The 2014 Pincyn race was another scorcher with the mercury hitting 25C again at the annual Clawddnewydd village showground and not a whisper of a breeze. This may have contributed to a turnout of just 41 runners. The assembled runners still added a great atmosphere to the village show.

There was an audible groan from the competitors when told the dreaded bail was smaller than previous years so even more unusual jumping techniques were employed to clear it.

The going underfoot ranged from rock-hard baked fields to ankle sucking bogs as the runners made their way form to Clocaenog and into the forest. There was no respite from the heat in the trees but that didn’t slow the leading pack: Staffs Moorland’s Gareth Briggs and Craig Jeffery led out some familiar faces including Jez Brown, Buckley and Eryri’s Craig Jones. Tony Smith made the long journey from Ambleside to be amongst the top runners; also up there with them to win the ladies was Helsby’s Jayne Joy who was in fine form to finish 6th over all..

Vic Belshaw did the vet 50’s proud finishing strongly in 8th with a good tussle between V60 winner Mario Foschi and V70 winner Peter Roberts for 18th and 19th place respectively.

The prize giving was once again a no-expense-made affair with Jayne Joy just missing out on anything remotely interesting to claim the bottle of Toilet Duck! That’s what taking part is all about.

Thanks as ever to the marshals, land owners and race sponsors Jackson Fire and Security, Mold.