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.