Snowdonia 50 Report

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A few Thursdays ago I began packing my bags for a weekend in North Wales, a place I'd never been despite living so close. I'd be camping at a primary school in Betws y Coed, the race headquarters for the Snowdonia 50 (Eryri 50 in Welsh).

I packed up the basic car camping essentials and all the race kit I required and needed to compete. I planned for everything being closed and had food packed as well since last year at Lakeland 100 I didn't have time to eat or access a decent grocery store. I'd preferred to avoid that situation.  

I wasn't sure what to expect other than a very beautiful little corner of the world.

The drive was of course phenomenal as expected, the terrain slowly becoming more and more rugged the closer I got to Betws y Coed. It took about 3 hours and was easy and relaxed other than a bit of rush hour traffic near the England Wales border. 

The mountain town of Betws y Coed (meaning "prayer house in the woods") reminded me of the places in the US I used to live.  The streets were crawling with outdoor enthusiasts, the buildings seemed to be either gear shops, B & B's, eateries, or local people selling their handmade wares. Everywhere you looked the scenery was calming. I felt like I fit in. I unfortunately had little time to wander town and only passed through to my destination, race headquarters at the "ysgol". 

Once at the school I checked in and received my bag of loot. Race number, course map, Snowdonia 50 Buff, t-shirt, and a "dibber" that I'd tape to my wrist in order to check-in electronically at each checkpoint. Also a flyer for the World Masters Mountain Running Championships later this fall in Betws y Coed. One side of the flyer 100% in Welsh, pretty cool. I noticing the "masters," I reminded myself although it's tough for me to train right now it will all pay off in the future.

I went to my car and returned with my required kit to get it looked at to make sure I was carrying what the RD required. Finally I set up my tent and got situated. 

I was very happy I'd planned ahead and brought food. I happily sat in my tent enjoying a Lagunitas IPA and the odd foods I prefer: pork scratchings, avocados, hard boiled eggs, and a couple bananas. Much less stressful than trying to chase down somewhere to eat. If I ended up in a pub I'd likely drink too much anyway!

all geared up

At 830pm I grabbed a seat in the school next to a guy I know from Worcester at the race briefing. Kind of nice to know someone for a change. The race director began by welcoming everyone in Welsh, then in English. He gave a brief introduction of the race course, then touched on any areas of concern and changes. Much of it was safety related pertaining to falling down old unmarked mine shafts and crossing essentially trail-less boggy moorland. Obviously all of the place names are in Welsh. A few places, one in particular Rhyd-Ddu, had a crazy pronunciation when spoken properly. When the RD mentioned it everyone in the room gave a quiet confused giggle wondering what he was talking about as the proper pronunciation sounded nothing like it looked! Finally a few "where," "what," and a proper laugh from the non-Welsh and everything was clear.

Welsh for wash yer hands kid!

After the meeting everyone retired to their tents as it had started to rain and the invisible gnats were out in full force. Race start was at 630am with a pre-race meeting at 610am. I love the early starts! It was surprisingly quiet for a field full of tents. I had hoped for a good night's sleep but I tossed and turned until probably 2am. Race nerves? Maybe. It rained fairly hard most of the night if I recall and it was humid, I was too hot in my sleeping bag, too cold out. You'd think a kid free night, sleeping outside, and the calming pitter patter of rain would knock me out, no such luck! 

I woke up well before my alarm. The rain had stopped and it was very comfortable half in half out of my sleeping bag. I sat in my tent and ate two cold bean burritos I had made at home along with some hard boiled eggs and a banana. The glorious bean burrito! Good hot, cold, or old! So glad I rolled a few of these up before I left home! I didn't have any chores to do since I'd done it all the night before. I was tempted to put my skull and crossbones American flag on my race vest but lost motivation to do it right. Plus as much as I wish I carried a confident attitude with me, I'm the sleeper, the dark horse, hiding in the back. Flashy things aren't me. 

Everyone met up at 610am. I don't recall anything major other than reminders about "dibbing in" now to make sure your check-ins work, having your race number on the back, and the cutoff time at Llanberis and the finish. We all milled about the start. I noticed the showers that had been brought in and set up. That was surprising, maybe something to look forward to? Maybe not, as most race showers are low pressure, filthy dirty, and luke warm! Better than nothing I guess.

