good descender.

This descent scares me more than almost any other descent, even the last pap on Jura, because youa re going so fast and the surface is rough and sharp that any fall is going to nasty.

[Petal]

Someone tell these Kenyans about the £500 on offer for breaking Keith Anderson's Pen y Fan record of 30:00 minutes. Now that is a proper fell running descent, and (like Kenny's) a record I reckon will not be beaten by any runner today except perhaps a Bikele (and they are not going to show up in a million years). At the time Keith A was top class roadie + the best descender in UK fell running by a mile. But as organizer I think I'd have a heart attack if Kenyans turned up - it's bad enough with the Gurkhas and the Springfield Striders, never mind the "London Frontrunners"