Snowdonia Half-Marathon: Beauty and the Beast

Sometimes when you’ve had a really tough week a good blast of Endorphins is perfect medicine. Clearly taking the prescribed medication also helps as I discovered getting home from work on Friday night to find the blister pack untouched……

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Today was race #5 and was the first one where altitude was to play a part. Low altitude and Higher Altitude. This half-marathon had hills in it – Big hills.

You have to be wary of any half marathon who’s literature  mentions ‘last year people commented on the challenging hill’. And when they start awarding medals for simply getting up the hill without stopping, you know there’s something not quite right.

Despite my reasonable times to date, I decided that if I could get around this course in less than 2 hours then I would be a happy chappie.

To be fair, the weather wasn’t great today. Drizzly rain and low cloud obscured the breathtaking scenery to some extend and the gusty wind also got involved in the taking of breath. And Forrest Hill was every bit as beastly as they had announced, but I was not going to let a 1:7 hill stop me getting a medal. It resembled more ‘power-walking’ than any attempt to run up it – some people were running but I think I overtook just as many by adopting my no-stopping no-nonsense approach. It hurt like hell and yes, I have the medal to prove it!!!!!

Another hill during mile 7 took the overall increase in altitude to just under 400m (yes metres!) and then 4 miles downhill again. The last few miles undulated teasingly, when will the end ever come.

But as with all these events, the crowd support was top notch. And yes, I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat as I crossed the finishing line. Race #5 – a hilly one – in 1h43m54s by my watch (no chip timing today).

If you want to sponsor me on the 13 Challenge, to raise money to fund the fight against Multiple Myeloma, please go to http://www.justgiving.com/SWFN-the13Challenge

1 Comment on "Snowdonia Half-Marathon: Beauty and the Beast"

  1. Well based on clock time of 1h44m06s I was 101st out of 521 runners. Would have been nice to have been within the top 100 but I’m not complaining!

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