Well it’s a few days now since I turned 60 so time to reflect on how the day went.

So the idea was to run from the Siabod @ Storiel (in Bangor) to The Siabod at Pentrefelin, estimated at 29 miles & taking 5 & a quarter hours. To add a start & tail symmetry initially I would head North to Bangor Pier to pick up the start of the Llyn coastal path & to finish I head into Cricieth, pick up the coastal path & turn back in land to the Fisheries.

My prep had recovered itself slightly with two half marathons & a 16 mile training run in the 3 weeks leading in. Final prep was a whapping breakfast 27 hours before the run on Sunday & then fasting for the rest of the day before another good breakfast of my usual toast, 2 poached eggs & plenty of baked beans 3 hours before my set off time of 12 pm.

Before leaving The Fisheries Dorina had shown me how to use the tracker facility on WhatsApp & had copied a number of supporters & friends in, this would help as the day progressed. However to those who think I got so lost at one point that I had gotten onto Anglesey can I categorically say I didn’t cross the Menai Straits at any point. No Marion I also did not drop into the vinyard at Penygroes, the cycle path crosses over the main road so if you still doubt me look at the map!

Shortly before 11 am I arrived at John & Marion’s who were to be my road support for the run, as ever huge thanks to them for being up for helping me yet again. After a quick coffee (decaf) we set off for Bangor arriving at The Storiel at 11:50 with time for a few photo’s to be taken.

As I set off the weather was as good as I could hope for, great timing as the weather the following day was atrocious & quite simply would had left me little option but to abort.

I ran North to Bangor pier for a kilometre or so before picking up the coastal path to head South. The early stages were a bit hillier than I remembered from my 2019 Llyn Coastal path run but with the exception of the short steep climb out of Port Dinorwig I ran all the hills at this early stage of the day. The new path through the Vanol estate is a great improvement & shortens the route to Caernarfon. Despite this I was becoming aware that this first leg was likely to be longer than my predicted 16.5K. Knowing that this would make my arrival at Caernarfon later than the 1:50 pm I’d predicted I picked up the pace very slightly but not stupidly & things felt pretty good. I reached Caernarfon’s castle car park & the waiting John & Marion at 2:05 pm, not bad considering the leg in reality had been 19.8 K, need to revisit the map to understand how I got it so wrong.

Marion handed me a Yoghurt which I almost finished & a full water bottle to slip into my bag, until now I had drunk about a quarter of a litre of electrolite.

During the initial leg I had struggled with navigation a little, whilst the signage is pretty good it’s designed more for walkers with map book & not for a runner who just wants to keep moving. Lost the path a few times with the most annoying one being descending down a slipway to the Menai Straits which led to a walk back up it. Before doing this u-turn I’d almost slipped on the slime but thankfully just held myself. This was all doubly annoying as I’d done exactly the same here in 2019 & am adamant that it is the signage that is at fault & not me.

A quicker stop in Caernarfon than planned (which included a quick visit to the gents) saw me head off down the cycle track towards Bryncir just 6 minutes behind schedule.

I always felt this middle section would be the crux of the run, estimated at 20 K with come & go undulation it just felt like it would be monotonous on tiring legs. It proved to be tougher than expected. The extra half kilo weight of the water bottle combined with the steady climb of the pathway (more than I’d factored into my thinking) soon began to become a concern. Gone were the easy strides as I’d closed in on Caernarfon less than 15 minutes ago, I was now in a slogfest with a long way to go. To add to this there was a pretty constant headwind, the forecast had predicted the wind would ease the further south I went, wrong, it was completely the opposite, not terrible but not good.

To add to my concerns I also had the knowledge that part of the cycle track was closed due to a landslip (between Inigo Jones & Penygroes) as Dafydd & Kim had advised me the day before. The pictures they showed me showed the landslip was passable but would there be barriers or even worse workman to turn me back the way I’d come. Sure enough just after Inigo Jones I met the first of 6 barriers, this was easy to skirt around & with two walkers ahead in the distance it was simply ‘if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me.’

I soon passed them & the second barrier but the third was more substantial causing me to leave the path into a field & climb back to the path through a hedge & over a barbed wire fence. Next up was the landslip itself with only half the width of the path affected this really was no obstacle & the same can be said for the next two exit barriers, feeling positive I ran up a short hill, rounded a slight bend to be confronted with the barrier of barriers. This was constructed between a bridge on the left & hedge & fence to the right, shit it’s a long u-turn from here. Moments later I figured out a way around it on the left, by climbing a rail fence on the left of the barrier I could then squeeze between the barrier & the bridge, well if I breathed in. There was a big drop to the road below but of more concern was that the leg movements were awkward & I was concerned with cramping (now over 3 hours in). The legs did tighten but cramp was avoided & I was soon through & running again.

