Prestatyn parkrun

'Race': Nova Prestatyn parkrun

Time/Position: 18.47 (4th from 87 [1st V50])

I've struggled along the Ffrith prom into headwinds on various occasions in the past: it used to feature in the border league and other races from Rhyl. Bracing conditions this morning, with a brisk crosswind, high tides and bright sunshine. Morgan was making his debut at parkrun, and indeed any kind of running event, and did superbly well. It is a nice course, fast down the prom towards Rhyl with waves crashing, then a tough off-road section through the dunes. This is a mixture of gravel, soft sandy paths and tussocks, before a very fast second half back east to the OD monument. I finished 1 second inside the V50 course record.

Moelwynion from Croesor

Peaks: Cnicht, Moelwyn Mawr, Craigysgafn, Moelwyn Bach

Area: Moelwynion, Eryri

Croesor is a special place, but it is very awkward to access from the east, which accounts for the fact that I have only visited a handful of times. One of those was for Ras y Cnicht, a classic short race which goes straight up from the village. I ran this in 46 minutes in 2017, so did a kind of time-trial for the climb today, before embarking on a much slower loop round the Moelwynion. This is a superb circuit, which I think I did as a hillwalk in the early 90s. Cuckoo calling for the plod up the bridleway, and then the open hill is gained at a fork with wonderful views over the estuary. I was probably last here on the early stages of our sea-to-sea epic in 2019. Most of the early stages are runnable until a scree covered traverse leads to a grassy ridge before the final steep cone which culminates in a scrambly groove just below the summit - which I reached in 31.50, I would guess just over a minute slower than the 2017 race. From here, I pondered the Paddy direct descent but instead opted for the easier ground leading to the head of the valley containing Llyn Cwm y Foel. Over the stream, then up the complex terrain leading to the two lakes of Llynnau Diffwys (it is probably better to contour north higher up than this). Boggy ground then leads to Rhosydd quarry, with the sun now out and a bright and breezy afternoon developing (I didn't start from Croesor until 2.30pm). From the quarry workings, I took the southerly ridge up Moelwyn Mawr. This is quite lengthy, and quite tiring, but really enjoyable. Then comes the crux of Ras y Moelwyn, a famous race I have done twice: over rocky Craigysgafn to the col, then steeply up to Moelwyn Bach. This ridge is so obvious from Blaenau: there are racing lines but I have never really found them, in fact in 2019 thick mist made this section quite tricky. It took me a rather plodding 16 minutes today, cutting my hand on the rocky section. It is awkward and rocky until the col is reached. From the summit of Bach, superb views down to Porthmadog and the Rhinogydd, and these continued for the superb grassy descent down the western ridge of Moelwyn Bach. All very comfortable and runnable until the boggy base of the cwm, but by then you are close to the minor road that leads north-west back to Croesor. Just over two hours for the circuit.

Chester parkrun

'Race': Chester parkrun

Time/Position: 18.58 (4th from 299 [1st V50])

I felt tired coming into this, not too surprisingly, so just settled for a perfunctory plod round the summer route, a minute down on my course PB. A very large field made for tricky manoeuvres on the second lap across the meadows.

Pot Hole climbing

Crag: Pot Hole Quarry

Routes: Mestre (S), Sesto (S), Selva (VS), Un-aided (VS)

No climbing for a year, so 'rusty' would be an understatement. This was a short top-roping session on routes climbed scores of times before at the old venue, which seems to get more awkward and polished with every passing year.

Wirral MTC

Race: Wirral Multi-Terrain Challenge (6m)

Time/Position: 39.05 (8th from 174 [1st V50])

Yet another 'personal worst', although there were contextual factors at play this evening. First, the Sandstone Trail was still in my legs (although I felt reasonably good after a rest). Second, there was a nasty cross-headwind for the arduous rocky beach section south from Thurstaston which really drained the tank before the race leaves the Dee estuary and reaches the shelter of the Heswall Dales. This gave me a bit of a problem, and I really struggled to get my HR down for a while, losing several places (I was 3rd for a while on the beach). I have done this race twice before, and it is always a challenge to pace, genuinely multi-terrain with a constant danger of blowing on the different sections. The Dales are hilly and twisting XC terrain with steep steps and drops. Eventually, the race emerges onto the pan-flat Wirral Way, and luckily I regained my composure and had a reasonably quick run-in. Well down on my best time for this great course (which was 2014 I think) but not bad in the circumstances, and I did win my age category.

