Chiltern 100 & Wiggle Devil Dragon ride

Stunning Wiggle Devil Dragon Ride

 

I've been keeping very busy on the ElliptiGO the previous few weeks/months. My last two events which took place the previous two weekends were the Chiltern 100 cycle sportive and the Wiggle Dragon Devil ride in Wales.

I needed to get a really long ride in at the Chilterns to prepare mind and body for the impending challenge of the Audax Mille Cymru ride at the end of the month (1020 km/16000metres climbing/75hrs to do it). So I took on the Chiltern 100 course twice, ridden at night on lap 1 and then joining the actual event in the morning straight off the back of lap 1. It was a long day but a great ride which I felt I got through better than I had anticipated. 212 miles in total with a riding time of 18.5hrs. Total climbing was 6000 metres. Pics below!

The following weekend was an arguably bigger challenge - The Dragon Devil ride - 187 miles in South Wales with 5000 metres of climbing. This was an amazing ride blessed with great weather on the day. The climbs were huge but the stunning views made for a very pleasant day out. Only the last 40 miles became tough as the legs really started to feel the miles and climbs. Pics below.



End of the Chiltern 100 DOUBLE (212 miles)

The Hatrick

So next up is the BIG ONE - Mille Cymru in less than 2 weeks time

It's all GO here!!

Well where to start... It's been a manic month of racing and training and hence I haven't had anytime to blog about it. The majority of my training miles these days are concentrated on the ElliptiGO. I'm doing very little running at the moment but that didn't stop me popping over to Farnham to run the North Downs Way 50 on the 17 May. Another fantastically organised race by Centurion Running. This was off the back of the South Downs Way 50 which I ran the month prior to this. My run training miles was zero (if you don't count the MK marathon).

The schedule for the NDW50 weekend was to drive to the finish on the Friday at Knockholt pound with my ElliptiGO (I would need that for the Sunday!), leave van and GO there transfer to my Brompton and cycle to the station. Train into Waterloo and then out to Aldershot. I bunked there for £29 at the premier inn and woke up bright and early ready for a full weekend of racing.

First up was one of my favourite trails. I've run this section of the NDW trail 3 times now (twice on the 100 and the 50 last year where I finished in 6th at 7hrs50). I certainly wouldn't be repeating that time this year mostly because I had to save my legs for the Sunday ElliptiGO ride.

So I went out very steady at 10mpm pace with two fellow Leighton Buzzard teamies Mark and Helen. I felt strong throughout the 50 and really enjoyed the slower pace. The sun shone and the volunteers were fantastic (AS EVER!) Special stand out aid station awards has to go to Alastair at BoxHill serving up banana and chocolate sandwiches!!! They were amazing. And then at the penultimate station they had jelly and ice cream!!!! Man that tasted sooooo good :-)

I crossed the finish line in 24th place in a time of 9hrs something.... I can't even remember. This was a really enjoyable run and proved to me that the training effect of the ElliptiGO can transfer over to good run performances.

After a quick chat with fellow runners, and foot bath! I head off to Tonbridge which was a short drive where I would stay with a friend before hitting the Castle 100 cycle sportive first thing the next morning. My legs felt relatively good but I had no idea how I would fair over this distance on the ElliptiGO. Ive covered the distance a number of times before but never after a 50 mile run. I needn't have worried though as I had a great ride in the extreme heat topping 25+ degrees. This was a hilly course too including a pretty mega 1:5 grade climb. I even passed cyclists on route to the top :-) The ElliptiGO never stops impressing me. I've owned it for over 3 years now and can say that every ride has been awsome fun. But it's also a serious piece of kit and train well on it and you really can deliver dramatic results in fitness. And all injury free!!

