Ad hoc marshal

The Pedol Peris race would coincide with Neil’s Welsh 3000s, and I wanted to be standby, so not stand on a mountain all day. But the night before, a call came for more volunteers. And I figured there wouldn’t be much need for me in the morning. The chances of anything happening that would improve from my input in the first hours of his hike would be vanishingly small. So I said I could do some early stage volunteering. And Suzie, the race organiser, put me on marshalling duties in Dinorwic. 

I drove south on the rain, and walked to my station in the mist. Then the sun came out. And Dinorwic is so beautiful! I also bumped into Helen, who works for the power station there, but now was in function as another marshal. She had brought her dog.

Dinorwic when I walked up

Soon after Helen had left to go to her own station, I could see the first runner in the far distance. And then two more. They would get to me soon!

There is a runner in this picture, honest

Not much later the first runner indeed appeared. I could see him for quite a while. For a distance, he looked like Rhys from Hebog. When he came closer, it turned out that he was. But I had a bit of a brain fart, and I shouted something along the lines of “Great running, Siôn!” Oh dear. At least I could show him where he should go, as I was standing somewhere where the route onwards was a bit ambiguous. And he would go on to win the race. 

Soon afterwards, a lady and a gentleman ran up together. I know it was only about half an hour into many hours worth of race, but still; a lady in shared second position is quite something!

I shouted at everyone! As usual. Even though I was wearing glasses, I only noticed I actually knew runners (if I did) if they were really close to me. There were quite some Eryri Harriers running. Great! But this is a race our own club organises, and it is right up its street, so that was not unexpected.

There were a few more runners who were not certain where to go. I actually had use! Helen had been worried about runners going places that were sensitive to the power plant, but nobody seemed that way inclined. They just might have gone the wrong way. 

When I saw a guy who had nobody in sight behind him I asked if there was anyone else; he said he was the last. So I let Suzie know that was the case, and took off my hi viz and cowbell. I decided to walk a different way down. I like Dinorwic! 

When I got to the mill, the goats were there in force. I could get quite close and take some nice pictures. And then I was off home, for lunch. It had been nice, and I had made a small difference to the club. And I still had the rest of the day. So all good. A LOT better than last year! And on another note: how would Neil be doing? 

Handsome billy

Are they flirting? 

Last Thursday Night Hill session off-road of the season

It had felt like autumn for a while already. Pretty much since I came back from the Netherlands. And when we entered September it meteorologically became official. And now there is something else to mark it. On the online invitation to the weekly Thursday Night Hill run, it was specified that this would be the last time this year we would be in the hills before we would get back to our winter route on asphalt. That made me slightly sad! Even though I also like our winter runs. 

We ended the season with subtlety. No crazy ascents of Moel Eilio or Elidir Fawr or any of that. Just a bit of running around in a general vicinity of Llanberis. Only some 400 m of ascent. But it was a gorgeous evening for it! Even though I, and several other people, got cold arms, as we were in short sleeves, and that might not have been ideal. I had a jacket in my running vest but it stayed there.

There was also a bit of slapstick when the group fell apart into two subgroups; I was in the slower one. We got to a junction and couldn't see the fast group. Rhian, sort of is in charge of the slower group, was certain the front runners had gone right. Until she suddenly shouted "STOP!" as she had decided that they had gone left. But after we went left the situation repeated. And again when we went right. I wasn't entirely sure if she was genuinely confused, or just wondering how long she could string that along. But by then, the front group had sent a messenger to indicate where they had actually gone.

It was a nice night! Big turnout, with both regulars and newbies. And when we will hit the roads, at least the people won't change. And then we will all still be fit when we get back into spring!

Caernarfon Half Marathon 2026

I was full of adrenaline! I'm not really sure why. I really wanted to run a PB, but I am not sure why that should result in such race jitters. I had come to Caernarfon with what I thought I would need to succeed: a vest with water, gels, IT band straps and paracetamol. As the previous year I had run a PB in spite of hobbling over the finish with sore IT bands, I figured that I would manage if I just would sort this knee-adjacent issue. 

I did the usual going to the loo, chatting with other runners, dropping off my bag. And I saw Louise, who was obviously not running today, but was there to support. I had promised her to run that PB the day before. The pressure was on! Then it was time to line up. 

Before the race

I had a target pace for the first 5 km, the middle 10 km, and the last 6 km. The first one was the slowest. When we set off it wasn't difficult to reach it. We ran through town and onto the bicycle path alongside the railway, where Race the Train runs as well. Nia and family were supporting! That was nice. And this part of the race is slightly uphill, hence the conservative speed.

After the initial turmoil there seemed to be a bit of crew of equal speed developing. Apart from me, there was a young lad in a white top, a lady who looked like she was older than me, and a few more. We did a bit of leapfrogging, but for quite a while we essentially stayed together.

On the bicycle path, with some fellow runners. The young lad would come in first of us three, and then me

When we came off the bicycle path I knew I should speed up. And I felt like I could. This part of the race was rather flat. I trundled on rather uneventfully, with my crew. But then we came to the Foryd; where the road follows the coast.

