Excalibur Marathon

Race: Excalibur Mountain Marathon (43k/1403m/BL)
Time/Position: 4:22:36 (9th from 250)
Not a conventional 'mountain marathon', in the mode of the OMM or RAB, but rather a properly measured marathon distance over the Clwydian hills: a kind of informal, non-competitive hybrid between a long fell race and a road marathon. Billed as Britain's toughest off-road marathon, it was just an ideal local training run for me: good, if late, preparation for London. Even if I hadn't been ill last week, I doubt I would have been in a position to properly race this having not had time for enough long runs. As it was, I just kept a nice steady (slow!) pace throughout and really enjoyed the relaxed nature of the event. A small group of sub-5 hour runners started at 9.30, jogging along the fire roads east of Famau to gain the ridge at the fingerpost. Then the usual Friday night route to near the summit before dropping down to Cilcain. A long tarmac haul gains the climb up fields to the next checkpoint at the Moel Arthur car park. All very relaxed and slow-paced. Nice and friendly despite the odd urban ipod wearer! From here, the long looping bridleway on the Vale side led down to Llandyrnog, before a long but gradual climb gained the other gentle bridleway that skirts the Vale side of Pen y Cloddiau. A tough climb over Moel y Parc and back down via Aifft was perhaps the crux. Then comes the delightful home leg along OD across the top of the ridge via Pen y Cloddiau, Arthur, Famau and Fenlli. Perfect conditions: cool and cloudy after a warm week, unusually dry underfoot, and nice to be doing a long race over ultra-familiar hills that I've crossed hundreds upon hundreds of times. More notable, it is a nice logical loop of a route, which is not always easy to arrange in the unhelpfully linear Clwydians! Easy first half, with lots of road and track, climaxing with a tour of all the peaks (in that sense, somewhat reminiscent of the Jungfrau marathon!). I became increasingly distressed by the numbers of discarded bottles, though: I assume this will compromise the future of the event.

Llanferres loop

All training severely disrupted after a week in Armenia which saw a mild cough get considerably worse in the cold, dry climate. Despite this, the trip was superb with the highlight being a tour of Vayots Dzor along the border with Nakhichevan (an exclave of Azerbaijan) which is particularly spectacular at the high Tukh Manuk pass. This towers above the tiny de jure Azeri enclave of Karki/Tigraneshen, and is followed by the gorge of the Arpa and the superbly situated monastery of Novarank. At the highpoint of the trip in Jermuk, well above 2000m and just west of Nagorno Karabakh, the snow was almost head height, burying several buildings after a freak winter. Indeed, it snowed while we were there. Excellent wild Caucasian mountain scenery as we descended back to the Arpa valley. Views of the extraordinarily isolated peak of Mount Ararat became increasingly clear throughout the trip: a fantastic sight from Khor Virap, but still impressive from Yerevan and even up near Garni next day (another fine gorge). Ararat looks every inch of its 5137m when the weather is clear and would be nice to climb, though the logistics are apparently complex. By this morning, several days after returning home, I was feeling a little better after the trip, although I still struggled with the initial climb up Fenlli. The weather has been perfect in Wales for days, as it has by my reckoning since 2007 at this time of year. The warmth helped and, after coughing up a quantity of phlegm, I began to feel better as I descended from Fenlli. It was almost hot as I continued south along OD to the superb path west of Moel Gyw. Over the shoulder of this to Llanarmon, then a series of extended intervals back to Llanferres. Followed up with a bouldering session at Pot Hole, mindful of not having done any rock climbing in preparation for our forthcoming Provence cragging trip. Warmed down by cycling to work in glorious sunshine.

Berwyn run

Peaks: Cadair Bronwen, Tomle, Moel Sych, Cadair Berwyn
Area: Berwyn
A very enjoyable reccie of Peter's new Ras y Berwyn, which is planned for June. After doing the full Famau run last night, we took it fairly easy for the very steep start up a little lane above Llandrillo. The track then eases a little and becomes superbly runnable, although it is almost a constant four mile climb to the top of Bronwen. The weather was excellent - clear and sunny with shifting shower clouds over Aran and Arenig. The route across to Bwlch Maen Gwynedd gives excellent running, with great wild views down to Cwm Llawenog. A peaty haul up to Tomle, then SW along contouring tracks below the steep, broken east face of Cadair Berwyn to finally climb back up to the ridge at Moel yr Ewig. Appalling tussocks lead down to the superbly situated Llyn Lluncaws, probably the finest spot in the range. This will be tricky in the race, to say the least! Some debate in our small reccie group (me, Jez, Peter, Kean, Sandra) as to the best route. Then a steep but scenic climb up the obvious ridge to Moel Sych and along the main ridge to the top of Cadair Berwyn. We left en masse for the excellent but boggy long descent west to Cwm Tywyll. A couple of sleety showers as we headed north back to Llandrillo. A fine circuit with the potential to become a classic race. Jez and I then headed back up the tracks for an extra few miles around Cefn Pen Lletty, mindful of the forthcoming Clwydian marathon.

Bryn Alyn-Moel Famau loop

No races for a while, so a good opportunity to try to catch up with marathon training before leaving for a weekend in South Wales. I left Cadole before 4pm for the pleasant run to Maeshafn then through the woods to the 'Beast' up to the top of Bryn Alyn. I then extended the run out towards Eryrys, then back via the edge of the quarries to join the original race route back to Maeshafn. From here, I upped the pace back to the Collie before joining the normal Friday night group run up Famau. Felt like a beneficial longish outing, with plenty of climbing, but again was another reminder of how much work I have to do to convert my 10k speed - such as it is - to any kind of fell running form.

Waun y Llyn long run

Hopelessly behind in my training for two forthcoming marathons, a familiar pattern. This was my first long run since Christmas, and followed a familiar route from home over the shoulder of Hope Mountain to Pontybodkin, then up the steep hill to Treuddyn. Wet snow fell throughout this section, which was rather unpleasant, and I remained cold and damp throughout. After the long haul up to Cae Hic, I was pleased to feel OK for the superb hilly running down to Llanfynydd, before the savage climb back up Waun y Llyn. Around 17m, but a good deal of climbing, so should be of some value for the forthcoming Clwydian marathon - if not London.

Dash in the Dark

Race: Dash in the Dark fell race (4m/700ft)
Time/Position: 25:38 (6th from 37 [3rd V40])
Having missed the first two 'dashes' this winter, I was pleased to be able to make the last one: I always enjoy these friendly night-time trail races through the Llandegla woods. Well off the pace tonight, though, having not yet emerged from my usual cocoon of road racing through the winter months. As a result, I struggled on the climbs, even though they are relatively gentle, and even the terrain seemed harder than usual. It's always tricky to see your feet, of course, and it remains disconcerting even after about 10 of these races. Quite competitive at the front end tonight, more so than usual, and I finished well down the small field. This is about the point in the year when I usually try to make the transition from road to hill, so there's clearly quite a lot of work to do!