Well done to everyone who ran; it was bloody hot! I managed 2:08 which was 8 minutes over my recce time but then I did fall over 3 times on the way down during the actual race. Thanks to the kind people who stopped to ask if I was ok; after the third fall I seriously though about staying on the floor but the thought of a cold beer at the finish got me back on my feet.
Cracking race, despite the bruises I really enjoyed it.
that was my first fell race and Oh My God, valuable lessons learnt, 1.being a decent road runner counts for nothing on the fell.2. don`t eat cake and coffee an hour before the race and lesson
3. don`t follow fell runners down a mountain because they run off cliffs!
I started off ok, nice and easy 7:27 first mile. Through the woods was tricky with roots under foot and i was dying for a pee.I stopped for a pee and lost 12 places, second mile 8:09. I couldnt seem to get going again and was now having to queue at styles, mile 3, 8:10 at the foot of the mountain there was a sign 4km to the top and the only way is up up up,I was now starting to feel sick (see lesson no 2 cake) onwards and upwards and a major whitey reduced me to a hands on knees march the trail got higher and steeper with no respite mile 4, 21:27 yes for 1 mile,i had ran the Walton park 5 mile 3 days earlier in 28 mins, now i resembled a pastey faced zombie with his hands stuck to his knees, to scared to look up I soldiered on until near the summit where it was so steep it was almost vertical. I was so happy to be on the descent, I spotted an older man in a pink shirt who was running off the trail, he seemed to really know the mountain well so i thought heres my ticket to the bottom ( see lesson 3) the man ran off the side of the mountain and soft lad here followed him. I have never been so scared, it was ridiculously steep i could put my hand behind me and touch the floor and we were travelling at a pace,finally i reached the bottom my quads were battered,then i took a tumble, i lay there for what seemed about a minute before daring to move, happy i was still in one piece i got up and continued.It was baking hot and i was feeling really ill now, finding it difficult to find any rythm or even any resemblance of jogging i power walked and ran when i could,back through the woods and finally onto tarmac,a look at my watch told me i had been racing for 1hr 52 mins with a mile to go.With that lovely black smooth surface that i am so used to beneath my feet i was determined to break 2 hours and so once more into the breach i put my head down and started my last mile effort I crossed the finish line in 1:58:05 last mile split 5:59.
Definitely got unfinished business with Cader idris, see you next year.
Welcome to the fells.Originally Posted by Jakesy
As the man said :w00t: . Welcome. There is never a dull moment when you are off the tarmac :thumbup:
Great description - you need to read Ronan Hickey's comments for beginners in this thread.
http://www.imra.ie/forum/topic/id/2953/
Brilliant this made me laugh!!
Was my 3rd year running(ish) Cader and wow with the heat it was even tougher than the previous years.
Finished in 2h 41m which was 11 mins slower than last year but with the temperatures and my lack of training it was hardly suprising but at least I managed to avoid a personal worst by 4 minutes!
Brilliant race with a fantastic atmosphere - every fell race should have a samba band.
Great story and a reminder of my first forays many years back. Soon you will get the ultimate pleasure of fell running. You will realise that mile splits are utterly irrelevant so you can free yourself from their tyranny and just enjoy racing!
Good race. I didn't think it was that hot, warm but nothing overly unpleasant in the end as you had a cooling wind for a good chunk and then water at Ty Nant.
I climbed well, but foot went on the descent so its back off the fells for a while.
There was definitely more crossing of your path by runners coming up.. maybe its people new to fell racing don't really know the etiquette but slower runners going up keep clear of the descenders.. I kept to one side for Andreas, Felipe and Math.. point which side you are going, or at least be obvious and don't step across.. A few times I had people try to step across my path at the last minute.. just pick a side, make it obvious and stay on that side.. it seemed worse this year.
Sorry for the gripe but someone will get taken out yet by someone going at pace..
Welcome to fell racing!
the above is all perfectly normal btw :thumbup:
Thanks for all your feedback, I felt pretty much ok yesterday but today I have the worlds worse ever case of DOMS, im never this sore after marathons never mind 10.5 miles but the Cader race was an amazing experience and it has on whet my appetite for more and believe me, i`m gonna get good at this mountain lark if it kills me. Next month its Trail Marathon Wales for me then i`m off to Spain for a while where i`ll meet up with my friend Jose the skyrunner and we are gonna run to the top of Puig Campana all 1420 metres.
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