Race review: #50 Brecon To Cardiff Ultramarathon

Brecon to Cardiff Ultra marathon.  Brecon, Wales. 11th February 2018

This was my 50th race and to mark getting half way to the goal of 100 marathons, I had decided I wanted to mark it by running a really special race. I also wanted to push myself by setting a seriously tough challenge.  

My running buddy Jayne asked if I fancied running the Brecon to Cardiff Ultra with her.  It would involve running 44 miles along the Taff Trail, which is further than I've ever run in my entire life. It would also involve some serious ascent over the mountainous Brecon Beacons, there were muddy trails to negotiate, and being in February the weather was likely to be cold, wet and miserable. It sounded perfect and I was signed up right away :-)

I took the training pretty seriously (for once!) and signed up for a personal training session and a plan with Jo Longmuir. She had me ramping up the weekly mileage, doing speedwork and threshold runs as well as a bunch of core work. Towards the end of the training, I was doing back to back long runs, which culiminated in an 18 mile Saturday run and 27 mile Sunday run.  I was about as ready as I could be to take on the challenge now.

First of all I had to go and buy a load of kit to take with me. The organisers had  mailed out a worrying looking "mandatory" kit list which had to be carried or worn. The kit would be checked at random - if you were missing kit, you would not be allowed to run. I wondered if I was running an ultra or participating in an arctic expedition! But I could clearly see this list was for our safety as runners, the weather up in the mountains can turn nasty.

Just in case you are interested, here is the full kit list I had to have on me during the race. Quite a lot isn't it!

• Rucksack / hip bag
• Full Body Waterproof Clothing, (Top and Bottoms)
• Warm Upper Body Mid-layer
• Lower Body Leggings
• Warm Hat
• Whistle
• Mobile Phone
• Compass (traditional compass please note watch or gps compass is not acceptable)
• Emergency Blanket
• Basic First Aid Kit (Minimum to include Blister Plasters, Sterile Dressing, Bandage or Tape to secure dressing)
• Torch / headtorch
• Water Bottle / Bladder 500ml minimum
• Food or energy products suitable for your requirements
• Map and instructions (provided)

  
After much research and hitting up Amazon Prime, I had all the kit and a snazzy new hydration vest with plenty of storage for the kit (Ultimate Direction SJ 3.0, in case you wondered).

Not the best forecast!

The race was due to start at silly o'clock on Sunday morning with the coach leaving from Nantgarw which is just north of Cardiff. So I had booked a couple of nights in a cheapskate Premier Inn just outside of nearby Caerphilly.  I could also pick up my race number on the Saturday night.  

So, I made the 2 hour drive over to South Wales along the M4 and got to the Race HQ at 5pm on Saturday, just as it opened for race numbers.

Race HQ was inside the 'Aspire Gym' on the local retail park in Nantgarw. By 5pm there was already a substantial queue for the desk. I bumped into Vicky and her husband and joined them in the queue - a bit naughty I jumped the queue.  I had run with Vicky last year at Margam park with the Great Celtic Marathon and also saw her at the Snowdonia Marathon. It was great to see a friendly face to early on. The queue soon shuffled forward.  They had two ladies handing out numbers, although for some reason they had divided the runners up into alphabetical order by first name and each had their own list! So the queue moved a little slower than perhaps it should, but I didn't mind.

I was given my number - I had asked the organisers if I could have bib number 50, being my 50th race and they had at the last minute cobbled a number together for me. I was really pleased about that!  The race wasn't chip timed so no faffing about with that. I said my goodbyes to Vicky and Jonathan and headed back to the hotel to start stressing :-)

I had the alarm set for an ungodly wakeup call of 4.45am, but I was wide away by 3.30am, worried that it might not go off.  I somehow forced some breakfast down despite the nerves and not feeling remotely hungry. I got my race gear on and did a last minute kit check and drop bag check (about five times!) before heading out of the hotel in the dark and cold. I drove the couple of miles back over to Nantgarw and the Aspire Fitness, arriving about 5.45am. I was able to park their all day for free and the car would be just a few yards from the finish line. That was a result. Now I just had to run the bloody race!

By now there were a fair few runners lined up waiting for the coaches. These arrived shortly, there were 5 of them and we all piled on with our bags. After a few minutes wait for the last minute stragglers to get on, the doors closed and we were off. No going back now!  The coach took around 50 minutes to drive over to Brecon.  It was fairly quiet on the coach and you could just feel the nerves and stress rising.  Eventually the coaches arrived in Brecon and pulled over next to the Christ Church College. This wasn't the start area, but was a warm building for the organisers to do kit check and issue numbers and a place for us to wait.