This meant a few things. The first was: it really felt like the only thing I had to do was run back to the start. We were just over halfway there, and I knew I would soon be able to see the town, where the finish was. It also became quite exposed to the wind, but this was a tail wind, so that was a good thing. It was also exposed to the sun. No shelter here! And it was quite warm.

With the wind in my back I accelerated a bit. I left the lady behind. The bloke in the white top matched my speed. I managed to keep my speed where I wanted to be. Sometimes a bit faster even. It didn't feel like I was really pushing it hard. 

Where the coastal road bends around to follow the river instead I saw Neil. I had suggested to him he doesn't come to the start, because that would mean waiting for me for more than 1.5 hours. If he comes to the finish it's good enough! But it was clear he was a bit early, and had gone to spectate. That was great! 

I knew that straight afterwards, we would get the last major uphill. That knocked me a bit. I had actually spent quite a lot of energy already after all. And I took it easy because I knew there were still several miles to go; exhausting yourself on an uphill is no use. And I opened a gel. 

I tried to do a bit of arithmetic in my head. Was I on course for that desired PB? But I don't think that by that time, my brain was working at maximum speed. I just did my best. Pushing it, but not so hard I would burn up too soon.

I didn't feel fluent or bouncy anymore. But I just did what I could. And when I got back to the castle, Neil was there too. And I was glad I knew I still had to follow a strange zigzag course through the town to get to the full half marathon distance. A a bloke running near me told me after the finish he had seen the castle and thought he was almost there. Not really! And there are some nasty surprises at the end; some short slopes up, and a little bridge you have to go underneath which functions as a wind tunnel, where you get the full force of the wind in your face. But when that was behind me I gave it what I still had. And by then I knew I had that PB in the pocket. And Neil was there again!

Approaching the finish with dramatically flapping hair

Done it! 

I squeezed out a final sprint and came over the finish in just under 1:37. Excellent! The old PB was just under 1:39. Two minutes faster! And I was still panting heavily just behind the finish line when Louise and her entourage found me and congratulated me. I had done it! Neil joined them. 

Then it was a case of getting my medal and T-shirt, retrieving my bag, having my recovery drink, cheering some more people on, and chatting with other finishers. And catching up with Jacko! He was there too. He was in flip-flops and I think he was happy not to have to wear running shoes himself that day, for the first day in months. He looked fresh! 

Then it was time for the presentation. Emma had won it! Just like last year. I had comfortably won in my category again; I was about six minutes ahead of the next F50-54. Neil was disturbed by the fact he went to attack his sandwiches, but he saw nobody else eating. Hadn’t we just burned loads of calories? And Jacko got an honorary mention. And then it was over. A good race! 

Proud category winner

Supporting Louise in the Ring O Fire

My plan had been to pop back onto Anglesey after meeting my Welsh tutor, and cheer on my friends Louise and Tony who were doing the gruelling Ring O Fire ultramarathon. All runners wear GPS trackers so you can find out where they are. But then I got the additional dinner-with-Lionel plan. I thought I could manage to squeeze Supporting in before the dinner, but Lionel was back on the surface earlier than I had expected. Maybe I could do it afterwards?

It was about 8 o'clock when Lionel and I had had our dinner, so I figured there was time to go back to the island. I had a quick look where Louise and Tony were. They were quite far apart. Oh dear. I had a guess at where Louise would be once I got close, and set off. She was ahead of Tony, and it makes sense to go see the front runner first. I headed for the general direction of Llangoed. I don’t know the tiny country roads there very well, but I hoped I would manage. 

When I stopped somewhere to check again she had moved more than I had anticipated. I couldn’t catch her there. So where to go? And soon I realised it would have to be on the tiny road from Penmon back west. 

It was all a bit improvised. I was in my work outfit and didn’t have a head torch with me. I was supposed to do this in daylight! Fortunately I have a torch keychain. My phone would be useless as it has short battery life, and I needed it for navigation. 

I parked up by the toll booth and got out. I brought my phone on its charging pad, plugged into my power bank. That, at least, I had with me! And I made my way in the dark towards Penmon. I couldn’t catch her just about see enough. 

After a while I saw a head torch approach. I shouted ‘Louise?’ No response. It was not Louise, I wished the runner well. And then there was another head torch. And headlights. A car was overtaking a runner - surely Louise - and the driver was shouting encouragements. It was indeed Louise! And I think the person in the car was Emma but I’m not sure. I hugged Louise. And she asked if I could walk with her. I wish you good! And even wrong. I might have been in a civilian outfit but I can jog for a bit like that. 

She told me how it had been going. Quite alright, so far! She was feeling good, the weather was lovely, navigation had generally not been a problem and she had support. She said she had had a pot noodle and a change of clothes not too long ago. She was so fresh for someone who had just run 100 km in 12 hours! 

We ran for a bit but I knew I had to turn back at some point. Get back to the car, check if I could still catch Tony, and at some point go home. At something that looked like a suitable point I gave her another hug and turned back. Without her I just walked. I was hot! And I want to spare the battery of my mini torch. When walking I could just about see enough.