Sandstone Trail Challenge

'Race': Sandstone Trail (54k/1100m)

Time/Position: 5.34 (12th from 150)

My second time at this memorable event, and it went exactly as I expected it to: that is, slowly. The last time I did it, in 2018, I was focused almost entirely on distance, completing the British ultra series that year. As such, I came into the Trail quite confident, and even had a road marathon in my legs - the 5.08 I ran that year was enough for 5th place. This year, I didn't even think about getting close to that, and approached it in the way it was intended: a 'challenge' rather than a race. I knew I would be fine up to 20 miles or perhaps a little more, but also knew there was no point pushing it because the last 10 miles or so would be just a walk. This is exactly what happened. We started in glorious morning sunshine in Whitchurch after the long coach journey from Frodsham, and I just kept a steady pace churning over for the first 10 miles or so, which are all easy and gentle, on canal paths and tranquil fields. It curves round to the north via Grindley Brook and No Man's Heath. The ground finally begins to rise at Bickerton Hill, where the route joins the 17 mile Sandstone race route. It becomes a lot more challenging at this point, but the sharp climbs never last long and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, completely alone and jogging along in the warm sunshine. From Gallantry Bank, the highpoint at Rawhead is reached with superb views west across the plain to the Clwydians. Then comes the very familiar section along the ridge above Burwardsley and the Pheasant to Beeston Castle: dozens of family walks along this section, and a very welcome checkpoint (there are five in total, all with plenty of food and drink). After Beeston a small group of three formed for the endless plodding across dozens of fields, the scene of my embarrassing error last October. This was probably the crux of the day for me, as I reached the end of my current mileage limit. I knew very well that this would happen, and was prepared for it (this was my 13th or 14th ultra, if it can be counted as such). So, from Willington I just plodded and enjoyed the ambience, knowing there was no chance of matching my 2018 time. The route from here to the finish is very familiar, so I had no concerns about missing a turning. It got very hot at this point, and I was glad of the shade through Gresty's Waste and Delamere. The end is in sight from this point, and a very welcome checkpoint at Manley helps. I revived slightly for the section I know best of all, from Alvanley cliff over to the climax at Beacon Hill above Frodsham. A hobbling descent to finish in Frodsham 25 minutes slower than 2018.

Birkenhead Park 4m+

Race: Birkenhead Park 4m+ (Border League, race 7)

Time/Position: 23.26 (38th from 252 [2nd V50])

The concluding fixture of a very enjoyable season, my 16th in the league since my debut in 2005 - although not all of those were 'complete' (83 BL races in total). I have only ever won my age category overall once before, so it was nice to add to that, and complete the '21-'22 set alongside the North Wales cross-country league and the Wirral MT series in September. I'm under no illusions, there are far quicker people regionally in the category, but it is also at least partly to do with consistency and appearances. This final fixture only became possible at that last minute, and took in three clockwise laps of Birkenhead Park, the opposite to the usual fixture here and apparently similar to the parkrun (which I've never done). I set off pretty fast and enjoyed the loop round the familiar ponds before a longer drag up to the main gates: the pace was nothing to write home about but it was another acceptable performance which kept my points score reasonably low. In the end I finished the season 82 points ahead of second place in the category.

Ras Moel Eilio

Race: Moel Eilio (12.8k/940m)

Time/Position: 1.25.02 (16th from 70 [1st V50])

A sharp contrast with the last time I did this race, a long established Welsh classic. In 2014, howling gales and torrential rain turned the crossing of the ridge into a real battle. So I thought I was guaranteed a course PB today, in perfect conditions with a light tailwind and hundreds of inter-counties runners (on a shorter course) increasing the pace along the ridge. The recent pattern has seen me slightly down on my best times for oft-run races but I really felt that wouldn't happen today for all those reasons. Annoyingly, however, yet again I found myself almost three minutes down on that 2014 time, leaving me wondering (in vain) if the course has changed! Having said all that, this was a wonderful day: the view of the runners descending the ridge from Eilio is one of the best in the sport, with the view of Snowdon and Nant Peris providing the backdrop to the runners looping over the grassy but well-defined ridge. I got to the top of Eilio in 33 minutes, then took exactly 16 to run along the whole ridge (over Foel Gron and Goch) down to the Maesgwm (Telegraph) col. This seemed respectable enough, which leads me to wonder about my 2014 time into a fierce headwind in full kit with slight hypothermia. The next section might be the explanation: the climb up Cynghorion is long and draining, and I slowed considerably here. All the inter-counties runners were sprinting for home on their shorter route so we finally got an idea of our positions in the race. The steep descent off Cynghorion has always been notoriously arduous and is now slightly harder with a new fence at the bottom forcing you further left before crossing the valley floor and heading for home along the very fast track. I was surprised to find I'd won my category at the Padarn later on.

Dinas Bran hill race

Race: Dinas Bran (6.9km/380m)

Time/Position: 34.28 (7th from 87 [1st V50])

This was one of the first 'fell' races I ever did, almost 20 years ago. Since then, I've done it a lot and initially felt that this performance was right up there with previous outings. Sadly, that proved not to be the case and was actually my slowest since the race was revived, a minute or even more down on all previous races. Never mind, it felt good and I felt I'd paced it quite well (and it is possible that some short-cuts are no longer possible). The initial Donkey Path from the school is always fairly desperate - horribly steep - and I may have lost time there as I tried to keep pace with fast starting Ian H. I then seemed to go reasonably well up to the castle, I have always walked the steep section at the top and did so today before the usual very fast descent. I found myself pulling away from a few other runners and continued moving (a little) through the field on the second loop to the castle (I remember finding this extraordinarily unnecessary the first time I did the race back in 2003!). A good final descent, castle to school in 5.19.