The ElliptiGO theme continued throughout May. I completed the FT London Cycle Sportive (103 miles) which included BoxHill the week before the NDW50. I covered the Chiltern 100 route last Friday night leaving the house at 6:30am and returning at 4:30. 118 miles in total. And the plan now is to cover this same route twice this coming weekend. The actual Chiltern100 race is on the Sunday so I will ride the course once before then doing the actual race. Total mileage will be about 230 miles which will be my longest ElliptiGO ride to date by over 100 miles :-)

This is training for the weekend after which is the Wiggle Dragon Devils ride (300km around South Wales). That promises to be brutal!! But ALL this is training for what is to come at the end of June - The Audas Mille Cymru MC1K - this translates to a brutal 1020km around Wales to be completed within the 75 hour cut off time. This is an EPIC challenge of significant proportions. I'm taking it on with two friends Idai and Alan who are both fellow ElliptiGOers. This race is largely unsupported with just some manned overnight stations where we would be lucky to get our heads down for more than a couple of hours. We are expecting to be riding for between 15-20 hours at a time (with very short 5 min stops to replenish the fuel stores) and then a longer 2-3hr stop where we will eat a full meal get some rest before doing it all again three times over. I think this will be physically and mentally more demanding than Western States and UTMB combined. But I think I'm ready to move it up to the next level.

All my rides are available to view on Strava.

MK marathon race report

> A slightly late MK marathon race report but I wanted to get this one down on paper (screen) for historical accuracy as I was something of a surprise run for me.
>
> Rewind to January and I was determined to train for this marathon like I'd never trained before. It started well with my challenge to run every day in January and I logged a few miles and 2-3 twenty miler. But it didn't last and I just wasn't feeling the love or motivation for marathon training.
>
> The days were starting to get a bit longer in February so I turned my attention back to my ElliptiGO. This become my new focus and I cranked out the NO-IMPACT miles.
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> In March I continued to ElliptiGO riding between 150-200 miles per week. I was getting fit but not through doing any running. In fact running was something I seldom did much preferring the thrill on the GO.
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> In April I tested the ElliptiGO training effect taking on the South Downs Way 50 miler. A great run and finishing in 8 hours. This was on virtually no run training whatsoever. Post SDW50 and pre MK marathon I had no reason to change what I was doing. More ElliptiGO miles with my now common place 45 miles to work in the morning (1-2 times a week).
>
> I stood on the MK marathon start line having run only a handful of times in the preceding two months. I felt great but had no idea really of what pace I should run the race at. So my strategy was to start at 3hr pace and then very quickly assess the situation. It was a super day for marathon running weather wise. Race on!
>
> After mile 1 it was plainly obvious that I wasn't going to be keeping up with the pacemaker and his blue balloon bobbing up and down as he strided away. But I also wasn't too far off the pace. So after a 6:53 first mile I slowed it down to 7s (which would bring me in at 3:04 and under the London Marathon qualifying time. This felt more comfortable for a while. But after 6-7 miles I knew that this too wasn't sustainable over the full distance. At this point I stopped concentrating on the watch so much and just ran as I felt. I got into a nice stride and averaged 7:10 for the first half of the marathon.
>
> I hit half way in 1:34 and my goal now was to hold onto this pace and try and get in under 3:10. This was a tough ask as I wasn't exactly hanging about. I fell into line with a small group of runners who having asked them if they were targetting a similar finish time (they were) I stuck with them. This made the miles tick by and I was really enjoying myself despite the huge effort to maintain the pace.
>
> But maintain the pace I did and despite a hilly/undulating course I was still feeling strong in the second half and now overtaking many who perhaps set off a little too fast. 164 position at half way I finished in 96 position in a time of 3.11 inside the MK Dons stadium to my wife, children and mum looking on.
>
> I couldn't believe I'd pulled off this time on so little run training. And I'm really started to see much huge an impact the ElliptiGO is having on my life and training.
>
> Great times!!!!
>
> Big shout out to my Dad who also finished this tough marathon course in a little over 5 hours. Dad's capable of faster but cramps at 16 miles put pay to a 4:30 target time. I'm mighty proud!!!
>
> Massive
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone

South Downs Way 50 race report (Centurion Running)