I got back to the car and had a look at where Tony was. He was just entering an area you can't get close to by car. And it was getting late. I felt a bit sad but I decided to go home.

Screenshot of the tracking page, just after I got home. The blue dot is a relay runner. Louise is race nr 111.

I went straight to bed. And in the morning I had a look at where Louise's and Tony’s dots were. Tony’s dot had gone black in Beaumaris; he must have decided to pull out. But he had come halfway! Still an amazing feat. Louise was comfortably in the lead. Even ahead of the relay team. Wow! That was amazing. 

I was going to see Kate later that day, but she didn't mind if I first trundled up to Anglesey do another little round of cheering Louise up. And again it was a wild goose chase of tiny little Anglesey country roads, and her dot on the map jumping around. I ended up parking near Rhoscolyn, running down to the shore, and then just running east until I found her. She was glad to see me again. And she was clearly tired. Obviously! By this time she was about 190 kilometres in. Who wouldn't be tired.

The landscape where I found Louise

This time I was marginally better prepared. At least I was wearing a sports bra and running shoes, but after I had set off I realised I had forgot my running vest, and my running shorts and top don't have pockets. I really relied on my phone to find her. Having my car key on me was also a good idea. So I decided to just keep my trousers on over my running shorts. These at least have pockets!

We trundled west in the general direction of Trearddur Bay. And we chatted a bit about how it was going. She also said she hadn't initially intended to do this race. Someone had had to pull out, and had offered her their ticket for free. She had thought she might as well take that offer. And look where she was now! She was struggling, but still going strong.

After a while we came to a parking lot where her support were: her husband, several of her children, and her sister. The sister had followed her around all through the night. That is quite some dedication! I had had a good night’s sleep.

This seemed to be a good location to hand her over. She had a little chat with her support, had a sip of coke, gave people another hug and then she was off. Shortly after the parking lot there was a somewhat vertical bit with a step down and then several smaller steps up. We could see her legs were stiff by now! But we had faith she would make it to the finish without problems.

I chatted a little bit more with Rebecca, Louise's sister. She sometimes comes to the track as well, so I know her a bit. But then I drove back to my car and headed for Penmachno. 

Still from a little video made by Louise's bloke

I tend not to have signal in Kate's house, or anywhere near it, but Kate magically does, and she confirmed that Louise had indeed won. Comfortably! And not just as first woman; first runner altogether. The first man came in about an hour later. Then when I got home and could look at an update myself I saw she had even broken the course record for women. She is such a legend!

A victorious Louise

She later her texted me to say thanks for the support. I was surprised she was awake, but she pointed out she didn't want to completely destroy her circadian rhythm. And she said she would be supporting the Caernarfon Half Marathon the day after. I would see her there! And I really looked forward to that!

Pwllheli 10k 2026

When I saw this race advertised I was really keen to register. Even more than average. Pwllheli was the place I had run my first ever gold medal. Also in a 10k. That gave me strong positive associations. 

I also knew it would probably be a very flat course. Maybe an opportunity for a 10k PB? Even though I had given blood less than two weeks earlier? And also, it would be the day before me going to the Netherlands. That meant it would be a good day to run myself empty and be still knackered the day after. I would only have to sit in a train all day! 

The race I had done (and won) in 2024 had not been run since. This race had a different (first time) organising team. And a different route. But the same HQ. 

I drove down and parked without issues. But it was a lot hotter than I had expected on the basis of the forecast. Not ideal! But not a big problem. I was glad I had brought my sun visor. 

I was feeling the race jitters. Quite unlike in Caernarfon, two weeks prior. I made sure to go to the loo, do my breathing warmup, do a ‘normal’ warmup, and drink enough. And I socialised with some people I knew, especially three lads from the track. There were also a few Eryri Harriers. 

At some point we lined up. And we were off! And the first kilometre, it is generally quite chaotic. The field is dense and some people struggle to find a sustainable pace. I tried to keep an eye on any women in front of me. Soon, I figured there were only two. Interesting! Maybe I could get a podium place again. Maybe even gold. 

Race buzz at HQ

Lining up at the start. Notice Steffan on the front row.

Fairly soon I overtook one of them. And I made sure to keep an eye on the other, who was in a Caerphilly Runners top. Very slowly I gained ground on her. And about 3 km in I overtook her. 

Was I on track for a PB? Questionable! But not impossible.  

I tried to keep a good but feasible speed up. And I sometimes looked behind me. It looked like the Caerphilly woman couldn’t keep up. Good! 

I was feeling the strain. Some 6 km in I noticed I was starting to wheeze. A bad sign! I really tried to calm my breathing. And tried to relax, and use some nearby blokes as pacers. It sort of worked. 

Then I hit the last km. I was knackered! I just couldn’t keep my speed up. I did the best I could, and it seemed enough to not let Caerphilly lady come near. I would have gold! Would there be a ribbon? Last time there hadn’t been a ribbon, but maybe this time would be different. I would love a ribbon! 

When I got so close I could see the finish, I saw no ribbon. A bit of a disappointment! I also noticed I was about to run pretty much the same time as I had done in Caernarfon. I gave it a last desperate push to try to be faster than then. And then I finished. 

