Welsh Castles Relay (Builth-Drovers)

Race: Builth-Drover's Arms (Welsh Castles Relay, Stage 14)

Time/Position: 1.15.09 (22nd from 55)

This must be the hardest leg of the 20 stage Castles Relay. I did stage 11 from Newtown to Llanbadarn a few years ago, which climbs continuously for most of its length but is not as tough. What makes this stage so hard is the fact that it involves an undulating 10k first, with some short but sharp hills, and only then does it embark on a 5k+ climb straight up Mynydd Eppynt. This was my worst finishing position in the three legs I have done in the relays, by some distance, but I'm not too disheartened as it really did seem a particularly strong field, with lots of the bigger clubs putting their stronger runners out for it (unlike me for Buckley!). The other thing is that the positions were settled relatively early on, and despite what felt like a very slow climb indeed up to Eppynt (I really struggled on it in places) I didn't actually lose places overall. Through Builth, a large group pulled away almost immediately, and then it was a case of keeping a decent pace ticking over through Cilmeri (site of Llewellyn's ambush and death) until the sharp turn to the south at Garth, then over the Irfon, after which the prospects are bleakly obvious. The road on to Eppynt begins to climb immediately, but stays relatively gentle as it kinks left across the hillside. Then comes the crux, straight up the steep road above the Duhonw valley, at a similar draining gradient throughout before it kicks left with one big hairpin just below the summit. My teammates gave some welcome support at this point, a nice boost! After this, a fast downhill section with the iconic Drovers Arms now visible in the distance, but not reached until a final mile long climb. I felt much better for this, however. After a drink, I now had the not-so-simple task of returning to collect my car in Builth. Cross country routes are made difficult by the fact that it is mostly a military range, and the supposed trails seemed barely used (to be fair, they are quite new). So I took the bridleway east near Fron to join the tiny road leading through the Irfon valley back to Builth, often close to the river. I took it very gently, and it was all very pleasant: well over 30k in total. Buckley finished in an excellent 15th place overall.