Race the Train

Race: Race the Train, Tywyn (14m)
Time/Position: 1.36.21 (40th from 780)
Eight years since I last did this race, when I narrowly missed beating the train in atrocious weather. Entered this year at the last minute, thinking it might make a nice family day out (coincidentally my third visit to Meirionydd in five days). The race went reasonably well, but (inevitably) I found the cross-country pace hard to handle after a summer running and racing in the mountains. It is always hard to make this kind of transition and although I felt good on the road out of Tywyn and the early flattish running through the fields I began to struggle a bit as we approached half way (conscious that we had enjoyed a tailwind for the first half). Ted from Wrexham caught and ran with me for a big chunk of this section, and I finally started to feel fairly strong as we got onto the narrow sheep tracks that mark the start of the tough second half. We started to pass a few runners, although I slowed a bit on the steep stair climb out of the delectable Dolgoch falls. None of the climbs last long, though, so I was able to hold on even though my complete lack of recent speed training was beginning to tell. I was reasonably pleased with my time, beating the train by 12 minutes, but finished well down a fairly strong field with runners from across the UK.