Approaching the finish

Eyes on the clock

It's tense

Done it

I was stupidly out of breath. Luckily I found a wheely bin to lean on while panting like crazy. And I drank some water. 

Then I saw Caerphilly lady finish, about 30 seconds after I had come in. And, almost immediately after, bronze lady. Caerphilly lady looked like she was about to throw up. I know that feeling! For me, water helps. So I grabbed a bottle and handed it to her. And we congratulated each other. 

I then socialised a bit with other finishers, like the three track lads who had all managed to run their target time. The bloke who normally paces their group, Niall, had paced them here too. Successfully! And he, unlike the others, had managed a sprint finish, which made him come in a bit before the other two. 

I had my recovery drink and some more water, and then cheered on some other runners. And checked the results: I had done 43:18, so marginally faster than in Caernarfon, but still some 40 seconds slower than my PB. And I waited for the presentation. I couldn’t miss that! 

The presentation was decidedly weird. There were only three age categories! <20, open, >60. Of the 88 women running, 84 were in the open category. And the prizes were cash. Steffan took the male silver. As the female winner I got £100. I will obviously find a destination for that, but to be honest, I would have preferred it if they would just have used the money to buy gold, silver, bronze, and category winner medals, and handed out more of them. And maybe added some chocolate or something. You can get a medal for as little as a quid (undoubtedly a bit more if it states the race and the category) so they could easily have afforded that if they hadn’t spent £360 on cash prizes for the male and female top three. And maybe a ribbon? 

With my cash prize

At home I saw that Garmin had been of the opinion I had spent 88% of the race in zone 5. Maybe a new record after all? Just not speed? 

We will see if these organisers will stage this race again next year. If so, I would like to do it again! And maybe they will be more conventional a next time around, with more age categories and more symbolic prizes. And for now I will just do a bit of gloating! 

Jacko has his world record!

Back in late May I went for a little run with Jacko, The breathing coach who had done a session for the Eryri Harriers, and who is also the brother of one of my former colleagues. He had just started his world record attempt at doing the most consecutive ultramarathons for a man. He wanted to do 80 km every day for 100 days. It didn't quite work out that way. He got injured after some two weeks, and had to tone it down to 50 km. That still counts as ultramarathons! So that would still result in a world record, if he would manage to keep it up for more than 80 days. He only aimed for 100 because he could, I suppose.

The most consecutive ultramarathons for a person, by the way, is in the hands of a lady called Candice Burt, who did 200. He won't go anywhere near that. 

He has now reached that threshold of 80 consecutive ultramarathons, which until then had been the male world record. And that got some publicity. Neil saw an item about it on ITV. I couldn't find anything on mainstream media, but hey, if he reached Neil on TV he must have reached more. That's great! He is doing it all for two brain injury charities, and with the breaking of the record he got national attention, and hopefully, that attention will lead to more donations. He had tried to raise a million, but before reaching the world record stage I think he had only raised some £20,000.

He is now doing the last few weeks. I’m sure he’ll get to 100 ultramarathons. What crazy challenge will he think of next? I don’t think he will be going into a 9 to 5, with some sensible running on the side, now… 

From Facebook

In early September, he will be back in North Wales to finish his 100 days. It will be triumphant! And when I ran with him, he said that the world record was only a bonus and the important thing was basically challenging himself, and raising money for charity, but I still think the world record matters. The amount of donations coming in after he reached it will be the judge of that, I suppose! 

Caernarfon 10k 2026

The 10k races were coming thick and fast! I had only done one a week ago when I got into my racing kit for the Caernarfon 10k. The previous race I had pushed it hard, run a good time, and been floored afterwards. How would it go this time? 

I wasn’t feeling the race adrenaline beforehand. I pottered a bit and did a slow warmup. After that I wanted a last drink, but we had come in Neil’s car, my drink was in there, it was locked, and I couldn’t find him. Oh dear! When I finally did it was time for a club picture and then the actual start. 

Club picture

We headed west, into the wind. It took me a while to find my speed but after some 1.5 km I had it. And I kept it up until the flat course headed inland and started getting slightly hilly. Then it became much harder to know what pace would be a good one to aim for, and I did it on feeling. It also got quite hot. We had lost our sea breeze! 

I was glad to see a water stop. I got a cup from Eryri Harrier Jen; the fact she was volunteering and not running meant I had a good chance of getting a category win. 

I plodded on. I was feeling ok, and didn’t see many women around me. That is always a good sign. There was one coming into view, though. In a black top with no club logo. And then, some 7.5 km in, I saw Tony by the route, taking pictures. He shouted I was third woman. That puzzled me. I had seen Llio and Elliw line up; they are faster than me. And then there was this woman in black. Surely I couldn't be better than fourth position? But it is easy to mis-count. I did take it to mean that I was doing well, though.

At about 8.5 km I was feeling a bit light in the head. I was hoping it would all turn out ok. It is, after all, not unheard of that runners get overheated and collapse. I hoped that wouldn't happen to me. But did I slow down? No!