Now you may be thinking ‘Paul, you shouldn’t have broken through the barriers’ but in my defence the closure has been in place for a long time, the path could have been repaired in not much more time than it had taken to erect the barriers & they could far more easily just fenced around the damaged path whilst allowing people to walk around this short section of less than 10 metres. There is a section of eroded coastal path to the West of Cricieth which is just as ‘dangerous’ as this was which is open to the public with no protection & there Judge I rest the case for the defence.

I was now at Penygroes roughly halfway through the leg & feeling tired when ahead I recognised the sight of Alwyn Parry not at Bryncir where I was expecting him but 9 K before that. Alwyn had been driving towards Bryncir when he saw me so had pulled off at the next roundabout to wait for me to arrive. We shook hands but any hopes that he was joining me earlier were soon dashed but it had been a pleasant surprise nonetheless. ‘See you at Bryncir Paul’ as he waved me on & returned to his car.

I passed a signpost (there’d been a few) that said Bryncir 7.5 miles, surely not, it must be wrong, thankfully it was. Kilometre followed relentless kilometre, the relentless tarmac was playing havoc with my feet, but thankfully the next signpost said 2.5 miles to go, this one was correct & matched my stats so my spirits lifted a little.

Eventually I spied Marion & soon others appeared too, I was no longer alone, game changer, so much of this is in the head! John & Alwyn were of course also there but so too were Barry & George both dressed up for a run. I had arrived at Bryncir having run almost exactly the 20K I’d predicted (from Caernarfon & 40K in total) & despite my troubles was only 5 minutes down on schedule all quite pleasing on reflection long after the pain has been left behind.

I took on a bit more Yoghurt & precisely, as I directed Marion, 6 grapes before gulping a quarter litre of water down before chucking the bottle into John’s car. This I did knowing I still had a bit of electrolite on me & Alwyn at least had a water bottle which I could beg for if needed. 

Before setting off I informed everyone that I was aborting plan A (via Cricieth) & activating my back-up Plan B (a direct line to the Fisheries), this would reduce the distance by a K & a half but still leave the run longer than I had envisaged. I also stated ‘I’ve run it all so far (memory blanked here so an apology to Marion later was called for because of course I had walked the Port Dinorwig hill, the slipway doesn’t count as that really wasn’t my fault, was it) there are hills to come & I’m going to walk them.’ John asked what time can we expect you at the Cafe, people will want to see you arrive. My response was it’s probably 9K, it’ll be an hour at best but don’t worry if it’s an hour & a quarter or even an hour & a half to which Barry responded ‘if it’s an hour an a half we’ll be carrying you.

We set off at circa 4:15, it would now be road running, not pleasant on my battered feet (a lot of tarmac throughout this run). We were on the main A487 for the first kilometre, it was very busy at this time of day but I soon realised that my plan to hop on & off the grass verge was not viable the grass giving my tired legs no Spring at all so I decided to stay on the road & face the traffic. Barry realised my change of tack & running just ahead of me did likewise to protect me from the traffic. I have to say that all the drivers did their best to give us safe passage.

As we turned off the main road towards Cricieth the traffic lessened a little. By now with Alwyn leading Barry & I, I wondered out loud ‘Where’s George’ Barry looked behind to confirm ‘he’s 100 metres back’. Clearly we were dropping him but I couldn’t ask one of Alwyn or Barry to drop back to him as they didn’t know my intended route (Barry’s come over from Beverley & Alwyn is not local to the area either). George had earlier said that Margaret (his wife) had him on a tracker so that was some comfort.

The first hill now kicked in, shallow in gradient but long, I could sense Barry assessing when is Paul going to walk, this & my stubbornness ‘I’ve run over 40 K I’m not going to walk now, even if I know there are more bloody hills to come.’ So it transpired the known hills conitnued to come & to pass, Barry continued to assess me & offer ‘well done Paul, tremendous effort’ or words to that effect & I continued to run. We reached the tarmac lane that took the direct lint to the Fisheries, just 2 hills left I thought, all things repeated & I continued to run with tired pain but also enormous self-satisfaction. We passed Margaret, overshot the first footpath to our right but soon picked up a second, no damage done. Crossing a field through a farmyard, rounded a bend to pass our Cafe pavement sign, round another bend, Alwyn called me through to lead our sprinting descent to the Cafe, family & friends cheered it was over. 

Smiling, Hugs & Kisses greeted me, legs wobbled ‘I need to sit down before my back seizes up (it always troubles me when I stop running but rarely whilst running).’

I took on a litre of water (more than I’d drunk during the run), cooled down for 10 minutes & then headed for the shower. Whilst in there I heard clapping & guessed that George had found his way back O.K.

