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