Day -1, The Calm Before the Storm

Lots of races badge themselves as the hardest in the world. It’s very subjective and impossible to compare something like the Spine to The Marathon Des Sables or Badwater they all have different challenges. The Dragons Back goes for a specific niche “The toughest mountain race in the world”- it’s a hard statement to argue against. For me the toughest element was the multi day nature of the event. I’ve done lots of long events, back to back long training days and completed a Bob Graham Round in just over 21 hours but nothing on this scale. 195 miles over rugged mountainous terrain climbing (and descending) around 52,000 feet (almost twice the height of Everest from sea level).

My training had went as well as I could have hoped and I felt in good shape physically going in. The plan was to drive to Conwy and leave the car there – I’d booked a shuttlebus to bring me back there after the race had finished.

The drive in was thankfully uneventful - it was a beautiful sunny day and the atmosphere in the event centre (which consisted of a huge marquee in the shadow of the castle) was buzzing. I went through kit check which was very thorough and then headed up to the youth hostel where I was straying the night. It seemed like there wasn’t anyone staying at the YHA who wasn’t participating in the race. I was sharing a dorm with 3 other guys, one who had done the race previously, one newbie to ultrarunning and another vet.

I wandered back down to the event centre for the pre-race briefing which was quite extensive. It also made me appreciate the scale of the event – 402 starters from around 30 countries and around 130 event staff including a number of medics and physios.

Getting registered

One of the nice things about the race is that the majority of the event staff were also runners, some previous competitors and others planning to do the race in future years so they really understood the nature of the challenge and what you were going through.

Following the briefing there was an outdoor buffet and then it was time to head back to the hostel for an early night.

Day 1 : 32 miles, 13,000ft ascent

The race started at 7am so it was a very early start to drop my bags off, park the car and head to the start inside Conwy Castle. It’s one of the big selling points of the race and understandingly so – there were many spectators from many countries lining the castle walls draping flags and the atmosphere was electric. This was amplified by a local Welsh choir who made their way through a number of songs including you’ll never walk alone.

Getting registered

At the race briefing the director Shane Ohly stated that although your time starts when you dib outside the castle walls the race cutoff is still 11pm and suggested that runners who were concerned about making this should move to the front with the faster runners at the back. I certainly didn’t envisage being at the pointy end of the race but at the same time I didn’t feel concerned about the cutoffs so was happy to hang back and let the majority of the field exit the castle before I did.

More songs from the choir, a few motivational words from last year’s winner Marcy Scotney and we were off. The route snakes out of the castle and along the town walls before dropping onto the road where you dib and the race starts proper.

A few miles on the road and then there was a massive bottleneck where the route goes over a style onto single track – I waited about 5 minutes there and another few minutes at another style further on. The running got a bit better after this but it was still quite difficult to get into a rhythm as a lot of the route was on single track so it was difficult to get past people. I tried to see this as a good thing as it slowed me down and made sure I didn’t go off too fast.

The first climb is up Conway mountain, relatively unassuming at 244 metres it affords a great view back over Conwy and the surrounding countryside and a gentle introduction to the day.

I wasn’t feeling great at this point – I had supported a fast hour Bob Graham Round a few days previously and I still felt like I hadn’t properly recovered from it. I was struggling for energy and had a few aches & niggles. Too late to do anything about it now though I just had to push on and hope things would get better.

As we climbed further, we went into the clag which lasted until we reached the Carneddau – at this point the sun burnt through the cloud and revealed the full splendour of the Ogwen Valley – truly magnificent.

Getting registered

A steep descent from Pen-Y-Ol-Wen brings you down to Llyn Ogwen and the half way (ish) point where you are able to access your drop bag. I took my shoes off to air my feet and ate the sandwiches I’d packed. It was really warm now so I packed some extra water and set off again.

