Ras Trawsfynydd

I had accidentally come across a race I hadn’t heard of before: Ras Trawsfynydd. It would be my second race of the year. It didn’t have much vertical, but the route looked beautiful, so I looked forward to it. And it was also a fundraiser for South Snowdonia Search and Rescue, which is of course an excellent cause. A few days before, Marjan messaged me to say she was not well, so I wouldn’t have a supporter. That was a pity! But not a dealbreaker.

I drove down in good time, and was beautifully directed to a parking spot in the shadow of the decommissioned nuclear power plant. It was a foreboding presence! I had never seen it from this close up. It looks a bit spooky. And the fact that we would be racing through a weather warning for wind was not making it any less spooky. The skies were threatening!

The power plant, seen from the reservoir dam

I went to the toilet for a last time, and went to fetch my race number. Then I went back to the car to change into my running gear. And then I was ready. This time I didn't want to do what I often accidentally do: appear at the start so late that I am starting somewhere in the rear, and then having to overtake loads of people. This time, there was no chance of that. For some reason, people weren't approaching the start at all, until they were specifically asked to do so by the organisation, only seconds before the start. I pretty much started in the second row! A bit ambitious, but I could keep up with the speed of quite a lot of people around me.

At the start 

Starting so far at the front made it easy to keep tabs on how many women there were in front of me. Quite soon I spotted four of them. That would not be good enough for a podium position, but the race was 14 km; a lot could still happen. Maybe I could overtake one or two?

The route start very beautiful. But after only a few hundred metres it started raining quite heavily! That was a bit of a pity. Luckily, it was a brief shower. And the wind blew us dry quite quickly!

The lake; just ignore the fact I took this picture before the start

With so few women in front of me I resisted the temptation to take pictures. My desire for a medal was bigger than my desire for photographic evidence of the beauty of the route. But believe me when I say it was gorgeous!

Pic by SSSAR

In the beginning I was leapfrogging with a few people. Two of them women. That was exciting. After a while I seemed to manage to leave one woman behind me. And I was just chasing a few people ahead of me. One of them also a woman.

The woman in front of me very slowly but steadily increased the gap between us. But there was a man in front of me who didn't. I was trailing him for quite a while, until, about halfway there, I overtook him. It turned out that he then spent quite some distance in my slipstream. He was welcome! I had done the same with him.

I figured that on the western side of the lake, the route would be gorgeous, but on the eastern side it couldn't last. And it didn't! The lake is quite close to the main road, and it was unavoidable to run along it for a while. That wasn't my favourite part of the race. I was glad to turn into a path again. Even though it started raining heavily again, and we had a headwind. It was a bit difficult to see where you were going with the rain buffeting one’s eyes. 

I also heard someone approach. It was a man in a Meirionnydd. We exchanged some brief pleasantries; we needed our breath for running as well, of course. And when I knew that the finish wasn't far away I kept my tempo up. I wasn't competing with him in particular; it is always more rewarding do not let women get past. But who knew what was happening behind me. And a good time is nice! So I kept going, and even ended up in a mild "swift mode"; when I breathe so hard it starts sounding like the screeching of a swift. 

When we got back on the terrain of the powerplant he overtook me. But he couldn't keep it up! I got past again, and I could hear I created a bit of distance.

I thundered over the finish. What a race! It had also stopped raining. I cheered some people on that finished shortly behind me. And I sneakily enquired what my position was. I thought fourth! But it became clear I can't count, and I had come in third. A medal! I was chuffed. And that meant I wanted to stay for the ceremony.

I spent some time at the finish, chatting with some other finishers, including the lady who had come fifth. She was an Eryri Harrier; as far as I know, the strongest club around. And also the club that organised series of short fell races that Harri (of Parc y Moch fame) had been plugging to me. I am awful at fell racing! But it still sounded interesting. She also recommended I sign up. And she also turned out to practically be Martin’s neighbour. It's a small world!

After a while I decided I should go back to the car and put on some dry clothes. It wasn't currently raining but it was very windy, and I was quite wet. That couldn't remain comfortable for long. It was nice to get out of my damp kit. And I decided to have some lunch inside the car. A good idea; it soon came down in buckets! But I was nice and sheltered in my vehicle.

When my lunch was finished and the ceremony was approaching I went back to the finish. I chatted a bit with the lady who had come second. She had changed as well; I didn't recognise her anymore. You don't tend to get a good look at your competitors. When I was running behind her I recognised her from her outfit and her hairstyle, but now she was wearing civilian clothes with a hood. 

There weren't very many people left! I think the terrible weather had chased a lot of them away. Several people who had won a prize weren’t there. And their ceremony was unusual; normally, they announce the winners counting from bronze to gold, but not here; the reason was that they didn't have fixed prizes. They just had a table with an assortment on, and you could just pick what you wanted. And gold gets first pick, of course! And when it was my turn I picked a pot of local honey. And found out that both honeypots on the table were part of the same prize. Success!

With my honey I went back to the car. I think this race is run every year; I'm keen to run it again next year! It was lovely. And the chance is slim we will have to run through a storm again!