Race review: #43 Snowdonia Marathon Eryri

Snowdonia Marathon Eryri.  Llanberis, Wales. Saturday, 28th October 2017.

Just getting to the start line of this race was a challenge. Entries opened at midnight on New Year day 2017. So, when Big Ben was ringing in the New Year, entries went live.  Not exactly top of runners priorities is to enter a race when people around you are drunkenly trying to sing Old Lang's Ayne.  By 7am the race was completely sold out - that's a big gap between sign-up and race day.  This was my big race of 2017 and I wanted to give this the best shot I could possibly give it.

Finally October arrived, and I took the long drive up to North West Wales on the Friday night, and booked a half day off work as I didn't fancy battling rush hour traffic. Race day was Saturday, which is a bit unusual for a marathon - they are normally on a Sunday. I was staying in a B&B in Caernefon,  a few miles up the road from the race start in Llanberis.   I stopped off at Llanberis and parked up next to the electric mountain visitor centre, this was acting as race HQ.  I needed to pick up my race number and timing chip and collect my race t-shirt and hoody.  It was a beautiful day for mid-October, it was quite mild and a sunny day.  Mount Snowdon behind the centre looked stunning as did the lake "Llyn Padarn".

Number pick-up was hassle free, I just needed to give them my race number, and the organisers had helpfully put up a list of all the entrants and their numbers. 

I drove the short distance to Caernefon and my B&B, before heading out for a walk into town. By now it was early evening. I went for a walk around to get my bearings, visiting the ancient Roman castle and looking out over the Menai Strait towards Anglesey. I found a decent chippy and had my favourite pre-race dinner of fish and chips.  All good stuff! 

Race day dawned, and the B&B kindly provided me with an early breakfast. There were a few other runners staying in the B&B, so we all got chatting about the race, as you do. It made for a nice breakfast and helped calm down my nerves. I got changed into my race gear and made the last few kit checks, and then it was time to go.  The weather had taken a turn for the worse - it had been raining most of the night, and it was grey, much colder and drizzling (or as the locals call it, 'mizzle'). Usual Welsh weather then!

I drove over to Llanberis for the race, and I had arrived nice and early for 8.30am, even though the start wasn't until 10.30am. As I arrived, the two main car parks in the village were already full, luckily I had sussed out a third option and parked in the Snowdon Mountain railway car park which was still half empty. I dread to think of the parking situation an hour later!  After leaving the car behind, I headed back to the electric mountain centre.  

My bib number had a pink background as I was participating in the medical study run by the students at Bangor University.  They are studying the effects of long distance runners and whether this makes you more prone to illness. In return they promised me early entry to the 2018 marathon - given my midnight entry for this years event, I was quite keen! I followed the signs upstairs to visit the study, where they took a saliva swab and then wished me good luck. 

As I came back down the stairs I bumped into Vicky, who'd I met and run with at the Great Celtic Trail marathon earlier in the year, down in South Wales. It was great to catch up with her.  

There was a gigantic queue for the loos inside the centre, however the organisers had provided plenty of portaloos outside, and the queue moved quickly.  Except you had to queue in the rain, but the we were just about to run a marathon so what's the big deal.

By now time was marching on and it was getting closer to the start time. I had no idea where the start was, and I didn't see any signs. In the end I just followed everyone else.  We had about half a miles walk out of the village to make our way to the start area. I bumped into Emma, queen of selfies, on the way. She was back to run Snowdonia again after unfinished business from 2016.  We of course had to take a quick selfie, before I continued on my way.

The start line was absolutely packed with runners.  But what an amazing view, with the mountain in front of us and a sea of runners. On the left was another lake, Llyn Peris. The guy starting the race was Welsh rugby player Rupert Moon, and he was being interviewed by S4C television and this was coming over the PA and some motivational messages and information. 

There was a minutes applause in memory of one of the organisers of the marathon who had sadly died early in the year.  The start Klaxon went off, there was a cheer, shouts of 'oggy oggy oggy' and the crowd surged forward.  

I was right at the back but it didn't take me long to reach the timing mat and the start line, and I started a slow plod in the rain.

You probably think (as I had before entering) that it's probably going to be a "little light jog" up some trails up the mountain and down, well it wasn't at all. The route takes you on roads around monnt Snowdon but you don't actually ascend the mountain.  Have no fear though, it was far from flat with some 3,500 feet of ascent in total. This was almost as much as Beachy Head which I'd done the year before, so certainly not an easy run although it was a welcome relief to have a firmer surface to run on for a change. I'd had my fill of mud for the year at the Dorset Invader and Clarendon Way marathons.

So the route has three really big climbs, with a very nasty climb at mile 22.  Just to add some further fun to the mix, there was a cut-off I had to make.  I had to reach the Snowdonia youth hostel at mile 18 within 4 hours.  Sounds generous, but this meant I had to achieve an average of 13 min/miles including two lengthy ascents. Miss the cut off, and you're DNF'd and bussed back to the finish area on the 'bus of shame'.  No way was I going on that bus!