It was a small party, just 25 or so close friends & family, happy birthday was sung, John ‘introduced me’ & I explained the red wine experience we were about to be rewarded with as a thank you for putting yourselves out for me on such a momentous day for me. The day before I’d removed 4 bottles of vintage wine from my cellar. Three of these were Pavillon Rouge, the second wine from Chateau Margaux, part of a case of 6 I’d bought 21 years ago. The fourth bottle was an even better bottle from Shaffer in California called Hillside Select, my intention: we’ll share the Pavillon Rouge but the Shaffer’s for me. Now the key thing here is storage, good wine must be led down to minimise the risk of it becoming corked, we were in self-made luck none of the Pavillon Rouge was corked, it was silky smooth I was definitely not the only one who appreciated it as it deserved to be.

Gaby, Ady & their team had earlier presented a buffet, next up was Gaby presenting me with a large Birthday Cake of my choice, Lemon Cheesecake, it would take me 2 days to feel like a slice but it was definitely worth the wait, thank you Gaby.

The evening passed slowly but very pleasantly, I honestly cannot remember a better one, catching up, anecdotes, laughs & oh that wine. The Shaffer by the way remains there for another day, never drink good wine other than early in the evening it deserves soberness of thought to be appreciated properly.

Was it my best Birthday ever, it had a hard one to beat in my 50th. That year I ran from the far side of Cader to our Cafe in Capel, a far bigger but better route than my 60th. Again that year the evening was spent with friends & family, steak & chips & it knocked spots of my 40th which I spent in Geneva back when I was monied, investing in wine but not enjoying the Outdoor life which was to follow. Conclusion, the evening of Monday 23rd March 2026 made my 60th Birthday unconditionally my best birthday ever. Thank you to all of you who made it so.

Don’t ask me to explain why I did the run but I will explain that at only 30 miles it wasn’t much more than a marathon, I’ve run plenty of those, so why did it feel so tough? It’s the solo nature of much of it that makes the mind & body work against you. Those last 9K were just as hard physically but having company allows the mind to shift the focus just enough to help significantly & I needed Alwyn & Barry (& all his experience) to help me finish it off.

Dorina gets the final mention, a long day at the office, managed everything throughout the evening & even got me using a tracker, no limits to her talents, thank you once again Dorina.

Thank you too if you’ve stayed with this, your own personal ultra!! & thanks too to all who followed & commented on Facebook too.

Statman:-

Distance: 30.52 Miles (48.85K) – Why do I swap from Miles to Kilometres, simple my Garmin is set to K which is far better to monitor pacing & adjust pace quicker but the signposts & easier understanding by non-runners is in miles.

Moving time: 5 Hours 7 Minutes & 1 Second (target for plan B had been 4 Hours & 55 Minutes).

Elapsed Time (includes stops): 5 Hours 18 Minutes & 6 Seconds (target time for Plan B had been 5 Hours & 10 Minutes).

Height Gain: 1,670 feet.

Steps: circa 53,000.

Best & most pleasantly surprising stat of the day: There is a Strava segment for the cycle path section from Caernarfon to Bryncir which I didn’t know about at the time of the run. It is called Lon Eifion & is very long for a Strava segment at 12.03 miles. 44 Strava users (including myself now) have recorded a time, mine came in at 2:07:45, not quick by any means but it put me in 5th place! Having made that public it’ll be shot down in flames I’m sure but you are going to have to trespass barriers if you want to do it any time soon.

Postscript:

I went for a short run around the village, a little under 4 miles & all seemed to be working well, so bring on this year of being 60 & the challenges I’ve set myself. 

As a few of you will know I’m turning 60 on the 23rd of March of this year & have been trying to figure out how to celebrate it as well as what challenges I want to set myself during the coming year.

Again as a few of you will know my 50th (can it really be 10 years ago) was my best birthday ever doing an epic 56+ miler taking in Cader, Y Lliwedd & Siabod finishing at the cafe in Capel for steak & wine with a few friends & family, all with road support from Dorina & her & Uncle Titi meeting me on Siabod’s summit. It was a sublime run taking 12 hours.

But I think I’m finally growing up & recognise that post Gasherbrum II, I am not the runner I once was so for my 60th I still want a good run but one that is more realistic to my current circumstances. I’ve narrowed it down to two choices, a Southerly route & a Northerly route.

The Southerly route would initially replicate the start of my 50th & commence at the Minffordd path head up & over Cader & lead on to Trawsfynydd. Here it would diverge onto part of the Snowdonia Way until at Penryndeudraeth it would diverge onto the Coastal path until a final turn for our Cafe at the Fisheries. Estimated distance of circa 50K.

The Northerly route would start at our new Cafe at the Storiel. It would briefly head North to Bangor pier to pick up the start of the Llyn coastal path & follow this until Caernarfon where it would diverge onto the North Wales cycle path coming out at Bryncir garden centre. Then a mix bag of options depending on how I’m feeling for either a direct line to the Cafe at the Fisheries or an extended loop via Cricieth. Estimated distance of circa 55/60K.

Both of these options end with an evening of food & drink with a few friends.