There was already quite a queue just to get in the building and go through kit check, so I strategically dived off to use the portaloo's as there was no queue at all.  

Joining the back of the kit check queue, we shuffled forward slowly and it was absolutely freezing outside.  One of the organisers was going along the line giving us 'start cards', we had to fill in our personal details on the back and this was required to gain access to the start line.  It was a bit of faff trying to fill this in and remember peoples phone numbers.

Eventually I arrived at the kit check desk and they just wanted to see I had a base layer and mid layer - it was going to be cold up in the Beacons. They made a note of my bib number to prove I'd passed the kit check, and I was ready!
I bumped into Vicky and Tim and of course we had to have a group photo done.

Time was now marching on at around 7.50am the race director, Joe, took to his speaker system to give us a race briefing. We were warned about a short section where it was easy to go wrong, and reminded to dial 999 in case of emergency up on the mountains. Now I'm not sure if that settled my nerves or made things even worse!  Joe invited us now to walk over to the start line en-masse.  A white van was parked out the school where we could leave a 'drop bag' this would be waiting for us at the 30K checkpoint in Merthyr. I gave my bag to the enthusiastic marshals, and we made our way over to the Canal Basin where the start line was.  It was only a short walk to the start but it seemed long at the time, probably the nerves.

Start: Canal basin

By now the sun was up and it was light, it was looking like a nice day but cold. We crossed over the River Usk and then dropped down to a path, making our way to the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal basin, which is also the start of the Taff Trail.  As I reached the start area, I dropped my 'start card' into a bag and the marshalls let me and Jayne enter the start area.

There was a short delay while everyone turned up, then Joe counted down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and we were off!

We started along the canal towpath and of course everyone set off too fast, including us two.  We soon got into our pace and slowed down a bit. Once most of the faster runners had got past us, Jayne switched on her 'gymboss' which we were using to 'Jeff' this race. We were going to do 30 seconds run, 30 seconds walk for the entire race apart from walking up hill.
These first few miles along the towpath were lovely. It was of course dead flat, and the sun came out.  I was dressed like the bloody Michelin man, with two hats, two pairs of gloves, base layer, mid layer, jacket, leggings, and a buff around my neck.  I was beginning to get really quite warm and off came one of the sets of gloves.

This didn't last long though, as it clouded up and started snowing! The temperature dropped rapidly and now I was glad of the layers. I was quite surprised at how busy the course was, it wasn't really until we got to about six miles that it thinned down a bit. The towpath was in good condition with only a few sections of mud to contend with, these were easily navigated around and we made some excellent progress, churning out 12 minute miles. 

On our right was the canal and further over we could see the River Usk, this was a lovely view and a wonderful morning. I even forgave the snow. We were passing some old swing bridges, and underneath some beautiful brick bridges. There were barges dotted round, included one brilliant one of the Beatles from Yellow Submarine. As we plodded on, in the distance I could also see the mountains of the Brecon Beacons slowly approaching - which were awaiting us later on that morning.

CP1: Talybont-On-Usk, 11K

Finally we were coming to the end of the canal towpath section and we made the first check point Talybont-On-Usk, this was just before we had reached 7 miles. 

Here at the checkpoint were a couple of buckets of Haribo (we alll love Haribo, right!) and large containers of water should you want to refill your water bottle. I had barely touched the 1 litre of sports drink I had in my hydration bottles so didn't need to other.  An enthusiastic marshal directed us off the canal towpath, and we went up a bridge back over the canal. 

Now started the real work! The trail turned decidely rocky and much harder to walk on, and was now going up hill.  This was the start of the seven mile climb up towards the highest point on the course.  On our right was an amazing view of the Brecon Beacons and Pen-y-Fan in the distance covered in snow. 

This took my mind off the fact I now had at least 90 minutes of hard climb in front of me.  There was a short respite from the climbing as we approached the Talybont Reservoir and had maybe half a mile of easy downhill running. It was nice to get the legs turning over again.

As we went past the Talybont Resevoir on our right, the weather really started to draw in. It was sunshine and showers, but the showers were short and sharp - a mixture of snow and hailstorms. I had my visor on to protect against the worst of the weather, but hailstones right into your face isn't very nice. Still, never mind, we just kept climbing and dug in as best as we could. 