This ultra came as a complete surprise to me in that I had completely forgotten I had entered. It was only 4 weeks prior that I received an email from Centurion Running race director James Elson detailing final race instructions. There must be some mix up so I emailed James as I was 100% certain I had not entered. Yes you did came the reply - turns out this was my free entry after volunteering last year! Oops. After getting over the initial shock that my longest MK marathon training run was now no longer a 20 miler around the street of Leighton Buzzard but instead a 50 miler over some pretty brutal terrain I actually started to enjoy my training again. This training didn't though come in the form of long 6 hour weekend runs in the hope of tricking myself that it was an ultra runner again. Instead I focused on stacking up the mileage on the ElliptiGO (see www.elliptigo.com if you haven't a clue what I'm talking about :-). I incorporated my commute from Leighton Buzzard to Watford as a long training ride and was doing 45-50 miles to work and 22-30 miles home twice a week, plus a longish ride at the weekend including a 76 mile sportive across Buckinghamshire - Cobblers Classic.

In total in the preceding four weeks to SDW50 I only ran a handful of times, and didn't make a step in the final two. My last ultra was UTMB in August and since then only ran Snowdonia of any significant distance.

Fast forward to race morning and I arose at 6am in the back of my car at the start in Worthing. A broken nights sleep but its all good and I was looking forward to the day ahead whatever it had in store for me. I registered early and then went in search of breakfast ~paleo style. That can mean only one thing - a massive full English breakfast. By sheer good fortune I came across a local café (@downlandscafe) which cooked up the most amazing breakfast with double everything!! 

I don't think pre-race fuelling gets any better than this!!... 1hr before race start :-O

This was without doubt  the single best decision all day as it fuelled me throughout the day, topping up on just nuts, fresh fruit, cheese and a couple of Cliff Bars/ shot blocks on the way around.

My strategy for this race was going to be just to finish. I had no right to expect anything else based on my lack of any specific training. But that then changed when I checked the race shuttle bus times that took runners back to the start. I had two choices - a 6pm bus (sub 9hr finish) or 11pm (finish under the 13.5hr cut off). My planned relaxed day out in the hills had now turned into a full on race!  I now had one very clear goal - get back by 6pm for that damn bus!! Just 9 hours to complete the 50 mile route which included 4500ft of elevation gain.

I knew a section of the route as it's the second half of the SDW100 but I would be revisiting the place where I had my darkest EVER moment in an ultra in 2012 when I pulled out at the 83 mile mark (even though I was doing well and had LOADS of time in the bank - don't ask!). I therefore had unfinished business with this course and was looking forward to reaching and moving beyond that point, in a physical and mental sense.

I planned to run an even paced race from start to finish - not something I have ever successfully managed in an ultra. But I knew this was my best chance of success rather than going out too hard on no run training and blowing up big time before half way. So with a fully charged Garmin I kept a close eye on my pace never running under 9 minute miling except for a few down hill sections. My average pace as I hit the first aid station at around 12 miles was exactly 9:30mpm which felt right. I was running well within myself and I positively encouraged people to pass me in these first miles to ensure I kept a lid on it. I was certain I would be seeing these runners again today.

There's nothing too dramatic to write about that happened in the rest of the race. The best ultra strategy is often the least exciting and I guess that's what happened. So no drama, just spectacular views of the South Downs when they weren't shrouded in cloud and mist. I was feeling surprisingly good throughout and kept expecting something to happen that would reduce my steady run to  crawl but the strategy seemed to be paying off.  Throughout the second 25 miles my average pace stayed at just under or just over (depending on whether we were going up or down) 10 minute mile pace. For many runners this might seem a tad slow but over the distance and terrain it was for me more than I had ever hoped for coming so under-trained into this race.

The climbing continued in the final 10 miles which when you've already covered 40 only gets harder. However the ElliptiGO training was really paying off. It really is the case that the ElliptiGO motion is very similar to climbing the South Downs. I could actually physically sense the same movement in my muscles as they worked efficiently to drive me up and over the Downs.  And whereas the majority of runners were now walking all the climbs in the final quarter of the race I was able to maintain the same pace that I had from the beginning. It certainly wasn't effortless, this was a 50 miler after all, but it was mildly comfortable and came as a huge surprise to me. I just didn't expect it.