Then there is the year of being 60 itself. For my year of being 50 I set myself 5 challenges & only succeeded on 3 of them. One failure was simply bad luck when Tim (my guide) was hit by rockfall set off by another mountaineer leading to our helicopter rescue on a warm up climb. Tim’s smashed ankle put pay to my hopes of climbing either of the challenges goals, namely, the Eiger, the Monch or the Jungfrau. The other failure was my fault, simply failed to train hard enough or search for a flat enough Marathon race to give myself a sub 3 hour time. Sub 3 hour is now a distant lost hope although I still cling to the belief that had it not been for Covid, London 2020 would have seen me go very close.

So back to 60 & my logic says 6 @ 60. After a lot of thought most of these are along similar lines of activity to those of 10 years ago & indeed some challenges I’ve taken on in the years in-between. That said I want to be taken to places anew. So here goes I’ll lay them out in the order they are likely to commence.

1. Complete all of the Welsh Nuttal’s (peaks of 2,000′ or more of which there are 188/190). Back in 2010 when I first got seriously into the mountains to cope with the early stages of Divorce I made an impressive start (not realising the Nuttal’s existed). Within a year I’d climbed circa 85 ‘2,000’ers’ within a year, mostly on my own using clear skies & then new navigational skills along the way. Since then I’ve only really added the Brecon Beacons (2 still to do) to the list so have about 84/86 still to do. My 60th year says ‘back out of your comfort zone Paul, & get them done’. An analysis of this using Peter Hermon’s excellent volumes ‘Hillwalking Wales Volumes 1 & 2’ makes me believe I’d need at least 16 big days with clear summits to aid quick navigation to get this done. Put simply the weather needs to improve & also conditions under foot!
2. The Dom is the third highest massif in the Alps & it’s main summit is the 7th highest summit in the Alps (hope that makes sense). At over 3,100 metres the climb itself is the longest (in vertical metres) in the Alps albeit the normal route being relatively straight forward, in a nutshell it suits me perfectly & has long been in my thoughts. Subject to weather it’s this year & challenge number two.
3. To run Hadrian’s Wall in 2 days, 84 miles & a height gain I’ve decided not to look into just yet! A similar challenge to the West Highland Way 10 years ago, less miles but probably more climbs. I was thinking of the Great Glen Way (similar distance) but I know that scenery (by car) pretty well, Hadrian’s Wall will take me to new places.
4. Wales Coastal Path from Porthmadog to Pembrokeshire, lost the guidebook but from memory circa 130/140 miles over 4 days. In 2019 I did both the Anglesey section & Llyn Peninsular section over 4 days & 3 days respectively so this is an overdue & logical next step.
5. Climb Ben Nevis 7 times in a week, wait there is method to this madness! In 1978 at the age of 12 I first climbed this (my first mountain) with my middle brother Mark who was 14. Un-supervised, showing the spirit of the time, we ran down the screes chasing a guy who was like a mountain goat & un-beknown to us surely a fell runner, a sport we’d not known to have existed. I walked it again in the early 90’s & for some reason concluded ‘I want to do it 10 times in my lifetime’. The 3rd ascent came in 2016 after Dorina & I had just completed the West Highland Way over 5 days (pay back for Dorina supporting my 2 day run earlier that year). So by now I think you’ll see why 7 in a week makes ‘sense’, also cuts down on long drives & omissions for all the good that’ll do the lost planet.
6. & finally, this year will be my 10th Snowdon (Eryri) Marathon. My first 6 came in at between 3:31 & 3:39, then Gasherbrum II happened, a fractured ankle & severe muscle wastage, led to no training & a long term drop in my abilities (phycological impact is harder to calculate) but somehow I completed my 7th in 4:17. My 8th saw little improvement but by my 9th I did a more respectable 4:04. So for my 10th with my 2015 heyday 11 years behind me I’m setting a challenge of 3:50 in the hope that I minimally achieve sub 4 hours.

So that’s it, what is this all really about, well I’ve not really been my old self since GII in 2022, a re-kick-start is in need & by going public & committing to them I really do want to turn back the clock or at least hold it still for a little longer. To help I have friends & role models whom are older than I but still running well & achieving great things, inspiration indeed.

Watch this space to see how my year of being 60 develops.

PS. Thanks for reading & seeing a mindset of a near 60 year old, if any runners out there want to tag a long for a few miles on the 23rd March just get in touch.

Paul

Fortunately storm Claudia passed through on Friday leaving (combined) over 3,500 runners to enjoy better conditions for both the Penmaenmawr Fell Race on Saturday & the Conwy Half Marathon on Sunday (15th & 16th Nov respectively). Myself & Dorina were to be at both, marshalling on the Pen & running the Conwy.

Firstly note if you are ever marshalling at Cae Coch do not take the road up from Rowen, it is not suitable for any car wider than a motorbike!

