OTT Pen-Y-Fan Challenge 2019

On Sunday 21st July 2019, my girlfriend and I ran the toughest race I've ever experienced, and I include the Snowdonia Marathon and the Roman Run in that list.  Well, I say ran, but there was a fair bit of walking too! The race was the Pen-Y-Fan Challenge Trail Half Marathon organised by the great people at Off The Tarmac (OTT). I was expecting a hard race, but the reality far exceeded my worst fears. The setting was the Brecon Beacons in South Wales and the first leg of the race went up to the summit of Pen-Y-Fan which is the highest point in South Wales - that's all I knew about the race beforehand.

What I discovered was that the 13.1 mile route would summit Pen-Y-Fan TWICE as well as include another serious climb along the old Roman Road to the Windy Gap (another well-known elevation in the Brecon Beacons). I had anticipated a finish time of around 3 hours, but we actually took 3:45. The winner somehow managed to get around the course in 2:06, but there were also runners finishing around the 6 hour mark.

To give you some idea of the elevations, Fetcheveryone.com gave the route a hillscore of 1167. As a comparison the Snowdonia Marathon (regarded as one of the toughest road marathons in Europe) has a hillscore of 849.  But, it wasn't just that the climbs were so tough. Many of the descents were too steep to run down and I saw several people opting to slide down on their backsides!  I fell on one descent which resulted in me accidentally stopping my Garmin and I lost a mile of the route. I was very annoyed about it, but thankfully not injured.

Even 2 days after the race, I could barely walk down a flight of stairs without holding onto something. Below my waist I had DOMS on my DOMS and my feet were really badly cramping! I've never ached so much after a race.

On the plus side, the views were spectacular. Once the early mist cleared we were treated to panoramic vistas across the mountains and countryside of South Wales and in the other direction up into Mid Wales. It was incredibly beautiful.

In summary, this race is a brutal & beautiful test of your fitness and your mountain running ability.