Snowdonia Marathon Eryri 2019
Last October, I completed my 3rd consecutive Snowdonia Marathon Eryri. For those who don't know the race, it's considered one of the toughest road marathons in Europe due to the insane mountainous route (check out the incline profile here - https://www.snowdoniamarathon.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/profile.pdf).
But, counter-intuitively it's also been voted the UK's best marathon twice. It's a 26.2 mile festival of pain, but people keep on coming back year after year - in 2018 I ran for a while with a really interesting guy from North Wales who was running it for the 29th consecutive year!
I ran with my girlfriend again this year (her 5th Snowdonia Marathon). The race went a million times better than either of us could’ve imagined. Race-day morning neither of us wanted to run as we'd both been ill & injured and the weather was horrific - the photo below of the view from inside the car doesn't really do justice to how awful the weather was. If either of us had said “Let’s go home” we would have done, even right up to the starting gun.
But, we forced ourselves over the start line and headed off into the North Wales wilderness full of anxiety about the next 26.2 miles. No matter how many times you've done this race you know it will find a way to throw you a curve-ball at some point.
The 1st major climb is the infamous Pen-Y-Pass. It is GARGANTUAN. I've failed to keep running to the top the 3 times I've tried and I nearly threw-up the 1st time I tried. All my training for this marathon includes seriously hilly routes, but nothing quite compares to this beast. It's not just steep, it's long too. Around 2.5-3 miles of climbing. The photos below gives some indication of what I'm getting at. It's brutal, but it's also incredibly beautiful too. It's important to remember to take notice of the scenery you're running through in this race. I make a point of looking back behind me on this climb at around 3/4 the way to the top to see the spectacle of a road filled with runners snaking into the distance behind me.
I'm determined to run to the top next time!
After that you're back onto roads for the middle of the race which takes you through a few small villages. Beddgelert is roughly the halfway point where lots of supporters gather to cheer you on. Sometimes there's a bit of slow-moving traffic to dodge as you go through the town. Getting a cheer from someone you know is really motivating, and you'll need that for the next section. On the way out of Beddgelert is another climb that really takes it out of your legs. This one isn't so steep, but the 2-3miles seem to go on forever. It's a real grind.
Once you're at the top (at around mile 16) there's a nice undulating section from Rhyd Ddu to Waunfawr where you pass by some reservoirs and through some small villages. It can get very windy here, so make sure you've got a jacket or some sleeves with you for this section.
Mile 22 sees you arrive at the village of Waunfawr. At this point your legs really feel like they've been through the wringer. You'll have been up & down some serious mountains and you're probably hungry and cold at this point (it's Wales in October after all). The incline out of Waunfawr onto the mountain is the steepest of all the climbs in this race and is just what you don't want at this point. It's around 2 miles to the top, and it is seriously, seriously steep. Some of the elite runners manage to run to the top, but I've never personally seen anyone running the entire climb. This is the only place I've ever suffered from cramping quads. Ouch!!
At the top you're off-road again onto stony trails running past old slate quarries. If you look back behind you here on a clear day, you can see all the way to the castle town of Caerarfon and beyond that to the island of Anglesey.
On mile 24, you must stop at the drinks station - aptly named Tafarn 24. The people who run this are always fun and encouraging and you can get a proper cup of tea or coffee in a china mug! This has become a tradition for me and a bit of a joke amongst my running friends. If you look in the background of the photo below you can see the snow capped peak of Snowdon, so you can imagine that a hot cuppa was a real boost at that point.
I should mention that there are plenty of really well run and well stocked drinks stations at this race, and even some impromptu ones organised by spectators.
The final descent to the finish in Llanberis is a slip n slide over grassy fields before thankfully hitting the road again for the last half mile. So many people fall here due to exhausted legs and you've really got to take care not to injure yourself.
The town is always filled with support for the runners and it's a fantastic atmosphere. It's a nice long finishing straight, lined with people cheering you on.
Finally, after you cross the line you'll get your hands on one of the coveted Welsh slate coasters that shows everyone you know that you're a proper runner and you've conquered the Snowdonia Marathon Eryri.
We both ran much better than we could have imagined, when you consider how dreadful we both felt waiting for the race to start.
After studying the splits (Nerd Alert!) and comparing to the 2018 race, we ran the 2019 race 11mins faster for the 1st half and 16 mins faster for the 2nd half. I still don't know how we managed to do that - it's a real head-scratcher. I PB’d by 27mins and my girlfriend beat her 2015 PB by 3mins! We were both really emotional and in a world of pain at the end and it took quite some time for what we'd achieved to sink in properly.
I'd recommend this marathon to anyone who wants a real running fitness challenge. But, make sure you take it seriously and do some major training and preparation.
Unfortunately, it's now a ballot system for future entries and the field is limited to around 3000 runners. We managed to get places for the 2020 edition, but that's been cancelled due to Covid-19. So, our places are rolled over to 2021 which gives us plenty of time to train!
There's a virtual race into replace the 2020 race - check it out here.
