I really like this race! It strikes a lovely balance between beautiful landscapes and even terrain. At 14 km it is also a nice distance. And the proceeds go to a good cause: the South Snowdonia Search and Rescue Team. What's not like? And I suppose it helped that the first time I ran it, I ended up on the podium. So when the 2026 edition approached I was really looking forward to it.
The weather was lovely. I got my race number and did a bit of a warmup, on my lovely hybrid shoes which are really good for a race like this. And then I lined up at the start.
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| At the start |
In the beginning I took it easy. I wanted to do the course faster than last year, but the way to do that is not by burning out. And after not too much time, there is a fair amount of going up and down, and that is something I tend to do on feeling. But I was feeling relatively confident.
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| Steffan, who would win, already looking pained a few kms in |
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| Me looking happier. The lady right behind me would still be in that position at the finish! |
When I ended up flat part of the race on the southwestern side of the lake, I could try again. I was thinking of my breathing, and try to do it slow. And while doing so, run reasonably fast. I was enjoying it!
About halfway, there was a lady with a dog along the course. She shouted at me that I was in fourth position, and that the lady in third position was only just in front of me. That was very interesting. I could try to overtake her! I could see a cluster of people in front of me, and none of them looked particularly feminine to me, but they were so far I couldn't be sure. I just tried to get closer.
By the time we ran into the village, I had overtaken the closest one of the clump of people. And all the others I was now close to also looked like men. Where was this cryptic third lady? Maybe she had accelerated away. And in the meantime I kept an eye on whether anyone was approaching from behind. I might be chasing someone, but someone might be chasing me at the same time!
I spent the rest of the route battling it out with the remainder of the clump. Some I got ahead of, and some I didn't. It didn't really matter, they were all men, and I'm not directly competing with those. I never saw the lady I was chasing. But I could tell from my watch that I had a good chance of indeed improving on my time of last year. And then the finish was nearby and I thundered over it. In exactly 1:02! That was just over 3 minutes faster than last year. A few seconds would have been enough! But I will take the minutes.
I had a little chat with other finishers by the finish line, then I decided to go to my car to get my recovery drink, more drinks, and my phone. I was a bit thirsty, and I was keen to let Neil know how I had got on. And when I got my phone, I saw I had indeed been fourth woman, and the fastest woman over 50. Great! And that also meant waiting for the presentation.
With my backpack I went back to the finish line, cheered on more runners, chatted with more finishers, and drank several beverages. As time moved on it got quieter. They won't do the presentation until everyone has finished, and many people won't await that. I got chatting with a lady who turned out to be Steffan Sayer’s mother. Steffan had won! And not only that; he had taken about a minute off the course record. I was very impressed. And also; he runs in the 40+ category. It is never trivial to run a minute faster than anybody else has ever done in a race, but I find it even cooler for veteran runners!
When the presentation happened I went nostalgic and chose the same prize I had one two years ago: Mawddach honey. Other options were Purple Moose beer, a box with things such as bara brith in, and envelopes with vouchers. I had had a look at the prize table beforehand, and of the edibles the honey really was my favourite, but the envelopes hadn't been out yet. Or I hadn't seen them. But I had made my choice. It looked like the vouchers were things such as breakfast for two. Sounds romantic! But this is quite a southern race. The local businesses who are providing the prizes are generally also quite southern. I could imagine it would be a bit of a logistic nightmare to use these vouchers. I stuck with my honey. Steffan’s mum volunteered to take pictures of me. That was really sweet of her.
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| Presentation |
Then a man approached Steffan and me. He had noticed our identical-sounding last names. He was from the local newspaper, and he was wondering if he could get a picture. We explained that we weren't related and our names weren’t spelled the same, but he liked the idea of people winning prizes with such similar names. We're going to be famous!
Then everybody went home. When I got there I realised I was quite tired. I had clearly given it quite a lot! But well, you have to pay for that 3 minutes faster time somehow. Well worth it!
http://mmmmargot.blogspot.com/2025/04/ras-llyn-trawsfynydd-2025.html
https://mmmmargot.blogspot.com/2025/05/back-to-parkrun.html
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