Getting registered

I was now faced with the steep climb up Tryfan – truly a magnificent mountain (voted top UK mountain by Trail magazine readers) and really suits my strengths – very steep rocky climbing with bits of scrambling. I started to feel back to my normal self at this point and I felt like I flew up the climb, passing 57 people by the time I reached the top.

Getting registered

At the summit there are a couple of huge rock pillars named Adam and Eve. If you climb up and jump between them you gain the freedom of Tryfan, but if you fall you gain either hospitalisation or death so I decided to leave that for another day….

Unfortunately descending this type of terrain isn’t quite as pleasant and definitely not my strong point but at least the rocks were dry. Then there is another steep climb up to Glyder Fawr – I picked a good line up to the top which cut out a corner that most other people were taking and passed quite a few more people on this section.

Getting registered

The mist was blowing in and out going over to Glyder Fach which really enhanced the atmosphere – the areas around there is like a lunar landscape – the mostly flat ground between Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr being punctuayed by a series of sharp jagged rocks and outcrops the most striking being Castell y Gwyn (Castle of the winds).

The race route descended down to Pen-Y-Pass before reaching Glyder Fawr and it was now very warm. I took full advantage of popping into the YHA to grab a cold bottle of pop from the vending machine with lots of other runners having the same idea.

The next section was the one I had been looking forward to the most – the ascent to Snowdon over Crib Goch. I’ve been up Snowdon many times but never this way as circumstances and weather conditions have never aligned.

There’s another steep rocky climb with lots of scrambling before you get onto the ridge proper.

Getting registered

At this point it is a knife edge with steep drops on both sides and sections of exposed scrambling. It’s not difficult scrambling but the consequences of a fall can be severe and there were a few event staff at key locations advising the best lines to take. I really enjoyed this section although I was glad that it was dry and calm and progress was slow.

Getting registered

Getting registered

The ridge leads onto the summit of Snowdon which was as busy as ever before descending down the Watkin Path and then onto the last climb of the day of Y Lliwedd which together with Crib Goch forms the popular Snowdon Horseshoe route.

Getting registered

Getting registered

Getting registered

From here I could see the campsite but the route cruelly veers away from it for another mile or so right to the end of the ridge before coming back on itself and dropping down into the Nantgwyant valley and the finish. I had a mild moment of panic when I was told by the race officials that I had missed out one of the checkpoints but I then realised that I’d forgot to dib at the very last one – few minutes added onto my time but disaster averted.

Getting registered

I finished in 11 hours 50 minutes - 137th out of 360 with 44 dropping or being timed out.

One of the event staff picked up my bags and carried them to my tent – at this point there was only one other person there a lad called Donnie who had a good day.

My feet were really sore now – I had some patches of dry skin on the insides the balls of both of my feet and heels and it was really tender and sore to touch.

In retrospect the biggest mistake I made was footcare. I’d never had any significant issues with my feet before – even at the end of my BGR I didn’t have a single blister of sore spot.

I had plenty of sore spots now – Donnie showed me how to tape them using moleskin and kinesiology tape which would give them some additional cushioning and was definitely a learning experience as I’d never had to do this before.

I went to the catering tent to refuel and watch the live tracker which was displayed on a big screen. It was now around 10pm and there were still quite a few people on the course, some who were clearly not going to make it by the 11pm cut-off.

It was now time for bed to I headed back to the tent – a couple of other lads had now arrived but there were still only 4 of us in an 8 man tent. Someone else arrived later on after 11.

Day 2 : 36 miles, 11,000ft ascent

I didn’t sleep very well, waking up around 2 and couldn’t get back to sleep for ages. I was then woken again just after 4 by one of the guys in the tent who was obviously looking to get an early start - the amount of rustling going on preventing me from getting back to sleep.

You can start any time between 6-9 and breakfast opens from 5. When you dib at the end of the day you receive a printout of your times and it also has a recommended start time and breakfast times.

Getting registered

Other than my sore feet I didn’t feel too bad which was reassuring. It was really hot again. I left camp and after a short road section the route climbs up to Cnicht (the Matterhorn of Wales) before a really steep grassy descent down the side of the fell to the remains of an old slate mine (there are a lot of these in Snowdonia).

