Twenty two hardy souls turned out for the inaugural running of ‘the Tour’. Weather conditions just before the start could best be described as challenging as we were treated to a series of heavy snow showers and a gusting wind but by 11am the sky was breaking and the runners set off in the dry.
On the tops visibility was good with Fan y Big and Cribyn summits clearly in view – which made navigation relatively easy. Hugh Aggleton made it to Cribyn in an extremely quick 42 minutes and returned to finish in a very good 1:09:51 closely pursued by his MDC club mate Ben Moon.
As the race progressed, the weather improved with those runners who wished to pause at Cribyn Summit being treated to stunning views over to Cardiff Bay (with the Millennium Stadium, the site of Wales’ forthcoming Grand Slam victory glistening in the sunlight). The views didn’t seem to appeal to many runners who decided to retrace their steps quickly down the hillside, using the fell runners’ classic ‘bum sliding’ technique for much of the snowy descent. In the second half of the race route choice was even more important than on the way out, with Paul Dodd of Chepstow Harriers picking up several places and finishing in an impressive third place – in his second ever fell race! His wife, Joc dominated the ladies race from start to finish, finally finishing in an excellent 11th position overall. The Race Organiser was highly amused by one unnamed competitor who, after an innovative route choice was forced to run through the finish to CP3 and then back again. Special mention to birthday boys John Sweeting (0/60 category winner) and Andy Creber (2nd 0/50) and of course the summit marshals, Steve Force and his 16 year old daughter Bethany, and Del Boy and of course my wife Louise and daughter Carys for registration duties.