Penmaenmawr fell race

Had a great day out on one of my favourite races, the Penmaenmawr fell race, last Saturday. It's a cracking event which last year was run in perfect cold, still conditions. This time round the wind howled - gale force gusts, head-on and distinctly unhelpful for most of the race, becoming side-on for the bog and rocks beyond Bwlch y Ddaefaen. Great fun, though. My time of 1:38 was only 4 minutes or so up on last year, but the conditions were much harder so my position was a lot better. Think I finished in the top quarter, but didn't really push it, just enjoyed the elements and scenery. It's not really a true fell race, but is none the worse for that: more like a very long cross-country race in a hostile mountainous landscape. The big climb comes at the beginning, then it's undulating with a few bogs, rocks and streams thrown in. Runnable all the way to the excellent finish past the stone circles. Had a recovery mountain bike ride on the Sunday, in nice cold sunshine, up to Rhosesmor.