Apologies for the confusing title but basically this covers Days 3 to 5 of my climbing with Judy & Tim. Day 3 – The day dawned with me in the now over familiar toilet block but thankfully my stomach was beginning to settle down & the worse of the heatstroke was behind me. There was no need for an early start so Judy & I had a pleasant breakfast before Tim arrived & we bundled heavy bags which included our climbing boots because we were anticipating a pleasant walk into the Refuge des Conscrits in shorts & trainers. There was

Just a quick reminder that our extended Summer evening opening hours come to an end after Sunday 25th August. From Bank Holiday Monday onwards we will be closing at 6:00 pm so with a good forecast for the weekend we hope you are able to take advantage of the last few days of our closing at 8:00 pm (last hot food orders by 7:30 pm). Enjoy the coming weekend whatever you have planned.

This years Alpine sojourn was split into two separate parts, week 1 climbing led as ever by Tim Blakemore & with Judith Leslie who last tackled Alpinism almost 30 years ago. Week 2 having been joined by Judy’s husband, Steve Jones, aka SPJ, would see Steve & I attempting to run the 115 mile Tour du Mont Blanc over 5 days. This blog covers Judy’s & my climbing but for ease of reading as well as it feels practical in how our week was spent I’ll split it into two parts. Having set off on the afternoon of Thursday 11th

This blog covers 6 days of my life, you read it at your own risk of not having anything better to do. I’ve been a bit quiet since getting back from the Alps a little over two weeks ago, there’s been a reason for this but no need to go there. The Alps was a great trip & I will go there (in blog terms) soon but first I must pay tribute to the above event last Saturday & to all those involved for keeping it on/off track despite both the forecast & conditions on the day itself, so here

It was great to see the best turnout for the Junior’s race for several years with 4 in the Under 12’s & 2 in the U.14’s. Alas from my position of race organiser things did no go according to plan with a combination of one Marshall not in the correct position, a walker sending one runner the wrong way & heavens forbid the probability that someone had reversed two directional arrows. These collectively caused a problem to some of the runners which I only began to piece together after the race. My sincerest apologies, you deserved better, I will learn

Race day dawned with the brilliant blue skies & clear summits of the day before now obscured by a blanket of cloud but the forecast gave hope that it might clear up by race start at 2:00 pm. My fears of reduced entries due to the Welsh Champs race the next day were soon dispersed once registration opened at midday. By race start 59 runners were lined up at the start line for the pre-race photograph behind the Cotswold Outdoor banner, our race sponsors. One second before the off this increased to 60 as one final runner sprinted back to

We are pleased to confirm that once again this summer we will have extended opening hours to help you enjoy the outside attractions before coming into the Café to relax & refuel. These extended hours start from Monday 15th July & run through to & including Sunday 25th August. During these 6 weeks we will be Open from 7:30 am until 8:00 pm 7 days a week. Please note that last hot food orders are 7:30 pm daily.

A final reminder that with the Cafe’s car parks likely to be full as usual please can runners park on the festival field which is situated on the same side of the road as the café this year. With there being a token charge you will be supporting the Capel Curig Festival/Village funds. Looks like the overnight clouds could lift but please bring full kit just to be sure you can race no matter what the weather is.

A reminder that both the classic Siabod Fell Race as well as the Capel Curig Festival are taking place this coming Saturday. Entry to both is highly recommended as a way to ‘relax’ in our wonderful surroundings, full details of the race are on our events page, prizes galore thanks to our sponsors Cotswold Outdoor & locals have there chance to be the first name to be inscribed on our new Mike Cousins Shield, don’t miss your chance! There is also a Junior’s race so come on Mum’s & Dad’s get your kids into the outdoors on a great little

We said a warm thanks & farewell to Dafydd Thomas at Carnedd Daffyd a little after 11 hours after we had started out, 3 had now become 4. The initial rocky bit saw the rock god in his element as Tim pushed with me in pursuit closely followed by Peter & Paul bringing up the rear. Soon we were on the hard but easier stony path & these same stones soon began to pound into the sore soles of my feet. I needed a moan ‘Peter, this terrain is no good for sore feet’ as I passed two girls &

