Snowdonia Marathon 2012

tbh now I'm up and about my legs are pretty ok, don't get me wrong they're sore, but moving about fine and stairs not a problem, just tired

Should have taken the suncream though as I have a few red patches

Alastair's got some of his photos up already

http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/snowdonmarathon2012.html

 

Gwynfor's photos (sports pictures cymru) will have pictures here

http://sportpicturescymru.co.uk/snowdoniamarathon2012.html

 

and marathonfoto's will be found here

http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?action=site.home

 

 

well done everyone. finishing is an acievement in itself, so why am i soooooo dissapointed this morning. i found pen-y-pas easy and was flying down the old road until someone stepped in front of me and in avoiding them i felt a sharp pain under my ribs. the pain went away until the short hill back onto the new road at 8m. as we continued toward beddgelert i felt like i was jogging and i reached halfway in 1.32.

then as we climbed the pain came back with a vengence. i couldnt breath. my legs were fine but i was hurting. i got up the hill then at mile 17 the wheels fell off. i felt really dizzy. the pain was bad and i had to walk. waunfaur loomed. still very dizzy and feeling sick i got up it somehow (thanks to everyones support). i even managed a jog downhill back into llanberis to finish in 3.53.

i saw a doctor after the race and have prob. torn muscle.

today i feel fine, legs feel great. if it wasnt for the injury i could go out for a run now.

Hiya all, first time I could get Internet access since Thursday and I discover Trex wasn't there. Best wishes to your wife and yourself. Wow,what a fantastic day again. Great to meet up with Tr40 and mr and mrs Panad. Hope your service was coherent mr Panad!! I didn't make it to the pub,ended up in Abersoch with family get together.Great night but gutted not to have witnessed Jd on karaoke!!! Fab times all, John Bach and Jd,it's a total mystery to me how you can get round so fast. tr40, awesome time there after such a long lay-off. I managed a su 4 hr by 3 mins with my thighs screaming for mercy on that descent!! Garmin had packed up and I knew I must be getting close so final ditch sprint for home got me there!! I will return next year!!! Well done team, have a lovely rest and loads of protein today! No more carbs for a day or 2!!!

Superb race, well done to everyone! Had an OK run myself, running injured just snuck in under injury adjusted goal time at 4:29.

Well run everyone, great race even better party my sort of gig!

 i did it woohoo  5hrs36m smashed my 6hr prediction.  It was lovely to see PT6 halfway up that hill but once he said we'd only just done 5hrs i was on a mission and had to power walk off to the top.  Loved the view of Llanberis then i ran all the way down.  Noticed that the people that were pulling away from me on all the ups i caught and passed easily on the downs mind you my power walk got me past quite a few people on that last hill to.

Really didn't enjoy up Pen y Pass but then was ok to Beddgelet (though didn't enjoy the traffic dodging there at all) hit a low point on the hill out as i had to start power walking there and it felt like so long i was convinced i wouldn't make the cut off but my club mates were about 2/3 of the way up and they escorted me to the top and then i found i was fine running again and had a couple off really good miles to the cut off.  Such a high going through that point but did get a little confused at 20 when there was no Waunfawr  carried on and found it at 22 along with my friends again who got me started up the hill and just after i left them i totally started buzzing as i realised i was going to make it. Met up with everyone at the end and went for a cuppa then we had the journey home - i was feeling quite ill by the time we got back shivering uncontrollbly and feeling really sick took a couple of hours to warm up and manage to eat something and start feeling human again.  Not to bad first thing apart from my quads but really starting to stiffen up now all over.  Still it was so worth it

 

Chrissi will done you, knew you'd do it this year!! Sorry didn't get to see you.
Brer it was great to see you mate and well done on sub4.
Panad ment to say cracking run and time my friend and Mr Panad did an awesome first marathon

Well done all. I feel a bit of a fraud for having made my Snod debut in conditions light years better than those experienced by many of you over the years, but hey, now that I've got that coaster ain't no one taking it off me! Felt good up Pen-y-pass, tried to ease down towards 9:00/mile pace ahead of the Beddgelert climb. In many ways the 13-15 stretch was the hardest as it just seemed to creep along, had my pal Harshad nagging me along though.