The first couple of miles were dead flat and everyone just dashed off.  It's a given that everyone starts a marathon way too fast, including me, ha! A motorbike forced its way through the crowd, on the back was a chap filming footage of the race for Welsh TV channel S4C. It was bit odd to have to jump out of the way of a motorbike, and I did mutter something very rude under my breath before realising it was part of the race.  

The first couple of miles just flew by. I was determined not to go out too fast and to stick to my race pace.  By the end of the second mile I realised I really was right at the back, there was maybe 10 or 20 runners behind me out of the entire field.  I didn't let this put me off, with a marathon I know you have to play the long game. I'd get my revenge later on, so I figured. Anyway the amazing scenery around me had taken any negative thoughts right off my mind.  As we went round a corner at mile 2, the course started the first ascent which was going to take us through the village of Nant Peris and all the way up to Pen-y-Pass at mile 5. That was 3 miles of slog to get up! At the 3 mile point we passed the first water station, where there were lots of cups of water and energy drinks, and some sweeties.  I had my camelbak with me with 2 litres of Gatorade, plus 4 packets of hula-hoops and 2 mars bars so no danger of going hungry, haha.

I just dug in and started my speed walk. I knew that if I got the speed walking right, I was going to bag some 13 min/miles, fast enough for me to miss the cut-off.  Plenty in front of me dug in to the first hill, full of energy. I did wonder how much they were going to pay for that eagerness later on in the race, after all there were two further climbs awaiting us.

Finally I got up to the summit of that first hill and we had reached Pen-y-Pass at mile 5. I could see an amazing view in front of me, down into the valley and Snowdon cloaked in mist in the distance. It was just amazing.  I got chatting to a lady called Nicki who was from Hampshire too, she soon left me for dust though! I also saw Vicky and we ran together for a bit.

Now awaited a really nice part of the race - a long dowhill section which would take us almost to the half way point. After that slog up the first hill, it was great to get the legs turning over properly again and get some speed up, and I managed to put in a few 10-11 min/miles, which is my normal race pace if not slighter faster. I was letting gravity do the work and allow me to go a bit faster than normal. I was also making up plenty of time, with each mile I was getting nearer to mile 18 and being able to make the cut-off in time.  

We had a sharp right turn just after Pen-y-Pass and then the terrain changed from road and took us off road to a path with lots of big sharp stones in. Although it was still drizzling and the rocks were wet, it wasn't too slippery but it did require some careful navigation to avoid putting my feet down in the wrong place.  The view in front of us was just amazing, with Mount Snowdon in the distance.  

By this point I had crossed another timing mat which was giving me the 10K time.  We had reached the based of the mountain and there was a little house, it was just an amazing sight.

We carried on our descent down into the valley towards another large lake, called Llyn Gwynant.  At mile 8 we rejoined the road and the trail was behind us.  We were now running along side the lake toward Bethania. This was a fairly quiet road but it was actually open to traffic, so the odd car was roaring past.

We went past another water station, by now I was up to mile 11 and the course had flattened out. I had my watch set up to run/walk, so I was doing 90 seconds run and 30 seconds power walk. I kept this going for a few miles until I had got past the 13 mile point and crossed the next timing mat.

We went through a couple of pretty villages, with the mountains in the distance and on our left a river.  The scenery really was just unbelievable, I can see why this race is so popular. I didn't have time to think about whether my legs were hurting or not!

Just before mile 13 there was a gentle right turn and we approached the second climb of this race. This one was a bit less inspirational than that first climb. I started my power walking again, this time however I was starting to overtake other runners some of whom looked pretty tired already.  I knew it was only a couple of miles, then another downhill section until I got to the cut-off.

I managed another couple of 13 minute miles walking up the hill. On the left was a train track for the Snowdon railway, and fields surrounding us, I could see the moutains in front of us an to the right. 

This was probably the least inspiring part of the course and it would, of course, be in the dreaded 15-18 mile section.  I just dug in until I got to the downhill section then picked the pace back up, heading towards  that ranger youth hostel at mile 18.  I could see around me plenty of people walking, even on the downhill sections. That's the price you pay for going out too fast - I was getting my revenge at last, haha!  We went through another village called Rhyd Ddu which had a pretty bridge, and some of the villagers had come out to cheer the runners on and offer encouragement.

At last I had reached the dreaded Ranger youth hostel. I glanced down at my watch - 3 hours 30 minutes, I had made the cut-off well in time, and the most stressful part of this race was now done. As I went past the building I gave it two fingers as I'd beaten it!  I could see here the minibus ready and waiting to take the DNF folks back to the start.  I was very glad not to be on board that bus.

I just had to keep going for another eight miles, and get round back to Llanberis in once piece. This included that horrible final climb though at mile 22. So I knew I had to just keep things nice and steady, and not go too mad. Steady as she goes!

The route was flat again so once again I started 'Jeffing' (run/walk). I had slowed a bit now and was average 12 minute miles, but I was a bit more relaxed as the threat of cut-off was behind me.