We all amassed at the start for a fairly informal beginning to the race. Out the school gate we went and onto the main road briefly before turning to a dirt road going up. Through old pine forest we climbed as the road turned to single track covered in slick rocks and roots, too steep to run effectively I ski walked keeping my heart rate low. I love having a nordic ski background! 

Anything that was wet you'd slip on no matter what traction you had. This would hold true for the entire race and if your shoes were wet, which they were, you'd slip on anything dry! 

I settled in with two guys making up 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place. One other guy was out front a little. We chatted as is usual in these races, both had raced last year. As the climbing leveled out the forest slowly became covered in vibrant green moss. It was like a fairy tale land bringing up thoughts of children's books. We lost the trail seemingly for a bit but fortunately the two I was with confirmed we were on track. 

Despite being a marked course much of it was marked by finger posts and not official race signage. Also some areas, such as the moorland, no true trail exists so you did need to be aware of navigation. No big deal really, you just had to pay attention. I think some people were slightly angry about this. I see it as part of the race and welcome it. 

I soon moved up with the race leader whom I would run with for much of the race. In catching up to him I noticed a few things. Firstly his fluorescent orange shirt had a ProFeet logo on it. This threw up a red flag. I had looked at the entrant list prior to leaving home for any familiar names. One guy had put "ProFeet" as his team. ProFeet is a foot motion store in London well known for ski boot and running footwear fitting. They sponsor some decent athletes. A little research and I saw on his Strava page he had some great results but hadn't been running much this summer. Either way someone to be on the lookout for. Secondly his race vest had seemingly nothing in it! I honestly don't believe he had the required kit, or he knew something I wanted to know! Third. His race number was on the front. In some races this would lead to disqualification since it's suppose to be on the back. Fourth. He had these goofy classic looking white tube socks on pulled up to his knees. Probably "fashion compression" as I'll call it! Not sure what that meant but sure stuck out. Anyway, just some initial observations weighing up the competition.

long gradual climb after CP1 (photo: Llyr Hughes)

We passed through Checkpoint 1 just outside Dolwyddelan and began a long gradual dirt road climb through pine forest. The other guy told me to put my map away, as we don't need it! I tucked it into my race vest within easy reach, I know it will come in handy. I fell back to take a leak and I kept reminding myself to eat and drink early and often as it's easy to get caught up in the race excitement at the beginning and forget. Once you're in that caloric hole it's very difficult to get out. At the end of the climb and the valley we were traversing up the route left the road and followed a rugged and steep footpath straight up to boggy wet moorland. This area had been fairly heavily marked in order to get around open mine shafts that littered the area. It was slow going as it was far more efficient to walk than run considering the terrain. Moorland looks to be a field of clumpy grass but when it's crossed you soon find yourself inconsistently ankle to knee deep in water. There is really no easy way to build a solid path through it or cross it fast. Soon we began to see slate and were on solid ground again. Random shelters were built all over out of slate. Although now on a solid double track it was full of puddles. Being already soaked it was no big deal just splashing right through them. Fortunately I'm not blister prone so I was not too concerned about running in soaked footwear and socks. The Brooks PureGrit 3 I was running in was a fairly new shoe to me and far different from it's predecessor which I had very good luck with. It drained and dried very quickly which was perfect for the weather.

photo: Andy Milton

 After Checkpoint 2 in Blaenau Ffestiniog we were surrounded by disused slate quarries. We passed through a valley up a wet double track lined with old ruins of  buildings. I have no idea how old they were but the carefully laid black slate formed beautiful walls and arching doorways. The unsettled dreary weather, black slate, ruined buildings, some of enormous size, gave the feel of being in Mordor in Middle Earth! Pretty cool. Once up and seemingly on top of all the "ruined lands" we descended. Now my memory is foggy on this part but I believe this was the most technical descent we had (I could be confusing this descent with the one into Llanberis). It was cool rocky single track that essentially when it rained became a rocky creek. No shoes on earth would give you confidence to run down this. It was insanely slippery and difficult to even walk down. The worst part is that slate is very sharp so not only did we have to worry about breaking an ankle or wrist but severely cutting ourselves. It was a tedious and mentally draining segment. Soon it was over and on to rocky but runnable trail. Within close range of Checkpoint 3 we got off course a bit following a sheep trail versus hopping a stile over a fence. A stile is a ladder/stairs made for crossing safely over fences. Looking at the map I suggested we cut straight down to the road that we were suppose to be on. The guy I was with seemed to disagree and wanted to keep following the diminishing path. Fortunately he decided I had a better option and soon we were at the 3rd checkpoint.