Another strategy that paid off was to spend the minimal amount of time at the aid stations. My substantial breakfast meant that I was never hungry and just grabbed a handful of stuff on the run only stopping long enough for the superb volunteers to fill my water bottles.

And so that's the tale of my South Downs Way 50. Well almost... I reached the top of the Jeverton climb from where you had just 4 miles to the finish. Word has it they are all downhill however the reality is that 1 of those miles is but the rest are all on the hard pavements of Eastbourne and boy was that tough going. I felt worst in the final 2 flat miles of this race than I had in the proceeding 48 miles combined. I'm not sure whether it was just the mind letting go when it sensed the finish line or just because I had battered myself on the trails and only now was starting to feel the effects of this effort. On reflection it was probably both. As I came around the corner and spotted the sports stadium for the trac kside finish I was mightily relieved but hugely satisfied with my performance. I crossed the finish line in 8 hours and 7 minutes in 35 position out of 350 or so starters. My 5 mile splits and stats from the race are below.

5 miles splits

Mile 5 mile avg pace   5 09:19  10 09:34  15 10:36  20 10:29  25 09:23  30 10:40  35 10:19  40 09:36  45 10:29  49 09:18

Strava link here with full mile splits and stats - SDW50 Strava page

So what do I take from this for my next and only other  ultra of the year (NDW50 in May). Well its just one thing...actually two things.... Run less, ElliptiGO more!!! :-D

oh And pace it right!!!

FULL SDW50 RESULTS HERE AND MASSIVE CONGRATS TO PAUL, RIC AND MARK WHO ABSOLUTELY SMASHED IT AT THE FRONT. Paul Navesey broke the course record by 44 minutes in a frankly ridiculous time of 6hrs11mins!!! :-O

What may change my approach to the NDW50 however is that I've planned my own dualathon with the run on the Saturday followed by a 100 mile sportive on the ElliptiGO on the Sunday. If you asked me on Sunday whether I could have ElliptiGOed 100 miles off the back of the SDW50 the sheer thought would have put my legs in a cramp so I clearly have a bit of training to do for that one, but the signs are good after the weekend. Next up is the MK marathon on the May bank holiday where I plan to run sub 3hr pace and just hang on for dear life. I have no right to expect such a finish time on my current training but it will be interesting to see how close I can get.

Bedford Half Marathon

There hasn't been much to blog about since the Snowdonia Marathon but this weekend was blog worthy so here i am. Since snowdonia at the end of October I've done very little running and have been winding down to the end of the year. However the opportunity arose to run the Bedford Half Marathon, blow away a few cobwebs and finish the year on a positive note.

The lack of any training or mileage since October meant that my form and fitness going into this was going to be severely tested. I knew I was way off my PB set in March at the MK half of 1:20, but hoped I might be good for 1.30. Reading this you may be forgiven for thinking that 10 minutes slower is way off and surely easy, but not so. Thats still sub 7 minute miling and the way I'm running right now would still be a major test.

It was a perfect day. Blue skies and 8 degrees. I was fully Buffed up! My LBAC vest was in the wash after the previous day's Cross Country race (which was still in the legs). The Bedford Half attracts a sizeable field of seasoned veterans and first timers alike. I love the undulating course which sticks to narrow country lanes for the most part. There's a few hills to test you but the reward is a downhill finish from 9 miles onwards which flattens out but is a nice fast finish. 

I approached this race as a training run which lots of people say but what does that actually mean? Well for me it means ignoring everything that is going on around you and simply running your own race, and not getting caught up in the excitement at the start. I did just this and reeled off some even miles at around 6:50 pace.

I was coping with the pace but it wasn't easy. On the hills the pace would obviously drop above 7 min pace, but I was averaging 6:52 which was spot on for a sub 1:30 finish. I crossed the half way mark in exactly 45 minutes to the second! I was feeling it but hoping that the fast finish would help to sneak under my goal time.

