When I told friends, family and colleagues that I had entered a 20 mile obstacle race that involved running up and down Snowdon, they helpfully pointed out two things to me: Firstly, Snowdon is a mountain and secondly, I am insane. The truth of both these statements is of course relative. Read on and judge for yourself.
I would recommend this race to anyone, make no mistake it’s tough, but the euphoria of beating the mountain, looking back and saying “I did that” is the greatest thrill in the world.
For those of you not in the know, Man vs Mountain comprises the following: run to summit of Snowdon from Caernarfon. Run down to Llanberis. Climb the ‘vertical kilometre’ (a timed 1km race within a race, with a height gain of 260 metres). Run some more. Abseil. Jump into freezing water. Play around on some inflatables in a lake. Negotiate a couple of dry land obstacles. Finish. Collapse. Total distance: 22.5 miles. Total climb: 1600(ish) metres.
As ever, Rat Race ran a slick, professional and well co-ordinated event, with excellent logistics and a real sense of occasion. Many competitors, including myself, chose to stay in Llanberis, and Rat Race laid on some early morning buses (albeit at a rather hefty additional cost of £8) at the godforsaken hour of 6.30am, to get us to the start in plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere, use the loo, grab a quick cuppa and generally let it dawn on us what we were undertaking.
Preparing Mentally
Watching Caernarfon castle looming into view through the early morning haze, I could feel the anticipation rising through my still sleep-fuddled brain. By the time we climbed off the bus I couldn’t wait to get started. The start in the castle is spectacular and really lends a sense of occasion to the proceedings. The 8am rain that was forecast passed with barely a sprinkle, and the conditions felt just right for running.
My coping strategy mentally was to divide the race into 4 chunks of 5 miles, and I was pleased that the first five miles or so were (mostly) a fairly gentle uphill – no major challenge considering the months of long runs and hill training. I entered Man vs Mountain with a group of about 15 people, but after a few miles the group began to disperse as we ran at our own pace. At this point I had settled into a steady rhythm with three friends, and we were feeling good.
It was between 5 and 8 miles that things started to get interesting in the form of a cheeky downhill shortly before the first feeding station. It was the most grumbling at a downhill that I’ve ever heard (along the lines of ‘we’ll just have to do EVEN MORE uphill now’), but fortunately the pit stop shut up the moaners! The pit stops were excellent, with a range of sugary and starchy treats – flapjacks, chocolate bars, jelly sweets and biscuits to name a few, as well as tanks of water and energy drinks. Being very conscious of pacing myself and in the knowledge of what lay ahead, I used the opportunity to take a breather and down some haribo and an energy drink.
Halfway Point
Once we passed the first feeding station we started heading towards the mountains properly, ominously coated in mist. Gradually the terrain became rockier and suddenly I realised this was the final ascent, and we had joined the Snowdon Ranger path. One of the most vivid memories I will take with me is of starting upwards watching the long line of runners (or walkers, as we all were at this point!) snaking up the towering mountainside and disappearing into the mist. Each time I reached the point at which the mist had obscured the view above me, I looked up only to be greeted with an identical scene… This was one of my favourite parts of the course, as we were able to have a quick chat with some of the tourists who were walking up Snowdon. Their curiosity and admiration when they found out what we were doing was really heartening, and a few of them said they’d look out for the race next year.
Eventually we broke through the clouds that shrouded the bottom of the ascent, and that was another breathtaking sight, especially looking down at the line of competitors still winding their way up the mountain, and looking up to see the summit. Along the main ridge, marching like ants, was a slow plod of runners walking up, being passed by runners already hurtling their way down. From then it was another 10 minutes or so until we reached the summit after just over 3 hours of running, where we clocked in with our timing chips, took the obligatory summit selfie, donned a few extra layers and necked an energy gel. By this point we had lost sight of one of our group, so we were down to three.