Titled ‘The 2 Paul’s (& Tim) Carneddau 2,000′ Challenge’ the aim was to take in the 22 peaks on the vast Carneddau (biggest mountain mass in the U.K. outside of the Scottish Highlands) in a single day. Between computers & I (never a good mix) we reckoned it would amount to 73.9K (46.2 Miles) with 13,674 feet of ascent (& of course descent) & would take approx. 13 Hours (my best guess against the computer’s 54 Hours but of course they don’t always run well do they!). Be warned it’s a long blog, make a cup of tea or coffee

There are a lot of people to thank whom collectively helped to make our 5th ROFN Day another great day so here & in no particular order goes my best effort to do so. If I’ve missed anyone out rest assured it is a matter of diminishing grey matter rather than lack of respect. John & Marion for helping to bring things together in the lead in & co-ordinate events on the day itself. Ginger for loan of the tracker system we used to help monitor the progress of our Carneddau run. Ian & Helen for pulling the cycle sportif

Just a quick reminder that this Saturday sees Alan Mannouch host our regular Open MIC Night, full details on our events page, hope you can make it, cool Beers etc. available until 11:00 pm!

A final reminder that this years charity fund raiser for Nepal is nearly upon us, it would be great if you are able to come along, enjoy the variety of events going on at the café & help us raise funds which this year will help build an entirely new school in the remote Himalayan village of Prok. For full details of what’s going on simply click on our Events page to see what suits you. As to the runners among you it’d be great to have your support at some point during the day. Paul Jones, Tim Watson &

A weekend of no racing allowed me to get out on Saturday evening for my Betws Bridge circuit, arguably too much tarmac on this 10 miler but the A.5 hill back up from Betws has some kind of hold on me, very odd. This was followed on Sunday afternoon as I finally got out for my long overdue recce for my ROFN charity run, basically how do I get from the dam at Llyn Cowlyn to Tal y Fan? Well after a little over 5 hours later I could finally say ‘well now I know, simple really’ but it’s a

Jogging back down the Pyg track after completing this classic race with a feeling of increasing pride little did I know of the trouble I was in for back at the Café, so lets start with getting myself out of the s… with some ‘sincere’ apologies:- Sorry Angel for not giving you a kiss after you re-fuelled me at the Pen y Pass check point. Sorry Rebecca Roberts for not acknowledging your encouraging ‘Paul’ at the Carnedd Dafydd check point, I was taken aback by your subsequent greeting later in the café ‘oh, so you’re speaking to me now then,

As I watched highlights of the Diamond League meeting last night (unusual for me to put a book down & watch the box but an inner sense must have made me do it) my two main train of thoughts were a) life is un-fair, b) need to go back to Stockholm! In truth the life is un-fair bit was only temperature related & upon reflection miss-placed. Nearly a year to the day I had run the Stockholm marathon in blistering 28 degree heat with only cold showers along the route, frequent stops at the drink stations & a fair bit

Of course when you are running you do not always have time to take in the views you are passing but moving at a sedate jog or fast walk I was able to take in enough to form an opinion so here goes:- The most praise I can give it is that I now plan to walk Dorina around it, hopefully this year, it is more than worth a more leisurely look. I had been told of it’s gorgeous bays, undulating nature & historic sites & these it has in abundance. In parts it reminded me of Cornwall, Devon &

Moving on:- Day 3 – Thursday 16th May – Beaumaris to Aberffraw I first awoke at 3:30, the toilet beckoned, the head feels light, the teeth were cleaned, the head feels light, ‘hit the deck Paul’, I did with a semi-controlled thump. ‘Are you O.K. darling?’ ‘probably let me lie here a while’, came my hesitant reply. I know what a pending feint feels like & had just avoided one skillfully. At breakfast we were asked if we wanted toast, it came, no breakfast order was taken, I had a fear & told Dorina, I looked at our table setting,

Having celebrated the incredible achievements of others in yesterday’s blog it’s time to put finger to keyboard to cover my journey around Anglesey last week. Day 1 – Tuesday 14th May – Holyhead to Amlwch Tuesday saw an early rise allowing Dorina & I to reach the cafe by 6:45 am. By 7:00 I got stuck into 3 Poached Eggs, two pieces of toast & a ladle full of baked beans, proper breakfast fueling is key but alas not everyone understands that as we will see! Team J & M arrived at 7:30 as planned & despite the shambles of