As we reached the far end of the reservoir, there was a left turn and what I thought was check point 2 - alas no, it was just someone with a camper van parked up helping his running club.  By now my hands had gone numb with the cold (despite having two sets of gloves on!), the wind was biting and cutting right through me and it was hailing again. The temperature dropped and weather had become a lot more intense. It was a relief when the sun came out and warmed us up a bit.

CP2: Pontsticill reservoir, 26K

We had at last finished the worst of the climb and reached the highest point of the course, next to another reservoir (they seem to like them in this part of Wales). At the aid station they took a note of our race numbers - this let race HQ we were accounted for, so they didn't need to call out mountain rescue! We helped ourselves to the goodies on offer - lots of crisps, peanuts, jaffa cakes and brownies which went down a treat. The also had some coke which was a nice surprise.  We did not hang about at this check point (or any of the check points) to avoid wasting any time.  We downed our last jaffa cakes and we were off again.

The course had flattened out for a bit and we resumed our 'Jeffing' just to be rewarded with a right turn and a further up hill. The wind was also right in our faces so this was a grim mile, trudging up that hill before we crossed a rickety wooden bridge and entered a wooded section of the course. The trail had turned back to a sandy gravel which was easy going, and mostly flat. Jayne had us 'Jeffing' again, even on the slight climbs which she jokingly described as 'Welsh flat'.

This was a nice section of the course and fairly easy going, apart from the hailstorms and snow...  We also had to navigate down what must the worst hill I've ever run down - it was thick, slippy mud and had to be navigated one step at a time. Jayne managed to slip up and land on her arse, which wasn't what she needed this far into a race!

As we came out of the wooded section we now went past the end of the reservoir and a giant bell-mouth spillway and valve tower. We went across the Cefn Coef viaduct in the process with views back over the Brecon Beacons, although we were still not out of the mountains yet.  We were now getting closer to check point 3 and Merthyr, we now entered a tarmacked section of the Taff Trail. It was a blessed relief to get back on the flat with a bit of easier running, and the weather had improved a bit too.  We were able to keep 'Jeffing' and made steady progress towards Merthyr and that third check point where our drop bag awaited us. We were out of the Brecon Beacons now and the worst of the terrain was behind us.

CP3:  Cefn Community Centre, 36.5K

Now at last the Taff Trail had rejoined civilisation in Merthyr Tydfil and we left the little path and onto pavements, to approach the checkpoint.  This marked the half way point of the race, and we had got here well within the cut-off point.  

Here the white van was waiting for us, and our drop bags had been taken inside the community centre.  There was also a table of food, with plenty of crisps and cakes to chomp on as well as some water and I took the opportunity to refill my water bottles for my hydration vest.  Jayne changed her shoes from trail to road and a quick change of socks. I did have a change of shoes and socks (and indeed a full change of clothes) but decided I'd just carry on as I was, as I wasn't uncomfortable or too cold.  I'd made some marmalade sandwiches which soon got wolfed down.  Inside the centre a lot of folks were resting up and having something to eat ... I remember my running friend Judith telling me "beware the chair". So passed on that. We were in and out within 5 minutes and back on our way.

Beware the chair

Now we left the community centre (giving my bag back to the white van man), we had some interesting navigation around the centre of Merthyr trying to follow the Cycle Route 8 signs for the Taff Trail. Luckily Jayne had done this race twice before and knew where she was going.  There was another viaduct to be crossed (bearing in mind the Taff Trail was a disused railway line) before we ended up in the outskirts of Merthyr. One dodgy Taff Trail sign had some other runners going up a hill on the wrong route - Jayne called them back and they gratefully rejoined the correct route!  These were permanent fixed signs, and the organisers had supplemented these with their own signs and the odd bit of orange tape to guide you round. We didn't really have any navigation issues at all.

Now we rejoined the path of the Taff Trail and things had got a little easier for us. The trail was now a proper made up tarmac path, and very slightly downhill all the way to the end.  We kept up the 'Jeffing' doing the run/walk and those miles just flew by.  By now we had already gone through full marathon distance without hardly noticing it, and pushed on gradually towards that next checkpoint in Aberfan.

On the left I could some mountains and little villages, so there was always something to look at. The weather had also improved now, with sunny periods and no more showers.  As we passed Aberfan we paused for a brief moment to look down on the memorial gardens below us, where a landslide in the 1960's had caused a tragedy and killed many children and their teachers.

