‘Better late than never!’
Well I only just about got to the race on time last Saturday after flying my way around the bends of Nant Peris and onwards to Capel Curig; before jumping out of the car and shooting off to the start line where I was still tying my shoelaces as the countdown to the start began!

It was a very warm day and the race climbed steadily uphill almost straightaway. The nature of this race means that it is quite hard to get a particularly on the way up as the route / path changes so much in quite a short distance.

Luckily there was a nice breeze keeping us cool and on the way up the friendly faces of the marshals / Eryri stalwarts Ellie Salisbury and Mike Blake was a big help to motivate us runners on our way to the top.

On the way down, previous experience of running this race came into play as it made it far easier to pick a good line and avoid some of the rocky sections of the path and throw yourself down the grassy mounds. But during the last mile or so, the rocky path was unavoidable and it became very narrow and technical before opening back up and back down to the bridge to finish.

Since it was so warm, some of us then went to cool down or dip our feet in the river below the bridge, before going over the road to the field where the village festival was being held for nice cup of tea and some tasty goulash whilst relaxing and watching a chainsaw competition.

It was then time for prize giving with 1st overall male going to Math Roberts (Calder Valley) in a time of 51:55, u23 went to Sion Harlow in a time of 57.02, V40 Martin Cliffe in a time of 54.49, V50 to Noel Craine in a time of 60.29 and V60 to Stephen P. Jones in a time of 57.44.

Stephen’s time in particular was exceptional when you consider he was not only faster than the V50, but was also in 5th position out of 69 runners!

1st female and V40 went to Lauren Jeska (Eryri Harriers) in a time of 59.02. u40 went to Becky Plenty (York Knavermire) in a time of 62.22, V40 went to Ali Keets in a time of 63.08 and V60 to Maggie Oliver (Eryri Harriers) in a time of 88.36.

In the kids race U14 went to Gwion Evans in a time of 15:32 & U16 to Chloe Elliott in a time of 17:33.

To close was the annual tug of war competition between the fell runners and the local farmers. Having won last year, the runners were full of confidence, unfortunately this time we lost despite our efforts.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who looked after the runners and provided the refreshments at the end of the race.       Emlyn Owen, Eryri Harriers.