Getting registered

There’s then another steep climb up onto the Molewyn Range where the views back over towards Snowdon and the rest of Snowdonia were breath-taking.

Getting registered

Therein follows a long low-level section of road & trails. I got talking to another guy called Sean who I ran with for much of the rest of the day. He was originally from the North East but was now living in South Wales. One of the great things about these types of races is the people you meet.

I reached the control point in good time and refuelled with a tin of Baked Beans and Sausages which I was filmed eating and later made its way into the post race video which focused on the event team. I did have another role in it later on, one I would have preferred not to, but more about that later.

The next section over the Rhinogs was the part I had been least looking forward to, and in my opinion the roughest part of the whole race. A combination of rocks, scree, boulders interspaced with thick vegetation and steep ground and few paths ensured that progress was very slow.

Getting registered

I had reccied this section previously with my mate Danny so I knew what to expect.

I felt like I went backwards on this section so I was glad when we got to the final hill, Diffys, there’s one more rough descent an then about 6 miles on forest track and roads.

When I reached the forest track it was like someone had flicked a switch in me, suddenly I had bags of energy and I flew through those last 6 miles between 7-8 minute mileing – a far cry from the almot 40 minutes it had taken me to cover a single mile over the roughest part of the Rhinogs.

On the outskirts of Dollgellau I was pleased to find the toll bridge open, unlike it was when I had reccied it with Danny and we had to downclimb from the bridge, Danny hobbling himself in the process by cracking his shin on a slab of hard concrete.

I finished the day in 90th place out of 316, another 44 people having dropped out and managed to place 4th on the last 6 mile section to the finish.

Day 3 : 44 miles, 11,600ft ascent

Today was a watershed day. At the pre-race briefing Shane Ohly had said that based on previous years around 40% or people would DNF. 30% on day 1, 30% on day 2, 30% on day 3 and the remainder in the last 2 days, the good news being that if you could make it to the end of the 3rd day you had a good chance of completing the race.

I finished yesterday strong and apart from my feet my body was holding up well and I wasn’t feeling too tired.

The race started with a gentle jog down through Dolgellau and then a climb up and along the spectacular Cadair Idris ridge. Unfortunately, this part was clagged in so there wasn’t much of a view but I caught up with Sean again who I had been running with yesterday and we ran this part together.

Getting registered

The route then drops down onto more grassy rolling terrain and on the next climb I noticed the field splitting with a number of people leaving the main path & contouring round the side hill directly in front. I checked the map and noticed that the next checkpoint was around the back of the hill so you didn’t have to go over the top of it. I decided to contour round to the left and cut it out, unfortunately I didn’t get the line quite right and ended up too high so had to follow the fence down until I could cross at a gate further down – one to reccie for next time. Some more rolling hills & then we passed a campsite where I stocked up on my water and then came to the Tarren hills including a short out and back before a nice run in through muddy forest tracks to the town of Machynlleth and the next checkpoint.

Getting registered

This was the first time I’d seen any civilization during the race and the first time there were any shops (they even had a chippy).

I visited the Co-Op and felt like a kid in a sweet shop I wanted to buy everything. I restricted myself to a few sandwiches and a large bottle of chocolate milk which I necked down – it felt like heaven after all the camp & trail food I’d been eating.

Getting registered

This was the now furthest I’d reccied, the rest of the route was totally unfamiliar to me which was quite exciting but also meant I needed to pay more attention to my nav.

The 2nd half of the day also marked the exit of the race from Snowdonia and the landscape was noticeably different, a lot greener and rolling rather than soaring mountain peaks and ridges. The field had thinned out considerably now and for the first time in the race there were large stretches where I couldn’t see another runner.