It was now less than a mile to check point 4, and by now we were almost at 30 miles. 

CP4:  Aberfan, 47K 

Here they noted down our race number again and we helped ourselves to more jaffa cakes. I also had some of my own food - Id been eating a bag of hula hoops every couple of miles, and I was on my second mars bar already.
We didn't linger for very long at all and was soon on our way.  It was lovely to run next to the River Taff, which we'd been close to much of the run.  We now had a long section of 'Jeffing'.  There were a couple of bridges to get across and some rather nasty slippy steps leading down to an underpass under the main A470 road.  You had to have your wits about you as there were quite a few cycle paths and other trails, these were all signposted but this far in and it was easy to miss one. We were well over 30 miles now, and I was in 'uncharted territory' having never run this far before. It didn't feel too bad, though, and we just kept going. 

Jayne had arranged to meet our friend Lisa between check point 4 and 5, and she was coming running the other way back down the trail to meet us. Lisa was originally going to run with us but had come down with flu a couple of weeks before so had sensibly decided to pull out. Instead, she was now 'crewing' us for those last few miles.

It was lovely to have some company, and she'd even made me a flask of coffee to drink as well as some additional nibbles.  There was a bit of mud to navigate here and this time it was Lisa's turn to slip up in the mud and land on her arse!

The sun was starting to dip in the sky and the temperature was dropping again. Looking over the River Taff, it was a lovely evening and we now just needed to keep pushing on. We had taken a couple of miles walk break now as it was getting tough, but Jayne soon sorted me out and we were back into 'Jeffing' as we approached check point 5 in Pontypridd.  On this section we were now also overtaking loads of knackered runners, our run/walk strategy was paying off as we were still relatively strong and still churning out 12-13 min/miles.  This gave us a boost and we pushed on as best we could.

CP5: Trallwn Workmans Club, Pontypridd, 60K

Once again the Taff Trail left the path and we were back onto pavements, running down the streets of Pontypridd and crossing busy roads towards this final checkpoint. I was a little surprised as this was inside a working mens club, and the checkpoint was inside the bar. There were people drinking pints of lager sitting up at the bar, and one of the them joked with me 'do you want me to order a taxi to the finish line!'.  Here was some hot food too, a big bowl of sausages and chips were here for the taking. By now I just didn't feel hungry and so didn't bother partaking.

Here I had a cup of hot coffee and some more jaffa cakes. I had been feeling really tired and exhausted by now, but this seemed to breathe new life back into me. I refilled my water bottle for the last time and we got on our way very quickly.   We had got to this point in 8 hours 20 minutes, giving us 3 and a half hours before the 12 hour cut-off for the finish line was up.  We had just 6 miles left to do, so it was a great thought that provided we could do those last few miles, we were going to do it. I joked "just two parkruns left" and Jayne looked like she might kill me LOL.

We got back onto the Taff Trail quickly, now it was a long straight section of path with trees either side. It was now so dark that we got out head torches out, although Jayne's cross body light packed up so just as well she was running with others!

This section of the course was a total slog. Jayne had adjusted the run period down to 20 seconds now (with 30 seconds walk still), which made a big difference.  We just dug in, chatted as best as we could to pass the time and got on with the job.  The miles ticked up, 39, 40, 41, 42... still we kept going on the straight path.  We could see some lights in the distance, and industrial units on lit up on our right.  43 miles and finally we could see the RunWalkCrawl arrow taking us off the Taff Trail.

The finish, Nantgarw, 70K

Now we went over a bridge and down back onto the pavement, we were at the edge of Nantgarw retail park and we could see the building with Aspire fitness.  "Come on" said Jayne, "let's do this".  We ran that last 1km and turned the bend towards the finish gantry, crossing together. "You are an ultra marathoner" Jayne said to me.  I looked down at my Garmin - I had done 44.5 miles in 10 hours and 39 minutes. I couldn't quite believe it.  Jayne had also scored a personal best and was over the moon!  Cue sweaty hugs all round.

I was given a really nice medal and finishers t-shirt. The race director shook my hand and congratulated me on my 50th race and for finishing. We we were all done, finally.  I collected my drop bag, and limped back toward my car for the short drive back to the hotel. It was done!

I'd really enjoyed this race very much, the weather had thrown everything at us and it was seriously hilly. But I'd most definitely do it again, it was so well organised and I loved the atmosphere and the company, as well as the amazing scenery.