Conditions underfoot for the Pen were seriously wet, streams were running freely over several parts of the course & even the road section saw the runners running through several inches of water at times, thankfully we were wearing full waterproof walking boots but even those weren’t enough at one point.

With it being a North Wales counter there was a large turnout so I was very pleased that Dorina had said yes to my plea for help as, even with two of us, it was very difficult to record every race number particularly when large groups came past us with some wearing jackets over their numbers. In all we recorded 242 runners & two sweepers & think that we may have missed one runner in an early group. Dorina did her best to have conversations with the many familiar faces & did her very best not to listen to my shouts of ‘CONCENTRATE’! Probably she can be excused as not having my experience of being waist deep in the notorious bog (2018) thereby making it reasonably essential to account for each runner for the race Organiser, Russel Owen. Talking about Russ he’d made an early requisition of part of the course early a.m. & made a great decision to keep to the race route & not opt for the bad weather route. 

The race was won by Josh Hartley of Black Combe in a nippy 1:12:31 followed by two local runners Gavin Roberts & Gareth Hughes. The first woman was Ruth Calcraft in 1:31:07 of Run Free Fell Runners. In truth anyone who took part deserves a big pat on the back for supporting such an iconic race which was celebrating it’s 50th anniversary, can it really be 10 years ago that I ran in the 40th race setting my pb of 1:33:56 & 7 years since that horrific bog experience ended my participation in the race in subsequent years. Note to self, recce the route with someone who knows the line around the bog, Richard Roberts comes to mind & then enter the race again.

Well done to Russ & his team, it was a pleasure to be part of you & the warmest I’ve been at a Marshalling position all year.

Sunday dawned early with Dorina serving our usual pre-race breakfast of a slice of toast, two poached eggs & a good helping of baked beans at 5:50 a.m.

We arrived at the car park in Conwy just before 8 a.m. to avoid the inevitable rush for parking spaces, toilets & bib collection (why I’d paid for Dorina’s bib to be posted to her & not done likewise for myself is quite frankly anyone’s guess). Back at the car we kept warm & tinkered with the finishing touches to our kit, Dorina decided to carry her bag with half a litre of water & two gels whereas (unusually for me) I decided to not carry a bag at all.

Soon it was time to make it to the start area where on a final walk to the urinal I bumped into Paul Ellis. Paul had supported me on my charity runs in both 2023 & 2024 & had stalked me for most of this race last year, thankfully he was graceful enough not to overtake me at the finish! This year would be different, he started ahead of me & stayed there for the whole race.

Urinal business completed I rejoined Dorina & we walked up & onto the bridge together. Here we wished each other luck & then split up as I edged closer to the start line whilst leaving a respectful distance from it for the fast bucks.

From the start my splits were quite pleasing ranging from 4:36 to 4:14 per K, this led to the normal doubts ‘am I over cooking it’ but it felt good. The same could not be said once I got to the climbs on the Great Orme. For once I was being overtaken by more than I was overtaking others & the last killer climb felt seriously hard, however my splits seemed to be O.K. with the two slowest being closer to 5 minutes than 6.

I hit the 10K mark in a little under 46 minutes at which point this numbers man did his maths ’11K to go, if I get back to 4:30 splits I’ll probably, but not definitely beat last years time’. So from the top of the Orme it got serious!

Fortunately I got a bit lucky as I’d soon closed the gap on a strong looking woman (later I’d see she was in the 50/54 age category) who’d overtaken me on the last climb. As we descended & then made our long run into the finish I tracked her all the way. Occasionally I almost pulled level & thought about passing her but this hope seemed to dissipate immediately as she seemed to ease away again. For nearly 10K we were within 1 & 10 metres of each other & both running very consistent splits even on the gentle climbs into Deganwy. With 2 K to go my confidence that I would beat last year’s time was more or less sealed despite the increasing discomfort in my troublesome left big toenail.

Climbing the final ramp up onto the bridges we turned towards the finish, the woman left me for dead despite me picking of a few myself including an Eryri Harriers teammate who’d we’d been gradually closing on since the top of the Orme (felt a bit guilty about that despite him being in the 60/64 category, we did congratulate each other at the finish).

I crossed the line in 1:37:28 exactly 1 minute faster than last year, typing this 3 days later that still feels good. The woman by the way beat me by 4 seconds. What didn’t feel good was that bloody toenail. Why can I run nearly flat out despite knowing the damage I’m inflicting on it & then hardly walk as soon as my race was run? But walk I had to do, firstly to collect my medal & T shirt & then back to the car to get some warm jackets & remove my shoes & socks, replace them with open toed sandals & thereby relieve much of the pain. Job done time to get back to the finish before Dorina arrived.

