Welsh Castles Relay

Race: Welsh Castles Relay, Stage 11 Newtown-Llanbadarn Fynydd (12m/500ft)
Time/Position: 1.19.45 (16th from 66)
I've wanted to sample this event for years, and the recent dramatic expansion of the club means that it is now likely to be a regular occurrence. For the full flavour of the event, you probably need to devote the entire weekend to it - that wasn't an option for me, so I drove down to Newtown on Saturday evening, watched Stage 10 finish, and set off on Stage 11 in the early morning mist at 7am after sleeping in the car. This is a great mountain stage, probably the most suitable for me given current lack of speed. It climbs out of town on the A483 towards Dolfor - and carries on climbing for most of its length. We emerged from the mist quite quickly, and the rest of the race was run in perfect sunny conditions, not too hot in the early morning. I kept a steady pace throughout, settling in with another runner, and we helped each other a lot, just ticking over not wanting to risk a blow up. Towards the end of the climb, I started to push on a bit, feeling better than I have recently, then pushed again as the race levelled off with a few miles to go before the finish at Llanbadarn Fynydd. Possibly a tad too conservative, but I've been so far off the pace recently that I probably got the pacing about right and at least it meant I finished the stage strongly. The atmosphere is great throughout, with an entourage of support vehicles passing as the race continues southwards. It would be nice to do it properly and sample the atmosphere one year: by contrast, I finished my stage before 8.20am and was home for breakfast by 10am.