First slowed to a stroll just before 22m i.e. the Waunfawr right turn. Those first few seconds when you stop what could be loosely defined as jogging are a strange sensation. Broke into a few intermittent shuffles over Bwlch y Groes but I was more aware than ever of Birmingham's shortcomings as an altitude training camp. Knuckled down again at about 23.5, clocked 3:52 dead at mile 24 and set out for something below 4:15. Descent was very challenging though - "technical" I believe they call it in cycling parlance - was pretty sure my toes were going to burst out through the front of my shoes on a sheer drop of a right handed. As a city dweller I was delighted to rejoin the Tarmac before the finish - all these stones are not really my bag - and sprinted it out for a 4:13.06, nearly 2 mins inside my forum prediction so happy with that and overall think I ran a sensible race for a debutant (and first time visitor to this beautiful region!)

Superlative event, many thanks to all involved, however tenuously.

This picture sums up the whole experience for me

Loved it!

 

Amazing race and great to meet some of you briefly...will Di report when home.
Ffran if you are climbing snowdon be carefully and go prepared...we went today but the rain turned to hail and high winds and we were walking through Snow...got freezing as only summer gloves v and no waterproof trousers.....were very lucky to grab four free spaces on the train back even if they cost us 70 quids

Great picture BVROB

Well I've just filled my blog in and thought I'd share my experience with you all. I'm not great with words but do my best


Snowdonia Marathon 2012.

Don't know where to start really. Im not the best blogger but will do my best to give an insight into my weekend!??

I entered this race on new years day, it is the biggest challenge I've set myself so far, since taking up running early last year.??

I'd done a fair bit in the build up to the race, I felt like I'd got plenty of long runs in the bank in the months before, having made a late entry into my first marathon 8 weeks prior (Wolverhampton 3hr 27min)??

the legs took a little while to recover from this and it was a couple of weeks before I felt I was ready for longer sessions again before snowdonia. I squeezed in weekly runs of 18m,18m,22m, 14m, 10.5m...RACE. Only slight niggle I've had is with my feet which started about a fortnight before snowdonia. Knees and everything else held up pretty well.??

Anyway...we arrived in Llanberis (me, mand & Emily) Friday afternoon, registered & collected race number etc then checked into our B&B....shithole....I ended up driving to the padarn lake hotel, which i had heard about ??via the runners world forum. ??I explained the situation & luckily the very friendly owner said he had 1 family room going, which he gave me at a discounted rate and would allow us to check into 8am sat morning, so that ??mand & Emily would have somewhere to go back to while I was running! ....relieved

We slummed it in the original hotel on the Friday, i couldnt get a refund on the weekend, so put up with it for one ??night. Lost the money for saturday but just decided to cut our losses. a terrible pre-race tea (swimming in grease) resulting in me having a bowl of shreddies in the room later on, followed by my traditional bowl of rice pudding!

??My mind seemed to be elsewhere on the fri night really, race morning is hard enough mentally before a big race, and I was concerned with having to eat, pack up camp, get settled in down the road and ready for the run all with a hyperactive 2year old in tow

After a very broken nights sleep, waking at 12 and 4am, I finally woke again about 5:30 on Saturday. My mind was slightly pre-occupied with getting packed up and switching hotels, but after some porridge, toast and coffee, that's what we did.??

We had a lovely room overlooking the finish line and watched the sun rise up over mount snowdon. ??We left about 9:30 so i could go and say hello to a friend who was also running, at the electric Mountain visitor centre. soon as we left for the start line I felt focused and prepared, ??and 'in the zone' i knew this was going to be a hard slog. But i AM hard. and it will take a let to break me. Positive mental attitude

I said my goodbye's to mand and Emily and made my way quite close to the front of the pack, lots of nervous faces around me, all anxious for the start.??

The gun went off (or car horn lol) and away I went, the first few KM are very easy on you, I took them very steady to try and get into a rhythm & warmed up properly.??