At about 9 km I managed to overtake the lady in black. And I figured that as long as I could stay ahead of her, my position was pretty much fixed. I did try to keep my speed up as I had the feeling I might be on my way to a good time. I wasn't quite sure what time, though.

Almost at the finish 

I managed to go quite fast in the last several hundred metres, until turning back into the field where the finish was. The uphill finish is a bit of a sting in the tail! I gave it what I had, cheered on by Neil, and saw that I had managed my second fastest 10k ever at 43:21. Nowhere nowhere near my 42:37 PB, but still pretty good! I got my medal from Dyfed and water from one of the sisters, and pretty much collapsed. I needed to sit down for a bit.

I found out that I had come fourth. Llio had won, an unidentified Cybi Strider had come second, and Elliw was third. And then me! Not bad! 

I went to get my recovery drink and bottle of squash and that helped me feel better. And then it was time to do some post race gossiping with the other finishers, and with Neil. And cheering on some other runners.

After a while, Neil got bored, so I asked Dyfed what time the presentation would be. In half an hour, I thought he said. He might have said something else. Neil went off to do a little walk while I went back to the car to exchange my empty drink containers for more useful luggage. And then the presentation happened! A bit earlier than expected. Neil missed it. 

Given that the top three ladies were all in the 35-39 category, or even younger, I got my category win. Quite comfortably! I turned out to have been about 3.5 minutes faster than the next woman over 40. I was proud of that. I won a floppy bottle and a pair of running socks. 

With my loot

I then just sat down below the tree to wait for Neil. (And to ogle at the race stats, of course). The entire Edwards family joined me. They had just been on holiday and we were full of stories. But the first thing Ian said when he approached me was something along the lines of: are you aware that you're supposed to slow down with age? I told him I would surely get to that one day. Just not quite yet.

Then Neil appeared, and we all headed home. A nice race! And guess what distance my next race will be. Indeed, 10k! That one will be super flat. Would I have a chance of breaking my very difficult to beat PB on that distance?. It is not likely, but it is possible. Watch this space!

Trentham 10k for Wales

I was just getting mentally ready for the Breakwater race when I saw I had an email from Paul, the man who organises teams to represent North Wales in inter-county championships. He had approached me in spring, to see if I could join the team for the Llandudno 10 mile race. I was deeply honoured! And this time he admitted he was only asking me because someone else had pulled out, so I wasn't on his first choice list, but I was still proud to be invited to wear that North Wales vest. The race would be all the way in Staffordshire, but I said yes.

Given that it was going to be far away I wanted to know if car sharing was an option. There was no publicly available start list for the racing question: the Trentham 10k. But you could search for names. I checked for some people I could think of: Emma, Rhodri, Steffan, Elliw… no success. But when I tried Llio it was a hit. She was running too! And I didn't have her contact details, but I know many people from her club, so I figured I could get these. Paul said that no one else lived in our neck of the woods. That sounded weird; surely we all come from North Wales?

At the Breakwater race, which is organised by the Cybi Striders of which Llio is one, I got her contact details. She was happy to car share. Great!

The race was somewhere just south of Stoke, which is about 2h20 away, and the start would be at 9:30, so we would have to have an early start. We met in Conwy at 6:15. Llio was ok to drive. 

We now had almost 2 hours to get to know each other a bit better. And we did most of that in Welsh, as she is a native speaker, and quite happy to let me practice. It was quite nice!

Unsurprisingly, the roads are quiet at that hour on a Sunday, and we reached Trentham without problems. We were quite early. We decided to get our numbers and go to the loo. Then I wanted to eat and drink something, and change into my running shoes. I had had breakfast at about 5:15 then I needed a bit more fuel for this race. After we got our numbers we bumped into Paul, who had also arrived. He asked us if we wanted the good or bad news. I said bad. He said that all the other women had withdrawn. It was only us! That meant we were only running for shits and giggles. Your team gets points assigned on the basis of the four fastest runners. If you only have two, you get so many penalty points that you could both run a world record, and you would still lose. I forgot what the good news was.

The men’s team, which was supposed to have six people, had also suffered losses. But they were still with four, so they were still in with a chance. Although everyone assumed Staffordshire would win; it tends to do that! Maybe they could still take on Cheshire? But we, the women, were doomed to come last. 

We made sure to have some pre-race snacks, and do some stretches and a warmup. And meet the men. They were two Buckley Runners, a Deestrider and a Hebog. And then it was time to get to the start for a team picture. And then we lined up.

Before the race

I knew this wasn't going to be a fast course. I had checked it and it had about 140 m of ascent. All of that would be gradual, but it was there. For comparison: the Bangor 10k only has 67 m, and the Caernarfon 10k 50 m. But I would see what I could do!

After the start the entire rest of the team shot off like an arrow. I kept it modest. There's no way I can maintain that sort of speed for 10 km. But I made sure not run too far below what I could do. I knew I would have to run about six kilometres uphill and then four downhill.