Reaching the finishing enclosure I soon spied Carla Lauder & Helz Taylor & walked over for a couple of fist pumps. As they made their way towards the medals I stayed put & waited for Dorina whom soon walked towards me with her usual post finish smile. This was despite her frustration at not having started her watch properly at the start line & only correcting it after more than a K later. This had meant she was running part ‘blind’ for the entire race, a ‘rooky’ mistake which I doubt she’ll make again. Despite this she would later find out that she ran her race in 2:11:41 a very respectable first effort so well done Angel!

As we mingled briefly again with Carla, Helz & co near the HQ tent it was the inexperienced Dorina & not the experience me who realised we had a second medal each to collect. This one for having also participated in it’s sisters event (Liverpool HM) back in March.

We failed to meet up with another friend, Fiona Duckers, from the Wirral due to coms issues but would later see that she also had picked up her two bits of bling (did I really just type that word, at my age….).

Time waits for no one so back to the car again as we were due to have lunch with John & Marion at 1:00pm at the Cafe.

The next day, despite the toenail & a sore left heel, I was able to split & stack wood for 4 hours & then go out for a gentle recovery run. The latter paid off as by Tuesday the heel had fully recovered, no gain without pain.

Thanks to everyone who helped make the weekend what it was, a lot of good organising brought a lot of joy to all who took part & thanks to the spectators who were cheering on so enthusiastically.

I’ll finish as only a stat man can with those stats:-

Me – 1:37:28, 319th male out of 2010 (not quite top 15%). 358th overall out of 3,386 (not quite top 10%). 18th Male 55/59 out of 197 (top 10% despite being at the tail end of that age group (these things matter, I could argue I was possibly top 2% for my actual age group of O.59 & a half). Sorry you were warned……..

Dorina – 2:11:41. 666th Female out of 1,376 (top 50% & the sign of the devil). 2221st out of 3,386 overall. 89th 44/49 Female out of 195 (again top half, well done!).

As ever, thanks if you’ve read this far.

PS. We have entered Conwy HM 2026, hope to see you there!

My running mileage so far this year has been less than half of a typical year leading into this fabulous event. Add to that a lack of big races which I use to run in June, August, September & early October (typically 6/7 races of between 13 & 54 miles), I knew that any chance of recording a sub 3:40 time (as I’d done in my first 6 Snowdon Marathon’s) was totally un-realistic. So my goal was simply to try & beat my last two times for the race, namely 2022’s 4:17 (with a fractured ankle) & 2023’s 4:14:50.

In the final 2 weeks lead-in I had belatedly got stuck into last minute training panic by slotting in 6 runs, five of which were actually of some quality.

My usual pre-race lead-in consisted of Pasta Carbonaro at 7:00 am on the Friday, then fasting until 8:00 am on Saturday (race day) when Dorina served me with two slices of toast, two poached eggs & a large helping of beans at the Cafe. By 8:30 I was heading to the event for it’s 10:30 start. I went to the lagoon car park which now you have to pay for, there were a few spaces left & then I went to pay. Quite how they expect someone of my age & digital prowess to both register his number plate by phone as well as pay by phone is anyone’s guess. After fumbling & bumbling for 10 minutes or so I gave up & headed for the event car park I’d passed on my way in as I presumed that it would be free. 10 minutes is a longtime on a pre-race morning in Llanberis so by now the roads were chocker & the queue to turn up the road towards the event car park wasn’t moving. Plan C & D were to drive out the way I’d come in & hopefully the few spaces in a couple of lay-bys would still be there & if they weren’t I would drive to John & Marion’s & beg for a lift back in. Thankfully Plan C worked & I was soon on a longer walk than hoped towards the start.

Hanging around at the start on a cold & at times wet morning wasn’t as bad as feared & my ablutions focused lead-in seemed to have worked effectively, always a phycological must for a nervous runner. 

I started steadily aiming for splits of roughly 5 minutes per K until the climb began, the roads were running with water but at this stage I didn’t comprehend the damage this would do. Most of the runners had state of the art road shoes whereas I was in my blister proof Mutants which normally serve me well on the final run-in to the finish. Once into the long climb up to PyP my splits edged up towards 6 minutes as expected. The final one came in at 6:15, I was struggling & only just avoided breaking down into a walk. At the top I stopped very briefly to grab a cup of electrolite, unusual for me but I was adapting to my pain. I had reached the pass in over 41 minutes some 3 minutes down on my 2015 pb, so that felt O.K. at least.

