Reputedly the toughest marathon in the country. Gale force winds and heavy rain. Stella’s 10th marathon in 10 months was going to be tough.

After standing in the wind and rain for 30 minutes, waiting for the bus to shuttle us to the start, getting cold and wet, we finally arrived at the start line with minutes to spare. I managed to miss the start by visiting the loo so started as one of the last runners! Now this turned out to be rather good fun…

The route is a single lap around Snowdon and with three long climbs, each 2 or 3 miles long, it’s a challenging course.

The first climb, the Llanberis pass, starts after a mile or so and continues for a good few miles. It was sheltered in the pass so really quite a pleasant climb and I was making good progress through the field. I was looking forward to cresting the top but that’s when the gale force winds really struck, almost lifting me off my feet and literally throwing me down the hill. Scary stuff at times!

The next climb starts just after Bedgellert at 12 miles. The wind was still gusting hard, thankfully no longer a head wind but the heavy rain was now lashing down.

By 20 miles the rain was coming at me horizontally but I was enjoying this, really enjoying this. I felt strong and was still catching and overtaking others. Hell, this is fun!

The final climb, partly off road, is a brute. Almost everyone was walking but I’m a stubborn sod where hills are concerned and kept running, overtaking all the way. I wasn’t going to stop… If anything, the final mile or two into Llanberis and the finish was the hardest part of the race with bone jarringly steep descents and no time to enjoy the views.

This was an awesome race and the bad weather just added to the sense of enjoyment. I won’t forget this race for a long time. A good quality t-shirt, coaster and all the tea I could drink finished the race quite nicely. Well done to Stella for completing her 10th.

Gary M

222 Gary Mason 3:43:08
598 Stella Denniss 4:19:37

Results here. Race photos here