3 senior men took part in the TrailFfest trail half marathon on Saturday 24th September. The event is a fund raiser for the Welsh air ambulance and South Snowdonia search and rescue team and starts with a pleasant train ride from the finish at Porthmadog Ffestiniog railway station to the start at Tanygriseau, beneath the Moelwyn peaks.
With the start at 700ft above sea level and the finish at the coast this looked, at least on paper a nice easy course. Well, only if you don’t read the description on the website:-
“The Trailffest half marathon is one of the most scenic you could hope to run, with dramatic changes of scenery and terrain the whole way to the finish line. With the start up in the mountains at 710 feet elevation and the finish down by the sea, it may sound easy – but don’t be fooled! There are some very steep and challenging climbs along the way”. Oh, and if you completely ignore the 1500ft of ascent.
I was made to eat my pre-race comment of “I cannot conceivably see how a trail half marathon can take more than 2 hours”.
A beautiful undulating route returned to Porthmadog via the the Vale of Ffestiniog. It was both much harder and much better than I expected, culminating in a mile run over the Cob with the finish in sight but seemingly never getting anywhere nearer. A couple of pints of post-race recovery drink were most welcome in Spooners Bar on the platform after the finish.
Andy Wilson finished in 6th place in 1:47:30. Mark Liptrot claimed 1st MV50 and 14th place in 1:55:21. I finished 35th in 2:08:10 – must do better next year!
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