Things were going ok. I was happy with my speed, but the rest of the team vanished from sight. I had other things to worry about. There were two women in my vicinity and I focused on these. One was a lady from the local Trentham running club, and we were leapfrogging each other a bit. And then there was a woman running for Cheshire, and she overtook me. I was hoping to be able to get her back. She wasn't too far ahead!

Less than 1k in. The lady in green would still be right behind me at the finish

I tried to keep my speed up and enjoy the route. Slowly the kilometres ticked away. And then I got to 6k. Now it would be downhill pretty much all the way. I accelerated. Everybody else did too, though.

Looking determined, 8k in

I did manage to shake off the local lady, but the woman from Cheshire was stronger than me and she increased the gap. I could see her black and yellow shirt thunder towards the finish. And then I got there too. Paul was there to take a picture. And I saw my time was 43:39. I figured that was pretty good considering the ascent! And I was seriously out of breath.

Almost at the finish 

Done! With the Trentham lady right behind

What I wanted now was a drink. Luckily I had brought four containers. And there was a building where I could refill them. And once I had my drink and my recovery shake I went to talk to the rest of the team. They hadn't waited to cheer me on. That was a bit disappointing. At the Borders League, you are pretty much guaranteed cheering Harriers when you finish. 

The others had been super fast and they were quite happy with their achievements. Llio had run a PB! On this course! She had dropped below 40 minutes. I don't think I will ever manage that. We were both registered for the Caernarfon 10k the week after; I'm wondering what sort of time she can run there. 

After the race

I emptied three of my drinks containers, and then the others said they wanted to do a cooldown run. Their idea was to first run to their car, and then do a bit of a loop. I did join them to the cars, but realised I was so full of drink I really didn't want to run further, so I just went back to the finish area, and had a look at the results which had come in. I had been 13th woman, and second in my category. The Cheshire lady I had been chasing had been first F50! 

After a while, the presentation took place. Llio had a category win! Well-deserved. And she was the only one in the team who managed that. Obviously, Staffordshire had won, both in the male and female competitions. And Cheshire had consistently come second. Our four men hadn’t managed to beat them. 

Then it was time to go home. I brought my last container into the car. Unfortunately, I had already finished it before we even set off. I should have made sure to refill some of them. By the time I got to my own car was seriously craving both food & drink.

The rest of the day I was knackered. And frankly, the day after as well. When I had a look at my Garmin stats I saw that it said I had run 71% of the race in zone 5, at maximum capacity (defined by Garmin as having a heart rate of 165 +; Strava uses a different threshold). For comparison: I had done the Breakwater race at that intensity only 3% of the time, Race the Train 56%, Pentir 54% and Felinheli 5%. I'm sure there is uncertainty in these measurements, but I do think they give an impression. And this time it surely matched my experience. I clearly gave it my all there! But I suppose I ran practically an identical time as I had done two years ago in Pwllheli, where I had won, on a course that was as flat as a pancake…

Club run for runner with cancer

Before the start of the Felinheli race I bumped into a guy called Ian. He is a Cybi Strider I first became aware of him at the 2025 Rhostryfan race; I overtook him shortly before the finish. He was there in Bethel too; Chris knew him from the track. Around that time I started track running myself, and I saw him more often. I remember him early on claiming he was the oldest person there. When I asked if he had asked everybody else their age he said he didn't need to; he knew. Then I asked him how old I was. And he knew what age category I ran in! Because of the Rhostryfan race. And it wasn’t unusual to run in the same group on the track. And I saw him at loads of races too. 

Lately he had been complaining he seemed to have lost his mojo. He just couldn’t run like before. And then, in Felinheli, he told me he had been diagnosed with a particularly unpleasant cancer, and needed to undergo particularly unpleasant treatment. Oh dear! 

A bit later, at the Pentir race, other Cybi striders told me the club wanted to wish him the best with his treatment. They had initially considered flowers or something, but then figured that was a rubbish idea. This was Ian; what suited him was a run. They wanted that to be open for everyone. So I made a mental note of the date. 

On a Wednesday evening I drove to Benllech where we all would gather. I was early, but there already were quite some Cybis. I parked up, wrestled with the parking app, and lined up. There were many familiar faces! Louise, Emma, Llio, Mel, Sion, Richie… a lot of my favourite track and race Cybis. And Ian, of course. 

I had an idea of how busy these club runs normally are; there often is a group pic appearing on social media. Recently it has been quite constant at about 15 participants. But this time there were at least 50. I think there were more! 

Group pic before the run. Ian kneeling in a dark blue T-shirt. 

Before we set off, Emma went through some H&S pointers. Then Kevin pulled Ian to the front and explained once more what the run was for. And Ian took the floor and said it wasn’t about him; it was about stressing that if something is off with you, you should have it checked out. He had very vague symptoms with which it is easy to just not go to your GP. But he had gone, and it turned out it was something very serious.

Then we started running. It was cloudy but dry. We headed west on a sizeable road, followed by a smaller road. Occasionally we stopped to let everyone catch up. There was a lot of talk about races past and present, and yesterday’s track session that I had missed as I had been  camping in the drizzle. 

We also dived into a public footpath. This was getting Thursday Night Hill! And it started raining. We then headed for Red Wharf Bay. On the beach we did a very rainy group picture. Where was that drought? 

