A new race touring the quieter hills to the west of Storey Arms deserved a larger field than the 31 runners that came to pit their navigational skills against Andy Blackmore’s challenging 18km/1,200m.

A fresh clear sunny morning made the navigation that much easier, and it was interesting to discover which route would be favoured to bridge the long stretch between the first summit, Fan Frynach, and checkpoint 2 on Fan Nedd. A goodly number did go for the radical Beacons Way route which involved retracing steps back south-east for half a mile before striking westward.

At the sharp end MDC’s Hugh Aggleton opened out a 95-second lead by the Nedd trigpoint over Mynydd Du’s Mark Palmer who on the eve of his 50th birthday continues to be the man to beat. The consensus was that Hugh’s finish time of 1.48 – just four minutes faster than Mark’s – will take some beating in future runnings.

Pete Gardner took third place and the M50 prize, while Gary Gunner had a good run for the M60 category.

Chepstow’s Judith Austerberry in her first ‘serious’ fell race was a creditable 8th overall to win the Women’s prize nine minutes ahead of Katie Beecher (Les Croupiers) who was a further 10 ahead of Mynydd Du’s Natalie Taylor, also a relative newcomer to mountain races. Jan Richards of Mynydd Du scooped the F40 prize.

Dick Finch