Dinas Bran fell race

Race: Dinas Bran fell race (4.3m/1150ft/AS)
Time/Position: 33.33 (5th from 80 [1st V45])
A much delayed return to racing in the hills. As such, I wasn't sure how I would go given my usual winter focus on road running. But this is such an intense and explosive half hour outing that it's more a matter of just gauging the effort like a short border league race. I've done the route five or six times, indeed it was the first fell race I ever entered in 2002 or 2003. After our short climbing session, Vic and I sat down with a strong coffee at the cafe near the bridge in Llangollen, then jogged up to the start of the race. My tactic was just to push on the road sections then see if I could hang on for the hills. The first section of steep tarmac was pretty tough for me, given the lack of recent hill work and the rock climbing we had just done! But the curving path towards the back of Dinas Bran went well, and I started to pick up a few places. I always walk sections of the steep climb up to the top, and actually find it's the only place for a slight rest! I descended reasonably well, moving up to fifth place, and tried to push on a bit for the second circuit and climb. I was just holding on by the time we reached the top again, but again the descent went OK although I couldn't move up the field on the tarmac. Got the first V40 prize later on, although only by default. Beautiful evening which cooled quickly as the sun set.