Snowdon 'Eryri' Marathon:
Saturday 25th October 2008
Everyone else was training for various autumn marathons, and I was looking online for
something we could enter to join in the fun, when up came the Snowdon marathon.
It seemed an omen that the entries were due to close the very next day, so I suggested
to Alec this was the chance to do the marathon he had been talking about for years,
and promptly put in our entries.
The weather forecast for our weekend in Wales gave alternate days good and awful,
and despite all our hopes, it worked out wrong. We drove our campervan there on the Thursday,
to avoid the weekend traffic, and arrived through a deluge. When we saw the state of the camping
options, for the first time ever we gave up and took refuge in a B&B in Llanberis.
Looking back up the hill from Pen-y-Pass, with the sign showing 7.5miles to Beddgelert. |
Friday was a lovely day, and we drove around the marathon course wishing "if only the run was today!"
We took loads of photos to prove the sun did shine, but overnight the next set of storms duly arrived. |
Going down the valley towards Beddgelert |
Alec decided he would not survive the conditions, and handed back his race-chip even before the start.
I reckoned that having made the effort to get there, I would at least go through the start and see how far I could get.
| The race was based in Llanberis, but the start was 1.5 miles up the road in Nant Peris, so the first problem was queueing in the rain and wind for the bus. Then the race start was delayed to wait for the last busload to arrive, by which time everyone was soaked and well-chilled. | |
 |
It was good to actually get going and we soon got warm going uphill for the first 4 miles. I realised how sheltered we had been in this valley as we came over the Pen-y-Pass and turned for the long downhill to Beddgelert - the wind and rain almost forcing us back up again. I found a friendly gent who let me tuck in behind him - it's amazing how much difference it makes. After 6 miles downhill, it was such a relief to the quads to reach the flat, and then turn again; but although the wind was now behind, the gusts were too strong to set a steady pace. And faced with another long uphill past the halfway mark, I really began to wonder if I would make it. |
| After that, the large undulations all the way to the 21-mile point were fairly manageable,
though the wind and rain were coming from all directions.
Then the going got really tough. We left the road and headed up the steep old slate-quarry tracks over the ridge back to Llanberis. Almost everyone around me was walking this part and I had no intention of being different. On the top, the path deteriorated into loose slate, mud and grass - fairy-godmother, please bring me my fell shoes! The wind seemed even stronger and colder (Alec said the weather station showed 40mph, with 79mph gusts, and 4.5°C) and I was actually blown off my feet - fortunately only bruising my hands and my dignity. |
I'm hiding from the wind in the middle of this group |
 |
Downhill was even steeper, and with legs gone 'all wobbly' there was no way to relax here either. |
 |
Eventually we came down to Llanberis, but there's always a final sting-in-the-tail; in the last half-mile we had to go back up the hill again and I had to walk even this short rise before staggering down across the line. |
| I couldn't quite believe I'd done it, and it was great to see Alec there
at the finish to take care of me; a foil blanket, tea and biscuits, and some dry clothes and I felt almost human again. |
|||
 |
We stayed on for the prize-giving, and I was most surprised to get 1st fv60, as my time was only 4h:12m:6s. All the winners were presented with a large scenic mounted photo of the Snowdon area, as well as some running goodies. There were about 1800 entries. I was 522nd of 1133 finishers (61st female). |
Return to Homepage.