Race 26: Snowdon Half Marathon

Sunday 23rd July 2017.

13.1 Miles

3 hrs 29mins

I’m going to start this by saying “ I RAN UP AND DOWN A BLOODY MOUNTAIN” - Sorry for the spoiler alert but I still can’t believe that this is something I can now say to people and actually be speaking the truth!?

I booked the snowdon half marathon very early on when planning out this year of races thinking that by July, running up a mountain would be no biggy. (hahahahaha). I was still sticking to my ignorance is bliss safety blanket as late as the night before when I was sitting in the living room of our very weird Air B & B in the beautiful village of Beddgelert as our friend (and fellow runner) Dan Saunders decided to check the winning times from last year. My stomach churned as I reacted to the news… “The fastest woman completed the 2016 race in 2 hours and 20 minutes”....

I did not take this news well as this is MY average race time for a ‘normal’ trail half marathon … so if the WINNER of the Snowdon Half did it in that time- how long was I going to be on the mountain for? I suddenly starting checking my supplies as I now felt that I would definitely need several snacks for this adventure.

We went to bed soon after this bombshell and I did not sleep well in my squeaky uncomfortable bed and anxiety filled mind. What on earth was I thinking?! I can’t run up a mountain… I’m far too lazy and out of shape for this stupid challenge!!

I woke up the next day well before the alarm and got dressed and ready as quickly as I could. Getting a bowl of porridge down my neck was a hard task as my stomach was in absolute knots due to my nerves.

Debbie (dan’s Girlfriend) kindly drove us to the town of Llanberis where the race would start. It was a blazingly hot morning at the base of mount snowdon and a lot of runners (including myself) had not considered that the sun may actually shine in Wales.

We got to the race HQ a bit too early for my liking as it left a lot of time to waste. We looked at some of the trainer stalls...and I drank a lot of water from Alex’s camel pack (much to his dislike). Soon we were gathered under the hot sun to listen to the pre race info. Marhsall points were pretty sparse so I was glad that I had water and snacks packed. I had also carefully filled in my safety info on the back of my race number for once (It’s a mountain- I might fall off!)

Soon we were off and on our way! We turned right out of the race HQ and along the road a bit before turning left and greeting our first hill. (I thought we might get a bit of flat first to warm us up… how wrong I was). The path led us through a campsite where the campers looked on at us in awe and amazement (...actually they just looked a bit confused by the whole thing).

It was a very steep campsite - I’m not sure how well I would have slept there on a that hill!

The hill did not stop from there on out really- it was a constant climb with varying inclines until we were actually on the side of the mountain. When we reached the first Marshall stop I could now understand why they had one as early as 2 miles- blimey- what a killer first 2 miles! Once on the side of the mountain itself we left any sign of civilisation behind - it was just us crazy lycra clad runners, the mountain and the flinty paths. A lot of people were walk running- myself included. It was too much effort to attempt to get around the walkers so I thought I would conserve my energy and run when I could and walk when I couldn’t.

At around mile 4 the path took a sudden turn downhill (?!) through some boggy patches. Oh we were all so pleased to be running again. It was great fun. This part of the race also had a few hardy welsh supporters cheering us on in Welsh- which was lovely to hear. “Da iawan”

My mum also decided to call me at this point and found it very difficult to get her head around the fact that I was running up a mountain while chatting to her on the phone.

The downhill was short lived and soon we were faced with a sheer mountain face. This is where the climbing really began. All I could see from where I was standing was a wiggly line of brightly coloured lycra wearers leading up into the clouds. Time to summit this mountain!

This is where the short lived running stopped and the walking started again. It was a very steep climb that just seemed to go on and on. I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t even half way through the half marathon and I was already looking at nearly 1.5 hours of moving time. This challenge was definitely tough.

I was amused by the other climbers around me. There was the mother and son who were running it together and managed to find some dropped cash on the bath and were trying desperately to reunite it with it’s owner. Then there were the ‘hangover lads’ who were behind me for the steepest climb of the race. They were hilarious and obviously struggling somewhat with sore heads after over indulging in some delightful welsh pubs the night before.

I really was enjoying myself- it was a tough challenge, but what a beautiful one. I made sure I stopped a few times to look back on the view and also had a little snacky snack when I started to feel peckish. This wasn’t about getting a good time- it was all about getting it DONE without falling off a mountain/ spraining an ankle/ passing out.

The climb went on and on and soon the low cloud took over as is always the way when I climb snowdon (this was my third time up… never have I seen any view from the top!) It was so amazing to climb up onto the flatt(er) path near the top of the mountain. I was almost sad when the hardy marshalls at the top pointed to the llanberis path leading down. Oh… that was it! I was at the top and now I need to run all the way back down. As you can imagine this part of the race allowed me to pick up my speed a bit. The path was flinty and rocky and required all my concentration to make sure I got my footing just right. This was sprained ankle town and I did not wish to become a resident.

This was also the part of the race where I started to fill with pride. I was watching walkers climb up the very path that I first climbed up 5 years ago. Alex and I marched up the mountain and I remember it vividly. It was TOUGH, i moaned a lot… I was out of shape and climbing snowdon was a BIG DEAL. 5 years later, I am running up and down the bloody thing…. I definitely would of never ever considered this as a thing I would eventually do 5 years ago. I’ve come a bloody long way.

I hop skipped and jumped my way down the mountain. My toes SCREAMING at me. It was a good 10K of downhill and I knew my big toe nails would bid me adieu after this. Soon we met the tarmac path that signals the start/ end of the llanberis path and I knew we were nearly back! I had no idea how many miles in we were as my GPS watch had died long ago but I had a scary thought looming in the back of my head…. During the race briefing the man had mentioned (and apologised for) a extremely steep climb that we would have to do before crossing the finishing line. He pointed at a slate mountain behind us and people laughed…. I laughed too and was pretty convinced that he was joking….

He was NOT joking…. Instead of heading to the finish line, marshalls directed us to what looked like some woods.. But the trees were only hiding the true horror that was within. It is known to the locals as ‘electric mountain’. It’s a sheer climb - involving lots of steps up and up and up and up followed by a combination of steep slopes and more steps down. Just what your legs want after climbing up and down a mountain in 3 hours. When at the top we could see the finish line and it was tiny… people were ANTS down there. We really were climbing 2 mountains in this race!!

It was slow going this part of the race- the paths were narrow and despite wanting to get past the people in front of me, there just wasn’t the opportunity so i trudged on with the leader of our small pack keeping pace. Once we got off electric mountain it was a delightful downhill finish back into llanberis. We were running down a steep tarmac path and thankfully my legs were on autopilot as the hill and gravity were doing it’s thing… which I am so grateful for as I was POOPED.

The finishing village loomed ahead and soon I saw my friends and my husband cheering for me and I managed a sprint finish before crossing the line! I was so so happy- It was by far the hardest race of my challenge so far- but what an achievement. I stretched a lot as we watched the winners receive their prices. We drove back to our beautiful village of Beddgelert and got our selves a victory roast and enjoyed an afternoon of pub crawling around. Sunday funday indeed! The next few days were not so fun… I’ve NEVER had such bad DOMS… stairs were my ENEMY as were prolongued periods of sitting. Thankfully we were flying to Ibiza for 5 days of R&R on the Tuesday after the race. Our legs were ready for a rest and several swims in the soothing sea.