I took the descent down to PyG slower than normal but didn’t give a fig how many places I lost, this was race management clarity. At this point a wicked shower of hail & fiercely cold & strong wind hit us in the face. It was freezing & whilst being the worse we would suffer it was far from the only such ‘fun’ we would have to ‘enjoy’! As we turned off road for the long descent towards Nant Gwynant I realised I had three new issues at a worryingly early stage, my right hamstring felt tight, both quads felt like they might go into cramp & the underside of my right foot was getting pretty sore (the early wet roads set this one off). These issues & fears would be with me for much of the run towards Beddgelert (halfway point) but less so thereafter (except the foot). Once on the flat my splits sat at just over 5 minutes per K in line with my pre-race plan, I was finally picking up some confidence which would be much needed for the second half of the race. I reached Beddgelert in a time 2:02 (nb. this split doesn’t feel right as it would mean I almost eran a negative 2nd half split) some 20 minutes down on my pb pace, had I analysed that at the time I might have panicked but thankfully I didn’t & so then set into the crux climb at a reduced but controlled pace. This climb up to Rhyd Ddu is the killer, what it lacks in height gain it compensates for by being seemingly endless with false dawns being betrayed by corner after ‘it’s still going on’ corner. I haven’t run it all in both of my last two races but had done so in my first six. This is the crux, break into a walk here any confidence remaining would shatter making it a very painful journey to the finish.

Thankfully my slow but dignified pace from PyP to Beddgelert began to serve its reward, I managed to run the whole hill, I was running a decent Snowdon marathon for the first time since 2019.

From Rhyd Ddu you descend gently before the route becomes very mildly undulating where I have to admit I’d had to walk one or two of these very minor climbs in my previous two races. Today was different, despite the frequent & very cold showers, I was running well &  had devised a very positive phycological state. Exiting Rhyd Ddu I’d calculated that whilst I was only 26K into the 42K race I redid the maths. I only had 9K or so to go to get to Wuanfawr where the final of the 3 big hills starts, this would be my race ‘end’ after that I could walk/run to the actual finish. This ‘shortening’ of the pain threshold worked wonders, I ran all the way to Waunfawr averaging splits of around 5:15 per K.

At Waunfawr I immediately broke into the planned walk & from there on probably only ran 20% of the climb to the Bwlch, where Hillary greeted me at the final feed station as enthusiastically as ever. 

From here a steady run before I walked the final short rocky climb before ‘my’ time came. On the wet & muddy descent my mutant trail shoes kicked in & I began my overtaking spree whilst others in their road shoes took sensible precautions which didn’t always avoid a fall. Soon we were back onto tarmac albeit with a central line of grass which I kept to. My apologies here to a fellow Eryri club runner who was talking to another runner, one on the tarmac left & one on the tarmac right. As I called out ‘I’m coming through (on the grassy central line) he seemed to become disorientated by this madman & duly fell over nearly taking me with him. My failure to stop could only be justified by 3 things, it was hard to, I heard him respond to his concerned ‘partner’ I’m O.K. & 3 female spectators were only yards away & were clearly going to help if needed. In truth I was in a very focused mood at this point. By the time I reached the finish I’d overtaken 30 on the descent whilst being picked off by just one, not quite as good as two years ago but this time it was much wetter so even with Mutants I’d had to reign back a bit.

As ever there was a great crowd waiting at the finish & I crossed the line in 4:04:28 to hear Matt Ward’s commentary ‘Paul Andrew has just finished’ & to then soon correct to his more normal greeting of ‘& here’s Paul from Caffi Siabod, their scones……..’ or words to that effect. This can be explained by the fact that for some reason (probably a late entry form I’d manually completed) my race number included both my first & second name, very odd & not good at these ‘Prince’ ending times.

I’d placed 544th out of 2281 starters (just top 25%) & 25th out of 149 in my age category (top 20%). Before the race I’d told Marion, under 4 hours I’ve had a good one, over 4:15 you have permission to shoot me. I live to run my 10th, next year I’ll be 60 & I’m going sub 4 hours! What a difference a day makes, nearing the top of that first climb my mind was saying don’t walk but why would you ever do a 10th one of these. Of course the early negativity is also fueled by knowing the full ‘wonderful’ route ahead too well.

After a quick cup of coffee & two slices of an orange I put my formerly ‘waterproof’ jacket on (had been carrying it in my bum-bag) & began to make my slow & very cold walk back to my car. At the car I took of my wet tops & put on a quilted down jacket, turned the heaters up to full & phoned it into Dorina.

Back at the cafe I stood next to the friar whilst Dorina retrieved my big down belay jacket from the car, this together with a cup of coffee & warmish shower began the recovery but not before I’d taken a couple of photo’s of my very distressed looking right foot, not pretty. That evening we attended an evening event in Capel to raise funds for OVMRO. We arrived home at midnight where the bottle of vino was soon opened.

My apologies to John Rowell who’d come out to cheer me at the finish & gave me a tap on the shoulder which I was totally oblivious to, he would later comment that I was in a ‘different’ world.

Also a massive thanks to Jayne Lloyd & her large team of marshalls, feed stations etc. etc & of course to all the locals & other supporters who turned out to cheer us on.

Finally, that weather, it wasn’t the wettest or the windiest I’ve endured during my 9 Snowdon’s (Eryri now of course) but it was certainly the coldest. I was wearing a long-sleeved vest under my Eryri singlet, gloves, cap & a buff around my neck which I moved to my wrist early on. Anyone just wearing a singlet & those slower runners who would have been walking in those showers & yet still managed to complete it has both me thinking why (only a singlet) & respect!