Beach pic

We weren’t far from the starting point now; we just had to run back up the hill. All sorts of people appeared, of various ages, and accompanied by dogs. Ian’s family and non-running friends! And there were loads more on the car park. They all looked like drowned rats. The heavens had opened! 

The non-running people had brought water and cake for everyone. And we socialised a bit. Everyone wished Ian the best. But people were getting cold in their flimsy running tops in the pouring rain. 

I had the impression Ian really appreciated all goodwill shown. Good! I don’t know how much we will see of him in the coming months. Maybe he’ll jog some races to feel better? Do half a track training? I wouldn’t put it past him. But maybe he will be too poorly. Either way; I hope he will be back to his full mojo after the treatment. And then he can go and overtake me in the last tens of meters of the Rhostryfan race. Or any other race, really… 

Holyhead Breakwater race 2026

I was excited about the Breakwater race. I had really enjoyed it last year, and not just because I did well and came third. I liked running on the breakwater. And the atmosphere was good.

Closer to this year's race I realised this race boosted my ego in more ways than just giving me a third prize. I had accidentally set the course record for women over 40. And that at 49.6 years old! I don't think that record will stand very long; there are some women in their 30s that are a heck of a lot faster than me, and they won't stay in their 30s forever. But it is my first course record I am aware of, and I am proud of it! Unfortunately, the course record for women over 50 is considerably faster than the record I just set for women in their 40s. So not much of a chance I'll ever manage to touch that.

 

Proud to be on that list! 

Anyway. The 2026 edition was coming. This time, Neil was going to support me. We drove to Holyhead together. Obviously, there were a lot of people there I knew. And I saw Anna, an Eryri star runner, was back. She had had a child only 2 months earlier. Husband and kid were there too, to support (or be quite oblivious to what all of it meant, in the case of the baby). I also managed to squeeze in a toilet visit and a brief warmup.

It would soon be clear that this year would be different from last. There was more wind, and with that there were bigger waves. And these were crashing over the breakwater, especially towards its end. And it has a barrier on the outside, but if you get caught by a wave coming from that direction it might wash you off the other side where there is no such thing. So the organisation had decided to only make us go to the last bend in the structure. They would position a marshal there, that we would have to run around. This would make it a 4 mile race rather than a 5 mile specimen. 

The Breakwater on the day

We lined up for the start, and off we were. I trundled off in my standard fashion. No need to exhaust oneself at the start. But after a while I realised I was not too far from Emma. Last year, she won it. Being close to her surely meant I was doing well! I also saw Tony unusually close. 

The startline

When we got to the breakwater I was still slowly gaining on them. I noticed my speed was very high. I was doing 15 km/h, which is Race the Train speed. But it felt ok, so I didn't slow myself down. 

By that time, the first runners had reached the turnaround point and were coming back the other way. Anna was the woman in the lead! Amazing. She is back with a vengeance. And then I saw a girl I did not recognise. And then there was only Emma. I was in 4th position! If I am, I always try to wrestle my way to the podium. I overtook Tony, and then I overtook Emma. What was going on?

I made the turnaround myself and then got the wind in my face. That explained my speed on the way out. My run back surely would be slower. And I noticed Emma was close behind me. I would have to watch her! She might very well just hang back for a bit and then overtake me at any stage before the finish.

Beside Emma I had another worry: the waves. On the way out I had stayed dry. It looked like on the way back I would not be so lucky. And indeed, I got hit by spray twice. It wasn't dangerous, but it does mean getting a face full of saltwater. Not ideal!

By the time I came off the breakwater, Emma was a reasonable distance behind me. Then in front of me was some bloke. If I would just keep a reasonable speed up now, I would come third. So I tried to do that, and it looked like it was working. Emma didn't approach.

On Beach Road

Almost at the finish

I stormed over the finish and got my medal from Louise's daughter. And I really needed to catch my breath. I was tired! Neil found me quickly and was very proud. I quickly reached for the water bottle I knew he had in the outside compartment of his bag. I had another one of those instances like I had in Deganwy, where I felt like I might throw up if I wouldn't quickly get some water into my system. So I emptied the bottle but then I was fine. Neil was distracted by a very handsome dog. 

I cheered on some runners coming in behind me, and then I went to get my recovery drink. Runners were coming in thick and fast, and we wouldn't have to wait very long for the presentation. They had the same trophies as last year. I like them. They gave the first three men their trophies and then took a picture of all three of them. I hoped they would do the same with the women. Unfortunately, Anna, who had indeed won, had felt the need to go home with the baby. So it was only a picture of silver and bronze lady. A pity! And silver lady was running in the under 18 category. If she wants to keep this going, can you imagine how good she will be in her 20s!

Bronze and silver female and a representative of the sponsor 

It turned out there also was a team prize, for the fastest two men and two women from a club. And Eryri won, with Josh Keogh, Ian Edwards, Anna and me doing the job. We won a box of beer. Anna and Josh don’t drink, so it was all for Ian and me. 