photo: Andy Milton

In Croesor at Checkpoint 3 we mentioned that we had difficulty following the course in case it became a problem for others as well, then it could be better marked in the future if necessary. The checkpoint workers said that was the worst section and things get easier now. On we went and honestly I remember little of this section other than the final third. We hopped onto a trail going upstream of a raging river. It was beautiful. The trail had some very wet rocky sections requiring scrambling skills and even in one spot had steel handles drilled into the rock face to hang on to in order to avoid falling into the raging waters! Looking at the map it's called the Pass of Aberglaslyn. After this technical section the trail mellowed to smooth, rocky, and super fun single track. After it was over we both agreed it was a very enjoyable section to run!

photo: Llyr Hughes

We refueled at Checkpoint 4 in Beddgelert and were on our way. After a while, maybe around mile 26, we were on a rolling gravel path. I was feeling decent and was going at a fairly steady pace. Soon the guy I was running with fell back. I glanced over my shoulder and he had slowed down. Hmmm. All of a sudden a rush of positivity hit me. Is this it? Is he done? I was elated and became very emotional. I was the race leader. This race is mine! I'm tired of second and third places. I want to win today.  I mentally made the decision that I wanted this. The problem was we weren't even half way. Everyone has high and low points. I was on a high and had yet to have a bad low. He could easily be on a low and bounce back. I needed to be on top of feeding, stay positive, and focus. The "race" doesn't really even start until mile 40. I led for a while longer and indeed he caught back up, I believe around Rhyd-Ddu. I asked him if he was ok and he smugly said he thought I was going too fast. I thought to myself, bullshit! He was hurting! You never give up your weakness to the competition.

A short fight through moorland, I could see the high pass in the distance that we needed to get to in order to drop down to Llanberis. Soon we were back in a disused quarry. The piles of slate towered over us and the trail was difficult to follow despite being marked by posts. A brief moment of confusion had us wondering which way to go. The other guy suggested we go up. I looked at my map and suggested down. I was once again correct. Minutes lost yet again. We climbed out of  the quarry, the rain began again, and we ascended steep terrain up to I believe Llanberis Pass below Foel Goch. Below the pass we hit a typical rocky single track, of course littered with puddles! Down we went until we hit the roads into the popular mountain town of Llanberis and Checkpoint 5.

Checkpoint 5 was an out and back down Llanberis' high street. On our way back out people and cars were everywhere. We kept a sharp eye out for a race course marker showing us were to go. The other guy said we needed to go to a roundabout. I looked at my map and seeing we were at the end of lake we just needed to skirt the end of the water to get to the other side. "No there's the roundabout ahead." So, to the roundabout we went, and back we came to the spot I said we should go to. Minutes lost, actually 3 - 5 minutes lost! Back on course we climbed a steep and rocky gravel road made up of a few switch backs. We made it to the top and meandered through the small village of Dinorwic. Next it was into wet, trail-less, but sufficiently marked moorland. Soon we were descending to Bethesda and into Checkpoint 6.

moorland outside Dinorwic (photo: Llyr Hughes)

An offering of leek and potato soup was greatly appreciated. I was quick to mix it with water in order to chug it down without burning my mouth. It's always disappointing waiting for it to cool down in order to slam it back! Some jelly beans, fill the bottles with water, some coke, more jelly beans, and we were off. Soon after leaving Bethesda at around 42 miles I decided it was time. We were power walking up an incline and during a moment of silence I noticed the other guy's breathing rate was much more labored than mine. This was the cue to go. I began running, as did he, but soon he slowly fell back. So I picked up my pace ever so slightly. I've committed to the finish, the race had now begun. As much chatting as you do through such a long race you befriend many people but from this point on they were all out to catch me and beat me to the finish. I didn't know who was coming, if the other guy would bounce back, or if I would fall apart but what I did know is that I needed to run everything from here until the finish. If second place was in sight of me and I showed weakness he may feed off it and catch up.

pulling away from second (photo: Andy Milton)