Sorry to prattle on as ever but if you’ve enjoyed it why not catch the highlights on S4C iplayer.

So whilst I & various support runners were enjoying ourselves out on Moel y Gest there were plenty of other activities going on at our Cafe at The Eisteddfa Fishery which I’ll aim to outline here-in. My apologies for any un-intended errors but I wasn’t there most of the time & even when I was I wasn’t really ‘there’.

Kevin Hitch was the first non-runner to arrive & join Dorina a little before 8:00 am & began to set up his array of wildlife photographic prints, he had kindly volunteered that all proceeds raised would go to ROFN, a very generous offer particularly as it was on top of his already donating a large print of a swan in flight to be auctioned during the evening quiz.

Gaby, I think was next, critical as Dorina cannot hold the counter fully with her other duties on a typical Reach Out for Nepal day. Gaby also produced & sold 10 portions of her Dal Bhat with all proceeds going to the cause. Here I should also mention Luca, assistant chef who like Gaby would have had a busier day than normal trying to hold the Kitchen on her own more often than normal.

Next up were Twiggy & Peter Price, I think sometime between 8 & 9 am. They would set up a stall alongside Kevin’s selling various Nepalese goods (donated by Community Action Nepal) as well as books & handmade hats donated by other regular customers. I believe Peter’s duties were setting up the Prayer Flags to bring a sense of occasion whilst Twiggy manned the stall throughout the day interacting with our Cafe customers, it was a busy day for the Cafe all round.

Next it would have been John & Marion, probably between 9 & 10 am. John once again acting as the overall co-ordinator of the days events allowing me to focus on my specific challenge, thank you John we couldn’t function without you doing that vital role. Marion’s role was focused on being the Cafe photographer capturing the flavour of the day as well as recording the runners leaving & returning to the Cafe for each leg. Apparently she also tried to capture my best side whilst I was re-fuelling but as she freely admitted at some point in the afternoon ‘I like to capture you in distress Paul’ & then she smiled at the thought!

Marion & John also set up a repeating Audial Visual of my 2021’s runs ‘7 Marathons + in 7 Days’ which brought back some memories, well at least before my wheels began falling off.

Andy Pyatt, put in an appearance at the Cafe in the early afternoon to capture some more photographs of the runners at the Cafe. Andy’s main responsibility however was out on the hill capturing photographs of us runners doing our thing, a lonely job out there for an odd minute of company every couple of hours or so, much appreciated Andy.

By the time Dorina & I returned to the Cafe after completing the 7th leg the Cafe was getting busy again with several close friends among the crowd, all of whom showed there concerns for me in the look on their faces, thank you again for those concerns & hopefully the sight of me being able to take part in the Quiz removed those concerns later on but John Smith’s comments of ‘I’d donate more money to see you NOT run next year Paul’ may need some serious contemplation.

By the time I arrived back after the final leg Tim Radford was well in hand setting up his Quiz which got underway at 8 pm (I was AWOL in the shower for the start). Tim had offered some months ago to hold the Quiz & I’d snapped up his kind offer immediately. Of course he was stepping into the massive void of Mike Lees who’s sudden death late last year left such a void in so many lives. Mike had been our great friend for many years & had hosted all 10 of our ROFN quizzes, anyone who had attended them would know just how much Tim was putting his head above the parapet. Tim did a simply brilliant job all evening bringing both his own style whilst also giving nods to Mike’s style along the way. He also ad-libbed some knew ideas as the evening took shape. Simply wonderful effort Tim, everyone I’ve spoken to both at the end of the evening & in the days since have said how much fun the evening was!

A moment to remember Mike, what would he be thinking about the world order today & particularly the Middle East.

During the quiz’s interval John stepped in to hold the raffle draw, so here a quick nod to all those who donated prizes, 13 in all I believe, very generous of you all.

Finally as ever a thank you to Dorina, my Angel, so many responsibilities on her shoulders throughout the day, here’s just some of them. Set the alarm 3:30 am, drive us to the Cafe by 4:30 am, official Cafe photographer until Marion arrived, running the Cafe counter, keeping our supporters fed & watered, re-fuelling me, re-fuelling my running bag, my support runner on Leg 7, holding the counter on her own during the evening, driving us home past midnight & then back in the Cafe before 8 am on Sunday. Within all this she had to cope with her concerns about my condition which lets be fair was a bit serious for 4 hours. No wonder she was a tired Angel come Sunday afternoon but a very appreciated one & not just by me!

If I’ve missed anything I apologise & to anyone who was there, took part in anyway & I haven’t mentioned by name a big thank you to you too for helping create our ROFN family on such a special day.

At time of writing the proceeds from the day itself & the couple of days since have just gone through the £1,500 mark!