Flint Castle-Moel Famau-Cadole run

Running from the shores of the Dee Estuary to the top of Moel Famau sounded like my cup of tea, so I jumped at the chance to join a large group doing just that on Bank Holiday Monday morning. A sort of Trans-Flintshire run, it worked really well despite the rain and wind as a poor April gave way to a cold May. We started inside Flint Castle itself, then ran through the town in the rain, not the most uplifting of starts. From here, a small lane led to the first off-road section through fields, and the rest of the route was largely on small paths using the local knowledge of John Morris. The shallow valley of the Afon Conwy leads to a bridge over the A55 then steeper paths over Rhosesmor which lead eventually to the Halkyn road and very muddy fields down to Rhydymwyn. The route then essentially follows the River Alyn and the leat path before breaking off on a slight detour towards the pump house below Cilcain. I had to get back for lunch, so broke away to run alone up the Cilcain race route up Moel Famau. I pushed the pace a bit to the summit, with mist clearing. Then a long and rather tiring descent to Cadole, making the route 15-16 miles, possibly still feeling the marathon in my legs. A great route, really enjoyable.