I was hydrating well with my own bottle of water so no faffing with plastic cups. Everything was going well, perhaps too well (but this thought didn't occur to me at the time). And then everything  was about to change...

At the 10 mile mark and enjoying a nice downhill section it was warming up. We were getting to the business end of the race so I decided to remove my WSER arm warmers    , and thought nothing more of it. A few minutes later I looked down to check my pace and was horrified it find my Garmin wasn't there!! The arm warmer had evidently pulled it out of its quick release cradle which remained on my wrist. ARGH!!! it was decision time.... Do I turn around and go and look for it putting pay to my sub 1:30 or carry on? It was an easy decision as it cost £300!! And this was 'just' a training run after all. This didn't make it any easier though as I ran against the oncoming runners shouting like a mad man 'has anyone spotted my Garmin!?' no one had... And they were rightly all focused on their own race. Mild panic was overcoming me as I couldn't spot it and didn't know exactly where it had come off. How far do I go back!?... I fully expected to see it in 1000 pieces across the road but at least then I would have known its fate and could have returned to business. As it was every step was another one in the wrong direction that I had to take again to rescue my ruined race. Seeing all the runners I had worked so hard to overtake throughout the race was not the best feeling. I couldn't spot my Garmin anywhere so resigned myself to losing it :-( making this the most expensive race EVER! I turned around and headed on towards the finish. I had not only lost my Garmin but also lost my motivation to close this race out hard. I was still overtaking runners with many asking if I had found it. Nice for them to be concerned but no came the frustrated reply. I closed out the final mile and pushed hard to finish in 1:34. 

I was still pleased with how I had run the race and my finish time, and in reflective mood resigned the lost of my Garmin to just something that happened. What could I do!? Well firstly I reported it to a Marshal at the finish and left my details with her in the desperate hope of it being found and handed in. I showered and waited for my friends who I had drove up with. We got the shuttle bus back to my car and decided to drive back to the 10 mile mark to launch a search and rescue mission. All four of us scoured the grass verge on both sides of the road for a 1/4 mile or so stretch but no luck. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack and the odds werent good. We returned to the car garminless . I was gutted cos I wanted to review my race splits plus I was £300 poorer! I took one more walk up the road in the opposite direction to where I had thought it had come off and continued looking in the vain hope of finding it. Less than 50 metres from the car and heading back, head down low, THERE IT WAS!! Face up in the grass a foot from the gutter still going. Unbelievable!! I felt like I'd won the frigging race :-) haha. 

So that was my last race of 2014 and possibly my last blog post too. It's been quite a year to reflect on with my sub 3 marathon, 1:20 Half, Western States finish and epic 42hr UTMB. Also not forgetting a surprise performance at Snowdonia. 

I think time is running out to crack sub 18 in Parkrun which was the goal I set myself in November. I clocked 18:12 a few weeks ago but since then have gone backwards. Theres a few attempts left but I fear my new found love of Aldi mince pies might put pay to that ;-)

My ambitions for 2014 remain very much up in the air. I was registered to the T184 in August but then decided post Snowdonia that i wanted to go back in 2014 and crack sub 3 there. The two couldn't work together so I've bailed out of the T184 in favour of committing myself 100% to marathon training. The vague plan was a late spring marathon (possibly MK) to attempt 2:45-50 (well you have to aim BIG!!) and the continue through to Snowdonia doing a mix of Parkruns, 10ks, halves and possibly a training marathon run prior to Snowdonia....

All change please.... Plans for 2014

I thought I would just drop in with a quick word on my plans for 2014 as they have just changed as of today...

This has all come about following my surprising performance in Snowdonia at the weekend. I had only one event planned to 2014 which was going to be the outrageously tough and long T184. This consisted of 184 miles non stop and self supported from the Thames barrier along the Thames Path to the source in the Cotswolds. I was excited about the challenge and entered on a bit of a whim as it looked like selling out fast. However the training commitment for this race was going to be significant and basically be my entire year both before and recovery afterwards.