On my right I could hear a steam train whistle, then a chuff chuff sound. On my right was a steam train and lots of us runners legged it across the road to take a picture. It was a welcome distraction from the slog of those miles.

I kept going, by now it was starting to get a bit colder and the wind was picking up.  We had reached the village of Waunfawr (I've no idea how to even begin to pronounce that...). There was a sharp right turn and the hill from hell started.  We crossed another timing mat, I was once again power walking but this time overtaking people like crazy including lots of people who were running. 

Sorry to anyone running who I overtook whilst I was power walking, I know how annoying that can be!

The hill was getting crazy steep now and my quads were on fire, I just kept the legs moving. Left foot, right foot, repeat. Big fish, little fish, cardboard box. Some people around me looked absolutely knackered and I knew they had well and truly hit the wall and were finding it very tough. Kudos to them for keeping going, it was a incredibly tough section of the course.  I've no idea how the lead runners managed to run up it! 

One of the organisers did come down the hill in a car, driving at pretty high speed, causing runners to scatter. It must have been a medical emergency, there wasn't much room to squeeze through.

As we reached the top of that climb, there was an awesome aid station, 'the 24 bar'. This was at unsurprisingly at mile 24... what did you expect! Emma had told me earlier that the aid stations had competed with each other to win a prize for the best aid station, and I found at later this one had won it. Deservedly so. It was just so blustery up here though, the wind had really whipped up and it was very damp around us. The marshals here were just brilliant, they had stood around in these terrible conditions for hours to keep us all going - they were stars. I raided the sweeties for the last time and downed some water. It was hard to drink anything as the cup wanted to fly out of my frozen hand with the wind.

Now - at last - I could begin my 'final descent' back to Llanberis and the finish line. There was a sting in the tail of this race though. The road turned back into trail, and it was caked in soft mud, slippery grass and lots of puddles everywhere. Not to mention the rain and mist coming straight into your face, it made for grim going. I gingerly came down trying very hard not to slip up in the mud, this is tough work when it's a steep descent. It was a bit of a comedy moment seeing everyone carefully make there way down at a slow pace - fortunately I didn't see anyone go over but there were a few muddy legs around as evidence!

I got chatting to a fellow runner for a bit and he told me that the trail turned back into tarmac just after mile 25. He also mentioned he had got his car stuck in the mud here last year, and that mud was normal... so much for "easy" tarmac!

By now the mist and rain had cleared away, and the wind dropped. In the distance I could see the buildings of Llanberis and we could faintly hear the tannoy at the finish line cheering people in.  I passed the mile 25 marker, and the surface went back to tarmac.  Thank heavens, at last.

It was such a relief to get back onto runnable surface that I managed to pick the pace up.  Most of my fellow runners did the same, and a few got past me in the last few hundred meters. We came back into Llanberis, past the school and into the high street past the stops. We made a right turn, and there was a finish.  I upped the pace and put on my game face for the official photographers. 

As I approached the finish line, I got a big cheer from the crowds and the announcer said, "here comes Jonathan Taylor from Hart Road Runners". That was just the motivation I needed for a sprint finish (probably looked more like a plod finish to be honest!) I came in over the timing mat, there was a reassuring beep and I was done! Snowdonia Marathon Eryri was completed. I looked down at my watch and I'd finished in 5 hours and 27 minutes. I was over the moon with this time, given how tough the course was and all that climbing, I'd managed to pull out a really successful marathon out of nowhere (for once!)

I was given a 'space blanket' which was gratefully received (I was freezing by now), and handed my finishers coaster. What no medal, I hear you cry? At this race you get an awesome piece of slate, which comes from the local mine and engraved with the Snowdonia marathon logo. So you get to take a piece of Snowdonia back with you. I really liked this.

Immediately a lady in a pink high viz vest approached me from the Bangor University team and directed me to the scout hut. 

Here there was free tea, coffee and biscuits for all the runners. My cup of tea never tasted so good, but they wanted me to give a saliva swab again which I duly did before tucking in.  I went back outside and watched some of the runners come in, and enjoyed the music they were playing.  Almost right away I  saw Vicky coming into the finish, and cheered her in. She was physically and emotionally spent from this race. We had a hug and then I had a 2nd cup of tea from the Scout Hut while we chatted about the race and the feeling slowly came back into our hands and feet.

I said goodbye to Vicky and made my way back to the car. I headed back to Caernefon where I had a 2nd night in the B&B.  I didn't feel too bad at all, all the training had paid off, as had my race game plan.

The next day I returned to a much quieter Llanberis and went on the Snowdon Moutain railway to the summit. It was freezing cold, blowing a gale and very misty at the top, but the journey up and down was just amazing with some amazing scenery. Really recommend that if you get the chance.

This is a brilliant race and I can see why it's so popular now. I enjoyed it so much I've already entered 2018, which sold out in less than 2 hours.  See you in October 2018 Snowdonia, I'll be back for some more leg trashing!