The gap slowly grew as I followed an easy rolling single lane road. A quick glance over my shoulder and the fluorescent orange shirt was easy to spot. I noted to myself to NEVER where high visibility clothing racing as it was now his disadvantage. I could track his every move looking back down the long valley we followed. A car rolled up to me and stopped, out the door jumped the race director excited as ever. He shouted "do you know what place you are in?" and I yelled back with a huge smile "FIRST!" "Second is maybe a quarter to half mile back!" He shouted some words of encouragement, pounded his hands on the roof of his car in excitement, then got back in and drove on. Soon the road became hilly and I decided to show no weakness and run faster up, then once out of sight power walk a bit to recover. I still had maybe 13 miles to go and needed to use caution. I kept telling myself "if you want to win you have to keep running, no more breaks." After the hills we soon popped out onto a sidewalk following a busy road. Lots of tourists and traffic. I always tend to run faster when people are around so unknowingly my pace quickened. Next through a gate and onto a dirt path pushing on and on keeping a consistent pace repeating my mantra, "if you want to win you have to keep running" despite my feet becoming sore and the remnants of past injuries beginning to flare and expose themselves. With no one in sight chasing me down mentally I reminded myself that they were there and they were coming.

motoring into CP7 (photo: Nic Conner)

I saw Checkpoint 7, the last one near the Plas y Brenin National Mountain Center and picked up my pace, scrambled through some rocky single track and made sure my "dibber" beeped as I checked in. The volunteers began to ask what I needed, I said "nothing thanks!" and took off running. I remember asking how far it was to the finish and I swear I heard "8 miles" which I think was actually "8 kilometers." My two bottles had a few sips of water in them and I still had a couple gels in my race vest but I figured with only a short distance left taking in food won't make any difference. I train fasted, without food and water, on all my runs up to 25 miles. The minutes saved could mean the difference between first and second place. However if the guy in second is hurting, like I expected, he will stop for a few minutes to rest and refuel, the time advantage will be mine.

"trail"

Miner's Bridge

I charged forward running relentlessly looking at the map breaking it into sections. Path to road to single track to road, then cross the river. I started to feel my lack of food and water intake and was getting dizzy. The temptation to walk was huge but I fought it and kept running. I obsessively began looking over my shoulder waiting for someone to catch up. Finally a single track leading to a steep bridge, then up a steep set of stairs, down some slippery rock. Next thing I saw was a few steps up to a rock wall, above the wall was a street sign reading "Betws y Coed". I crossed the main street, my eyes bouncing around for race arrows. I now recognized the houses surrounding the school. I ran as best I could through the neighborhood and finally into the school yard and the finish. I had just won the Snowdonia 50!

final half mile or so

The race director congratulated me and gave me a finisher's "medal," a huge chunk of Welsh slate with the race logo on it. Then someone offered me a beer which of course I partook! I chatted about the race with a few people who approached me, spoke with the photographer who had been chasing us around all day. About ten minutes later the guy I had been running with finished in second, I congratulated him and we milled about awaiting other finishers.

finishers "medal"

first and second place. yeah, I need another beer! (unsure of photo credit)

Soon I was four pints deep and hardly feeling the alcohol. I decided it best to eat something and wandered into the school kitchen where they were serving up pasta bake that a local woman had made. Her husband was dishing it up. He gave me piece about the size of my head! I attempted to eat it and got about halfway. I took the rest back to my tent to eat later. 

Food! Looks like I need more beer!

Soon it was time to test out the showers I had seen earlier that morning. I wasn't sure what to expect but figured it would be better than nothing. I entered the stall and what I saw was glorious! An actual bathtub  with the shower connected to the school's water supply! The shower head was the size of a dinner plate! Forget about the race, how dirty and tired I was. This was the best shower I'd ever been in!

Glorious!

The evening passed by quickly and soon I crawled into my tent. The rain started. The humidity was high. And I can still hear that damn dog whining all night long! Another night of poor sleep. Oh well. I'll just have to have another shower in the morning!

I woke early and the rain had stopped. I decided to wander into town since I hadn't had a chance to yet. I followed the road, crossed the river over a stony bridge and found a trail following the river upstream to where we crossed the Miner's Bridge towards the finish. Overall a nice stretch.

I managed to get my hands on some boiling water from the kitchen for my french press and sat and enjoyed strong coffee and a bacon and egg sandwich. 1100am hit and it was time for the awards. Many people had left already but I was not about to miss out on this! I was called forward and hopped up on the first place podium. The RD awarded me a Shepard's crook made from a Welsh Mountain Ram's horn! Pretty rad award! I was bummed it was all over but what a great event!

photo credit: Amanda Seims