Following Snowdonia it became clear in my mind that i wanted to come back in 2014 fully trained and ready to give it a real crack. This wasn't going to happen with a month to recover fully from the T184 and then just another month to get in some very limited speed work and taper time. So I've made the decision to pull out of the T184 and commit 100% to one thing - finishing in the top 20 at Snowdonia 2014 (with a sub 3) and in the build up in training and performing will look to peak for a late spring marathon on a super flat course to post what I think I capable of... What that time will be only time and training will tell...

For now though its rest, Parkruns and Cross Country...

Snowdonia Marathon 2013 race report

The plan following UTMB in August was to wind down for the rest of the year, run a few Parkruns and get my speed back. I was doing just this up until mid October and got my Parkrun time down from 19:06 to 18.20. I was happy but as the long distance runner knows sooner rather than later you will get the yearning to jump back into what you know best.

The Snowdonia Marathon presented me with just this opportunity. With a week and a half before the marathon (which had sold out in January when entries opened) I emailed the lovely Sarah at Buff to enquiry whether they could get me into the race. It was nothing more than a punt but I thought I'd try my luck. The very next morning after an exchange of emails between Buff and race director Jayne I was in!! Awesome!

Then came the issue of readiness for running a marathon!!! Not something I had even considered when sending the email :-) Since UTMB my longest run had been around 8 miles with Parkrun blast at weekends. My average weekly mileage was no more than 20 miles and I was now signed up to the toughest road marathon in the UK. I liked my odds :-D and relished the challenge. In the preceding week I got in one long run of 12 miles and a nice progressive 5 miler testing my speed (slow) and pacing (ok) A few more steady miles thrown in for good measure and that was my marathon training complete. You don't see that plan in Runners World. Haha.

Fast forward to marathon day and I had that same excitement that I've experienced on the previous two years that I've run this race. It really is a wonderful marathon - i think undoubtedly the best in the UK. I was with many friends from home (Leighton Fun Runners, Red Way Runners) and afar, Nick Ham, Jason and David and the rest of the Runners World SNOD forumites. Everyone was looking forward to it as was I.

Sticking to my paleo diet meant that I didn't have to force down a bowl of porridge and instead went along to Petes Eats Caffi in Llanberis for the full works - sausage, bacon, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes :-P now that's what i call marathon fuelling! With a leisurely 10:30 start time I relaxed and took a walk along the lake front and over to the registration area. Soaked up some of the premarathon buzz and wandered back to the house I was staying at to get ready.

The weather in Snowdonia makes this a marathon not for the faint hearted. The drive up on the Friday demonstrated this perfectly with gale force winds and  horizontal rain that the wipers could only just clear. Race day though was forecast to stay dry first thing with it turning fairly unpleasant in the afternoon. But the temps were in double figures so it was definitely shorts and t shirt weather. I was BUFFED UP in my team colours and raring to go. I had ran 3:17 last year which remains my official marathon PB (the 2:59 I posted in London was not in my name). My expectation for this race based on my complete lack of specific training was sub 3:30 baring in mind how tough this course is with 3 significant climbs at the start, half way and an absolute killer at the end. However I was relaxed and looking forward to my third Snowdonia marathon. Bring it on!!

Nick, Jason and I were pretty much right on the start line about 4 rows back with 2,000 or so runners behind us. Its always worth getting a good start down the first 1/2 mile downhill section before the huge climb up Pen y Pass to the 5 mile point. The excitement rose, the rain came (very briefly) and we were sent on our way. I told myself to hold back on the first climb and save something for later in the race but as it was I was feeling rather good (who isn't though in the first few miles right!) I clipped off a sub 7 minute first mile and got into a nice rhythm as the climb started up Pen y Pass. I was running right behind one of the lead female runners at this point so tried to use her even pacing to drag me up the mountain side. We reached the top in 35 minutes at 7:30 mpm avg pace, which was identical to my pace last year. The next few miles off the top are all downhill with a neat mile of offroad trail thrown in which always catches out the road runners a little. I used this to my advantage and opened up my stride a little to make up a few places and past the leading female.

