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Sponsor – Craft of Sweden
Friday afternoon saw
the first of the athletes gathering at the Outdoor Recreation Center,
Talybont on Usk for the final round of The Welsh Ultra Running
Series. The event also formed part of the Run Further, UK Ultra
Running Championships.
The forecast had been
improving all week but with 6 weeks of very wet weather the
conditions underfoot were likely to be testing.
Being the last round of
the series there was an added interest with series contenders hoping
to secure their places in the overall series leader board.
In the mens category
hot favorite Terry (Mr T) Conway was otherwise engaged so would not
qualify for a final placing, this in all probability left it a two
way shoot out between between 2nd and 3rd place
athletes Piers Stockwell & Barry Murray. They had been evenly
matched over the series each getting the better of each other on
different occasions, it was likely to be close.
The womens category was
in theory more straight forward with the ever smiling Victoria
Mousely dominating the category with two wins in earlier rounds,
would this be a formality?
The team category once
again proved that endurance is the key with only two teams remaining
in the competition at this stage, having met the criteria of using a
maximum of 5 athletes over the series and having a minimum of 3
starters per round.
Lakeland 100 were in a
commanding position however without Terry Conway on the start line
they would fail to start with 3 athletes. To their absolute credit
(Barry Murray & Bob Smith) they resisted the temptation of
recruiting a 'ringer' and in the spirit of the team category, victory
went to Mynyddwyr De Cymru.
MDC a local Welsh Fell
Running club has used 5 athletes over the series all drawn from their
club, so the first of the series prizes was decided before the
starting bell had rung, congratulations to the MDC team, Alan Stone, Gary Davies, Katie Roby, Keri James and John Sweeting.
Saturday started early
with registration opening at 06:00am. Morning arrivals mingling with
athletes who had taken advantage of the accommodation at race HQ,
swelling the numbers. The event was sold out and we were expecting
the largest starting field of the series.
Credit Muen Photography
The weather forecast
was proving reliable and the suncream was reached for and waterproof
trousers downgraded to optional. After a final briefing on the start
line from Race Director, Matt, the now infamous starting cow bell was
rung by the ever effervescent and indispensable Dixie, we were off!
Credit Muen Photography
The early pace at the
front was quick, probably too quick. Who was a dark horse and who had
made the mistake of getting dragged in to a race in the early miles,
there would be plenty of time for the answer to reveal itself and no
hiding place for any athlete in the latter.
CP1 had seen the
athletes cover approx. 6 miles and top Tor y Foel at 551 m, the lead
group which included Piers Stockwell was tearing up the trail, if
they could maintain this pace then Mark Palmer's incredible winning
time from last year of 5 hours 54 mins could be in danger, but it was
still very early and the challenge of the central Brecon Beacons
would soon be in clear view, stunning and formidable in equal
measure.
In the ladies event
things appeared to be going to plan with Victoria as always smiling
and comfortable near the front of the field. Claire Akin-Smith and Katie Roby a member of
MDC were setting the early pace.
The pace continued
through CP2 and on to the long drag to CP3 and the start of the
central Beacons sections, this section will always settle things down
and anyone who has gone off too quick will need to quickly re-adjust
if they are to recover.
At CP3 Piers had taken
a commanding lead of the men's race and looked comfortable, it was
still early but with his experience it was going to take a big effort
to overhaul him. Some of the early lead group had indeed settled down
and the pace was a little less frantic. Barry Murray who hadn't
featured in the lead group now started to pick athletes off and moved
comfortably in to the top 5.
In the ladies race Katie
maintained her impressive start heading down to CP4, however further
down the field something wasn't right. Victoria appeared but the
smile wasn't there, this is not normal! A quick chat confirmed that a
troublesome knee which has been present but managed all year was now
refusing to play ball, still she pushed on. I hoped I would see here
again as they headed back up to us after visiting CP4.
Little changed at CP5,
Piers and Katie maintained control, Barry continued his pursuit of the
leading men, asking how far ahead Piers was, always a sign of
someones mindset, he was ready to race. In between the two, Gancho
Slavov and Jim Mann continued to cover the ground at an impressive
pace.
Thankfully Victoria did
reappear and even better the smile was back, I suspect a mental
re-adjustment had taken place and racing had been replaced with
finishing. A short chat hopefully banish any lingering doubts, the
Series title was still there to be won if she could get around.
Behind that ever present smile is a tough cookie and very good
athlete.
CP 3 & 5 (same
checkpoint) was an interesting place to be. Psychologically it is a
tough part of the course, you are approaching half way having endured
a surprising tough, steady climb from CP2. You then have to lose all
that height down to CP4 to then undertake a different more brutal
climb back to CP5, all this knowing you have the crux of Cribyn
waiting to greet you in a few miles time.
If I was a betting man
I would have offered good odds for a DNF number in the teens, the
fact we only had 3 is a testament to all the athletes. I saw real
suffering at CP3 & 5 but obviously most managed to pull
themselves back together to complete the course. There was some great
comments questioning the parentage and sanity of Race Director, Matt,
but my favorite quote had to be 'there is nothing like being handed
your 'ass' on a plate', as a dejected female athlete sat at CP3 contemplating what was to come. This same athlete pulled it back
together and went on to finish, in fact there were no female 'DNF's',
who said child birth was easy hey!
And so the race moved
on to the central Beacons, from CP5 the highest point in Southern
Britain, Pen Y Fan was conquered, followed by a stunning ridge run
were the full beauty and scale of the Brecon Beacons could be
experienced. The only issue being all the height loss. From here the
only way was up and the crux of course Cribyn awaited the athletes. A
steep climb got steeper, then after a brief respite got steeper still
and with lungs bursting and legs burning the final descent had many
athletes resorting to hands and feet. Having conquered the twin
cardinals of the Beacons the athletes could console themselves that
all the sustained climbing was now behind them, although being the
Brecon Beacons it was never going to be flat!
Credit Muen Photography
A quick visit to CP7 at
the windy Gap and much needed water supplies could be taken on
board. The athletes were now on the home stretch with a fantastic
ridge run and long descent back to the Talybont reservoir.
This is where the mens
race took a twist. Piers still in command and on the home straight
and possibly relaxing for the first time (?) made a navigational
error heading right off the ridge too early. The detour added miles
allowing the following athletes to overtake him. Piers ultimately
finished 4th having been in such command up to this point.
Gutted doesn't quite do it and with Barry Murray moving up to 3rd
had it cost Piers the Series title as well?
A short section on the
ancient tram road and Brecon canal brought the athletes back to where
they started their epic challenge. The relief and sense of
achievement evident in all.
Credit Muen Photography
To sum it up it is always
a privilege to witness first hand athletes pushing themselves to
their limits, make no mistake this is a toughie and the underfoot
conditions made it tougher. It was a fitting end to The Welsh Ultra
Running Series. This is also an appropriate time to thank our
headline Sponsor, Craft of Sweden, they are a relatively new brand to
the world of Trail Running and Adventure Racing but have a rich
heritage in endurance sport, as long time users of Craft kit we can
whole heartily recommend it.
Lastly we need to thank
our team of volunteers, anyone who has done a couple of events will
know them by now, they are all great personalities. The same
individuals give up weekends time and time again. These are not easy
events to stage and without them they would be impossible. We only
hope that in time we can reward them for their continued commitment
and hard work. Guys, you are the best team anyone could ask for,
thank you.......
Series results can be viewed here
Dates for the next years series will be confirmed soon, keep an eye on our Facebook page.
Awesome race!!
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