So it’s arrived then, a week of running in & around Betws y Coed as the World Masters & World Mountain Running Championships have come to town.

Steve Brace of Welsh Athletics, Eryri’s own Arwel Lewis & a large team have been working flat out to help ensure they are a storming success with the encouragement & support of Conwy Borough Council.

With other commitments I decided not to enter Saturday’s race for my age category, not simply because I would be no where near the leaders but because I’d long ago committed to put a team together for the Fabian 4 Dyffren Conwy Mountain Challenge team triathlon category. However I was delighted to hear from Mike Blake that Eryri’s British Fell Running Champion, Steve PJ finished a remarkable 2nd in the World Masters O.60’s category, congratulations Steve & I hope everyone who ran on Saturday enjoyed the courses.

My less than wise prep for Sunday’s Triathlon (Mine was the running leg) was a jog out on Friday afternoon with an eye on increasing my distances with the Snowdon Marathon not too many weeks away. 8 miles later it was time to turn round & head for home. This was done with some difficulty but a timely wake up call that it’s time to get serious.

Thankfully come yesterday those 16 miles did more good than harm as I ran hard with the confidence that Stamina was in the bank for the relatively short 8.5 route. Earlier Penny had paddled an excellent Kayak leg despite a headwind to reach the transition in 5th place out of the 10 team entries.

I somehow eeked out another place handing over to our trump card, Phil, in 4th place. Phil then peddled his Mountain Bike superbly to bring us (the 3 P’s) home in second place overall. Un-fortunately a late change in the biking leg member for the winning team put top spot out of Phil’s reach, the winners truly lived up to their name ‘Masters of the Universe’.

Really was a very enjoyable event despite one somewhat over the top marshall, everything else was organized extremely well so well done to all involved.

Now thoughts are firmly on our Siabod Summit Race this Wednesday, looking forward to Steve’s & Arwel’s support & still sneakily hoping I might be able to run or at least Marshall to see things evolve on the Mountain. Failing that Saturday’s World Mountain Champs are still an option. What with Sandman, Snowman, Red Bull’s Surfsnowdonia…., Snowdonia really is firmly on the map for Outdoor Competitions, what a place to work & LIVE!

Hope you can make Wednesday’s race & then enjoy a relaxed evening at the Cafe afterwards warmed by Gaby’s Goulash whilst mixing with fellow runners & listening to Ogwen Valleys Mountain Rescue Organisation presentation.

Finally a quick thank you to Tomos, Elwyn & the Forestry Commission in allowing this extra mid-week race to be run over their land.