Rab Mountain Marathon, Carneddau

Race: Rab Mountain Marathon, Day One 
Time/Position: 190pts in 5.38 (11th from 175 [3rd Veteran])
There is something remarkable about the last weekend in September. This was my sixth Rab Mountain Marathon, always on this weekend going back to 2008, and every one has been characterised by near-perfect weather. Last time it was on home ground in 2012, I made my worst ever mistake on a mountain marathon and ended up well down the field. The main issue today was likely to be whether I had the legs for a long outing, as it could hardly be more of a contrast from the Wirral series I've been concentrating on. The organisers seem determined not to repeat 2012's rather restricted field of play, and did a fine job: in essence the decision was whether to run day one in the Carneddau or Glyderau. I opted for the former, on the assumption that it would be more runnable. This was not the case, but it was indeed a harder day. Set off from Capel Curig in glorious sunshine, and ran down Ogwen for a bit before taking the path towards Cwm Eigiau. Very nasty terrain, bog and tussocks, and Peter went past me at this point as we both went for the same first three checkpoints. Stunning views down Ogwen to Tryfan: crystal clear light. After another CP higher up, I crossed the bwlch below Helgi Du and initially tried to contour across for a CP on the Cwm Eigiau side. There are too many crags hereabouts, however, so a higher line was necessary. After dibbing, it was steeply down into Cwm Eigiau then a heads down plod up the bridleway towards a big value 30 pointer hidden among the knolls high above Llyn Dulyn. Quite hard to find. I then ran across the boggy ground to emerge as planned near the shelter on the top of Foel Grach. From here, good running down the spur north of Cwm Caseg led to another CP. This is one of my favourite areas: wild and remote in Welsh terms. The next CP was given an unusual descriptor: micro-saddle. I dropped down the scree to Cwm Caseg and without thinking too much, ploughed straight up the steep hillside to the ridge of Yr Elen heading for the obvious 'micro saddle'. The CP was actually a good 100 metres lower down the ridge: an annoying error. From here, I ran flat out to gain another CP in a huge and complex sheepfold near the climactic final climb of the old Carneddau race route. Then it was a long contour to Cwm Llafur below the Black Ladders. I made another mistake here, going too high for the CP and wasted time - all for a mere 10 points. Seemed odd that this was such a low value CP: I should have ignored it. A run down Llafur then round to marshy territory and two more checks. Above, a 20 pointer lurked. I had the time but did I have the legs? I concluded that I couldn't be bothered, and instead virtually walked down to the final CP above Nant Ffrancon (again hard to locate, hidden below a spur) and finished way too early: with over half an hour to spare. Still, I found myself in 10th place overall overnight. A very pleasant evening at the camp in Nant Ffrancon with Peter, Huw and others, even found space for a small measure of Penderyn as I was missing the crucial match that night. It did get rather cold later on under a huge moon and clear sky, especially with my less than ideal bubble wrap mattress.