The next section is fast flat road along the edge of the lake. Time to get into a good pattern and just hold a pace that felt sustainable. I didn't worry about who was passing me or who I was passing and was just concentrating on keeping it as smooth as possible. The effort I was putting in to each mile however was notable. We were racing after all and I came here to give it my best shot. Averaging around 7:15 minute miles for this section.

The half way mark takes you through the town of Beddgelert with lots of crowd support and cheering. There was only one thing on my mind at this point however which was the 2 mile climb out of Beddgelert from mile 13 to 15. I was so focused that I didn't even think about checking my half way split. The climb from Beddgelert is steep initially but then levels out before continuing to climb at a gentle gradient but enough to really know about it. At this point I was running with a number of runners that I was with from the top of the first climb at mile 5. So my target was to simple... dig deep and stay with them and don't let them out of your sight. And whenever someone would come up on my shoulder and pass me, I'd dig even deeper and try and stick with them. This worked well as each runner pulled me closer to the pack of runners that was 100yrd or so ahead on this long stretch of undulating road.

You are rewarded for your efforts after the 15 mile mark with a nice series of short downhill sections which allowed me to relax the legs and maintain a nice tempo. These miles felt fast and soon I was at the 18 mile marker. 22 miles marks the arrival at Waunfawr and the extremely tough 2 mile climb to the summit before descending to the finish. So I told myself that I had just 4 miles to hang onto this pace. I didn't look at the Garmin very much at all during the race and instead focused on those runners ahead. I got chatting to a chap slightly earlier in the race who was running his first Snowdonia. He was tall and quick and was confident of his pace and had trained all year for this race he told me. He was just ahead of me in this section so I just focused on him and tried to maintain the gap and not slip back. The miles went by and I was soon approaching Waunfawr and the climb up Bwlch y Groes.

The atmosphere was great with spectators lining the streets as the road started to climb. This was the final big push. What lay ahead was 2 continuous torturous uphill miles that at this stage in the race brings many people almost to their knees up the rain and wind swept mountain side. There was only one thing on my mind which was to crack on and ignore the now mounting discomfort in my quads and calves. They were screaming for me to slow down but I was having nothing of it as I continued to push my body to its absolute limits. I was steadily reeling in and passing everyone in front of me as I continued to the very top. Every person I passed voiced encouragement in the true Snowdonia spirit.

My legs were on the verge of collapse and were starting to cramp making the flat(ish) section of trail at the top little easier than the climb itself.  I pushed on into the wind and made it up to the second summit to the very top. From there it was 1.5 miles straight down to the finish. This is where it can get tricky as the path down goes offroad on mud, grass and rock. It was only upon reaching the top that I looked at my watch and saw that I could actually be on for a snowdonia PB by perhaps a matter of seconds. This motivated me to let rip and fly down the final slippery descent into Llanberis which is extremely steep in some parts especially where it returns to tarmac. I passed a few more runners as we made the final twists and turns into Llanberis and then I spotted last years female winner Emily Gelder as I turned into the high street. I must have looked like the guy who didn't want to get 'chicked' but honestly the only thing on my mind was to run the fastest time I could and get a PB. With that I sprinted down the high street and under the finishers arch.

I stopped my watch at 3:16. A new Snowdonia PB by one minute and my 'official' PB too! I was stunned by the time on my watch. I REALLY didn't think I stood a chance of getting near to last years time let alone beat it. What a way to effectively finish my 2013 with that. I was smiling from cheek to cheek as I stood in the finisher square for well over a minute just taking it all in. Thank you Snowdonia for another great race and more fantastic memories. See you again next year!

My race splits are on Strava - http://www.strava.com/activities/91676776?ref=1MT1yaWRlX3NoYXJlOzI9dHdpdHRlcjs0PTE1NzIxNjE%253D