Three quarters of the winning team 

After the race presentation there was the regional presentation. I got a gold medal for being the fastest F50+. And then we could all go home. 

I had done it in 25:50, which made it my fastest race ever, after Race the Train, at 14.4 km/h. Wow! There is still progress in these old legs!

Race the (Highland) train

Race the Train is so popular it sells out in minutes. But as I couldn't get in last year, and I had volunteered to marshal, I got a guaranteed spot. That was great! I could now try this iconic race myself. By the way; "Highland" distinguishes this race from a similar race further south.

I'm not sure if it is so popular because the steam train brings you to the start, or because it is downhill practically all the way. It only goes down 50m in total, but you notice. It makes the course very fast. And I don't accept a time on a downhill race as a personal best, but it's still nice run faster than you normally do. 

I arrived in good time and parked by the castle. One of the first people I know I saw there was Llio, the lady I had overtaken in Rhostryfan to take the bronze medal, but who had beat me many times since, in Llanrug and Bethel and Felinheli and Pentir. She is very strong on the short distance. And she had, like me, been running on the track the night before. She had said she was reassured by my presence because that meant she wasn't the only person doing both things in close succession. She had also said she was going to take it easy. That lasted about three seconds. She was flying around the track!

I also saw Richie, who was back from an injury. Sort of. He said he would just calmly jog the route. I wasn't sure if I should believe him.

We went to get our race numbers, and then we had to wait for the train to arrive. That is, except those who chose to jog to the start. A fair number of people do that. It's a good warming up! But I wanted the full experience. How often do you get the opportunity of being brought to the start line by a steam train?

When the train arrived I sat down in an open carriage near the front. That was a mistake. The engine is spewing out all sorts of dirt, and I didn't really mind getting it in my hair and on my skin, but I did mind getting it in my eyes. Wearing sunglasses wasn't good enough. But it was still nice to be dragged through the lovely landscape by this historic train. 

The train bringing us to the start

When we got to Dinas station it was only 12 minutes to the start time. I did a rudimentary warmup. Then we lined up.

Everyone I had been talking to her told me that you need to leg it at the start. The terrain by the station is spacious, but with a little loop you make your way to the other side of the track, and then squeeze onto the bicycle path. There is a bollard there. It is narrow! If you're not somewhere near the front, you will end up in the queue there. It is a bit like the Pentir race I suppose. There are bottle necks there too, and you want to be near the front so there aren't too many people already in there when you get to them. 

When we started, there was indeed a bit of jostle. I found it scary! When people are shoving me from the side I am scared I will sprain a knee. It is so easy to do with my knees. But I took the advice to heart and started faster than I normally would have. Maybe it worked; when I reached the bicycle path there was no queue. 

By then the field stabilised a bit. A bloke in black and a lady in blue came storming passed, but otherwise people had more or less found their place in the pack. Any overtaking will now would be slow. I knew I was going fast, which is tricky so early on, but I decided to try to stick with it. 

I had seen that both my friend Louise, and Richie, were in front of me. I knew I was right not being quite convinced when the latter said he would take it easy! But I wondered if I could still make my way slowly to the front. 5 km is not much, but still enough for some manoeuvering.

Before I got anywhere near either of them I overtook the lady in the blue top. She had gone too fast in the beginning! And I slowly closed in on Louise. When she heard me behind her she said “ah, there you are”. I told her she could still beat me. She didn't think she could. But she was surely giving it a good go. When I overtook she came with me.

The race photographer didn't capture me, so here instead is a picture of Kevin, one of the Track Tuesday trainers, and the race organiser himself

Slowly but steadily we both overtook Richie. I hope he didn't aggravate his injury too much! Ideally, not at all, of course.

When the path had one of its little uphill bits, Louise overtook me. But she couldn't maintain it. I caught up with her again. And then overtook her again. We only had some 250 m to go. 

I tried to squeeze out some acceleration. I was tired, but I still managed. And then I thought there was a lady in black in front of me that was still within reach. I had a go at overtaking her, and I managed! And I could see I had just about managed to come in within 20 minutes. That is fast! This must have been the influence of the slope. I had been hoping for a time of 21 minutes! 

I gave Louise a hug, and then we cheered on other runners coming in. And we found friends who had finished before us. People seemed to generally be happy with how it had gone. Soon I (and supposedly everybody else) got a text message with the official results. I had come in at 19:59! Quite a time. And I had my expected category win, in the implausible F45-54 category. And thanks to my last minute overtaking of Louise and the other lady, I had come in as sixth woman! I was proud of that. WCR runner Huw had come 4th. After 3 Meirionnydd men. 

Not a very good picture of the train finally coming i 

After a while, the presentation happened. In spite of them giving prizes to the top three in every category, they managed to do with quite quickly. Prizes for Louise, Emma, Ian, and Arwel. And loads of other people. And there was even an M85+ category! Won by a 89-year old who had done it in 33:38. Impressive. 

Louise and her daughter and me (I had by then put my shorts back on, as they have pockets)

Then it was time to go home. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the castle against the evening sky. I couldn't resist last year either! It is quite an enticing view. This had been fun! I was hoping I could do it again next year...