Marshalling Pedol Peris

Shortly after I joined the Eryri Harriers, an email came in asking us club members to help with a race. If we were not running it, could we marshal? And officially I would be on the last day of the field trip, but I got dispensation from Martin. So I was in! And that would be my first time marshalling. 

The race is a gruelling trail and fell race. It starts in Llanberis, goes up the hill to the east of town, follow the Glyderau range until it drops down to Pen y Pass, then goes over yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), and then down via Moel Cynghorion. It’s some 18 miles, but the sting is in the mountains. Originally, I would be stationed on Moel Cynghorion, but a few days before the race I got a phone call from the organiser, and he had changed his mind. I would be lower down on the hill, pretty close to the finish. And then he decided I could also do a stint on the other sides of the race, close to the start. 

On the day of the race I packed a bag with food, drinks, first aid kit, an emergency blanket, and warm clothes. I decided to park where the race had its official parking, and then bike to headquarters. There I found the organiser, and he explained to me exactly where he wanted me to be in the morning. Initially I had figured I would do the morning without my bag, and only bring it to the afternoon marshalling. But then I changed my mind.

I biked to the start of the zigzags, where I had been in summer with Frank. There I parked the bike, and walked up. It was hot! When I got to the gate where I had to show the runners the way I first retreated to change into my shorts. And then I thought I would have some time with coffee, cake and the newspaper, but the runners arrived earlier than I thought. And because we were only a mile or so from the start, they were all still very close together, and after a few minutes the last one had come past, and I could go back to HQ.

View on the way up

‘My’ gate

There weren't many people there, so I just sat down to have some lunch. After a while a bloke I know from our Thursday runs appeared. He turned out to be marshalling somewhere near me. The organiser pointed out exactly where when he appeared, so we decided to walk up together. We were still a bit early so we had another snack where our paths would separate. Then we went to our respective gates.

At the other gate

I thought the race organiser might have underestimated the speed of the fastest people. I expected someone any minute now! His estimate had been first runner at 2 pm. And actually, the first two appeared at 14:08. So he had been quite accurate! And these first runners were incredibly fast.

Initially there were big gaps between the runners, but these became smaller, until they became bigger again. And the faces were starting to look more haggard. People were also very muddy, and some even bloody. There must have been some wipe-outs along the way. 

More than three hours after the first runners, the last two appeared. They said only the sweep was behind them, and that was indeed the case. So I packed up and closed the gate. The sweep went on to the finish while I took the most direct route to HQ. When I got there, the prize ceremony had already started, I managed to put my marshal vest on the pile, collect what I’d left behind there, and leave, without disturbing anything. It had been a long enough day! I had arrived 9:30, it was now almost 18:00, and I thought that was enough. No need to linger. Although I did get a big hug from the last two runners on the way out. I had enthusiastically shouted encouragements to every single runner, including them, and given that they had seen me at the start of the race they knew how long I had been hanging around. They said I was very patient. That was very sweet of them! But now my patience had run out. And, through the very well-timed rain that had held off while I was on post, I made my way back to the car. I would definitely do this again. But I sort of hope that next time it will either be shorter race, or maybe I won’t have to marshal at both the beginning and end of the race!