Before long, ??i hit the first climb, which starts steadily and gets steeper and steeper towards the peak. I think that goes on for about 4KM. I kept it together well, nice and steady, calm breathing, and I was chuffed when I started the long descent, I felt fresh as a daisy again.??

I was cruising up untill the half way point when you go through a village called bedgellert. My halfway point time was 1hr 39min. But I knew the worst was yet to come. And I was right.??

You go through bedgellert and start the 2nd major climb. I must admi

Haven't really heard from the party-goers yet.  This is worrying.

TDL results page has ran out of badwidth - serves them right for allowing 200 more to run than last year

Continued....

I must admit this started to get me a bit towards the end. I was running with a welsh guy for a lot of it, who was doing his 11th snowdonia. He assured me that at the top of this incline would be a chance to relax a little and 'have a breather'...I could see he was blowing quite a bit & we passed a couple of people who were walking it.??

At the top, and about 25KM into the course, it was what I'd describe as quite undulating for about the next 10km. I was tiring, but still pushing on.??

I got to 32km and looked at my watch, I calculated that depending on how I coped with the last climb I was well on course for a sub 3:30 finish (yes!)??

I got to the last climb, the one everyone talks about, and started off ok, chugging along, but it just goes on, and on, and on some more. The support was out of this world, but I'm disappointed to say i had to 'power-walk' it a few times to just try and get myself together again before having another crack at it. I knew sub 3:30 was slipping away, it was soul destroying that hill was. but after having a firm word with myself, I knew I could still smash my pre-race target of 3:45. You reach 24 miles and you can hear the crowds from the finish line. I had to calm myself down, started getting a bit emotional at this point. The few km descent back into the village of Llanberis is so steep and so tough on the legs, I was in pain, stitch, cramp, completely exhausted??

??I turned the corner at the bottom of the descent and onto the main street where the crowds and finish line were. I had tears of joy in my eyes and spotted mand in the crowd where I gave her a thumbs up and a big smile and finally made it over the line in 3hr 36mins and a chip position of 209th. Over the moon with that. I felt over-whelmed once it was over!

??I calmed down with a cuppa and a free massage, and got back to the hotel to relax.??

Been there, done it, and got the t-shirt on as I'm typing this out!??

Will I do it again? YES

But for know I need focus on my next adventure:

IRONMAN LANZAROTE 2013

And Jedwards has reached his word limit.  Like it so far.

Great report.

I'm not sure where all the question marks have come from.

Stupid iPhone

Great report jedwards..sorry to hear about band b..it's usually me that gets landed in that predicament.great time though buddy.
Refuelled on welsh lamb Sunday dinner and apple pie.Anyone for a run?!!!

I had a race i would rather forget from begining to end.

My left foot was slightly inflamed last Thursday but gave me no pain or discomfort and what the heck this was to be my 18th Snowdon.

It was half way down that ridiculous miners track to Bryn Gwynant that the race decided to use four years ago that the first signs of discomfort began to show and from then on it was a lot of pain for the next 18 LONG MILES.

Surprisingly the race went quickly enough due to the fact that i know every twist and turn of it but those bloody High5 energy gels (total waste of time in my opinion) decided to make one huge mess down my front.

The whole thing exploded in my hand and even if they work they showed little effect on me but the mess was indescribeable.

I have no idea how long it took me because i was not wearing a watch or chip but i am happy just to beable to collect a rather disappointing slate coaster.

This was a special event the 30th Anniversary and it looked like all they had done was painted the no 30 with a small brush before the race.

When you consider the significant price increase for this year's race more effort could have been made on the coaster.

If this had been my first Snowdon i would have been most disappointed with it  but the coaster was part of my set of 17 and is somewhat special..

 At that point i had really had enough and all i can say is that thank god i do not have a clutch pedal on my car, because i waited till i got home before removing my shoe and it was balck and blue. 

Also i have never seen Bwlch Yr Groes so dry in all the 18yrs of running the race.

We have had some rain but the place was bone dry, and my running shoes were immaculate from begining to end.

Definately a race to forget, so let's hope next years race is more enjoyable.