Eventually we broke through the clouds that shrouded the bottom of the ascent, and that was another breathtaking sight
The Way Back Down
The descent, down the much more touristy Llanberis path, was in many ways the killer. Out of the three of us running in a group, another had to stop and take a painkiller and was struggling with her IT band. What amazed me was just how quickly some people were flying down that mountain. I was by no means near the front with the real speed merchants, so I was surprised and impressed with the confidence and style with which many runners tackled the downhill. The temperature away from the summit quickly warmed up, and the sun even came out to celebrate us being on the home leg!
The descent, down the much more touristy Llanberis path, was in many ways the killer
Shortly before the bottom of the much dreaded vertical kilometre we were able to drop off backpacks to lighten the load, so it was a case of one more gel, a slug of water and off we go! Although I was dreading yet more uphill, once I began the ascent I realised I had a surprise surplus of energy, and was able to overtake quite a few people (always very satisfying!). After that it was a mile or so of running to the top of the abseil. By the time I reached the abseil there was a 30 minute wait; I considered skipping it, worried my legs would struggle to get going after the hiatus however I knew I would feel that I’d not really completed the course were I to skip this obstacle.
Fortunately we were able to clock out our timing chips so that the time we spent waiting to bounce down the side of a railway bridge was not counted in the overall time. This is one of the few aspects of the race organisation on the day where I feel there is room for improvement. It would have been great to have a mini pit stop station here, even if it was just a water stop – waiting around is after all a very thirsty business! For some people, the abseil represented a huge challenge, and I can appreciate that if you have issues with heights it is a huge part of the challenge, however for me it was really only a minor and rather unwelcome sideshow, yet one that I felt obliged to complete. Obviously different competitors would have different opinions than me, but I would have preferred it if the abseil was an opt in activity, whereby the cost of the race without the abseil is slightly cheaper. Given Rat Race’s experience in organising events, this shouldn’t be too hard to arrange via different coloured wrist bands.
After depositing the abseiling harness, it was through a gash in the rockface into a beautiful, turquoise pool with three planks laid out on a platform above the water, which looked incredibly inviting. Jumping off the plank into the water was by some distance (excuse the pun) the best ice bath I’ve ever had. The other water obstacles took place in the much warmer lake next to the finish line; the slide especially was great fun and I would happily have gone again.
The Finish
Once I swam through the final piece of lake (being careful not to slip on the algee clad stones at the bottom), it looked like a clear run through to the finish. It wasn’t until it got closer that I realised there was a wall in the way! Luckily the marshals were pretty sympathetic and were happy to provide a bunk up for me to drag my body over the two walls. From there it was just a short run up a slippery slope, aided and abetted by a rope, before staggering over the finish line in glorious sunshine to collect a much deserved medal and bragging rights over everyone who told me that Snowdon is a mountain and I am insane. Even though they are clearly right.
Should your finger be hovering over the ‘enter’ button on Rat Race’s website, I think it is worth sharing one vital piece of information about the event. One minor gripe that I have is about the lack of information about registration provided by Rat Race at the point of entering the race. When I signed up for this event I was not told that I would have to register (ie be in Caernarfon) by 10pm on the Friday night. By day I masquerade as a teacher, and I live over 300 miles from Caernarfon, so I cannot take time off work during term time, and the journey up to north Wales on a Friday evening was always going to be a hefty undertaking with no guarantee of time, so I felt rather annoyed with Rat Race when they sprung this one on me! Of course, this point mainly applies to teachers who live a long way from north Wales, and I know we are a niche market, but still…
Sitting here two days after the race, I have absolutely no regrets about taking on the mountain. I would recommend this race to anyone who really wants to push themselves and have a great time in spectacular surroundings. Make no mistake, it is a tough one, and should not be undertaken lightly, but the euphoria of beating the mountain, looking back and saying “I did that” is the greatest thrill in the world. As Jim Morrison said, “You feel your strength in the experience of pain.”