Getting registered

The last climb of the day up Pumlumon Fawr went by uneventfully, from the top it was a 4 mile steady downhill run into the finish which should have been pleasant but my feet were in agony by this point. I had blisters on the inside and outside of both my feet at both the front and back and on my heels and the bottoms of my feet also felt sore from all the rocky ground so whatever way I put my feet down it hurt.

Thankfully I got the overnight camp without incident and I’d had my best day so far finishing 48th on the day out of 268.

Getting registered

Day 4: 42 miles, 7,500ft ascent

My feet were no better today but apart from that I was feeling pretty decent and my legs were fine so I set off in good spirits. My motivation in the race had changed too – when I set off from Conwy my aim was just to finish the race but over the past few days I’d moved up the field and was starting to think more competitively – how far up the field could I finish?

Getting registered

After the first steep climb of the day there were a good few miles of runnable forest tracks which I made good progress on however I started to feel a niggle in my left knee. It wasn’t enough to stop me or slow me down but I hoped it wouldn’t get any worse …..

Getting registered

It was another glorious day and the temperature was steadily rising which meant hydration was again going to be an issue and I was always on the lookout for water sources along the way.

After another 10 or so miles as I traversed another descent the pain in my knee intensified and I had to slow my pace – it wasn’t far till the half way point so I planned to rest there, take some painkillers and hope it would ease.

From the checkpoint it was a steady climb up to Dragon Fawr of which I walked it all. There was absolutely no air in the valley and it was now unbearably hot, sapping the energy out of me. I felt tired, my knee was hurting, my feet were hurting and I still had a long way till the end – it was the lowest part of my race so far.

Getting registered

The pain wasn’t as bad going up , but when I reached the top of Dragon Fawr and attempted to run down it was back straight away and worse than ever. I stopped a few times, took some more painkillers but after about a mile I accepted that running was now out of the question – even walking was painful. It was going to be a death march for the last 15 miles and then I still had another 40 to do tomorrow. I just had to put that out of my head for now & concentrate on just getting to the end of today.

Getting registered

Those last miles were definitely the lowest of the race, many people passed me asking if I was ok which was demoralising, but I finally limped into the overnight camp.

Getting registered

I had finished 101st on the day which I was surprised about, I thought I’d have been much further down.

After getting cleaned up in the river (an ordeal in itself) I went to the medical tent to get my knee checked out.

What’s the problem?

It’s my left knee, it’s really painful under the kneecap. I can walk on the flat and uphill but going downhill is really painful and I can’t run on it.

After a quick examination the prognosis was tissue damage resulting from the cumulative stress and I got the all clear to be able to start the final day after being patched up with some Kinesiology tape.

As I was being treated another runner was being triaged

What’s the problem?

It’s my knees, they are really painful under the kneecap. I can walk on the flat and uphill but going downhill is really painful and I can’t run on them.

At least I only had it in one knee……

Day 5 : 40 miles, 7,00ft ascent

I woke up with the misplaced hope that my knee may have miraculously healed overnight which of course it hadn’t and didn’t feel any different.

I was eager to get away early today as I knew I was going to be out for a long time. Even though the terrain today was easier than I’d had previously I still had 40 miles to cover.

The first 10 or so miles were uneventful, despite the pain in my knee I was making good progress on the flat and climbs but very slow on the downhills and had to make extensive use of my poles (which I hadn’t used up until now).

I passed a French lad I had been talking too in camp the previous night walking down a hill backwards using his poles for support.

There was then a long section on undulating road which would have been good running if I was able to and it was frustrating not to be able to do so. I was constantly being passed by other runners which was demoralising, and I kept having to remind myself that I just needed to get through this last day and it would all be over.

By the time I reached the support point at Usk reservoir I felt tired and was glad to be able to have a rest. The next section was through undulating forest tracks before the final mountainous terrain along the Black Mountain range of the Brecon Beacons.

Getting registered

Since leaving the control point I had steadily began to feel worse and by the time I reached the foot of the big climb up to Fan Brycheiniog, the highest ground since leaving Snowdonia, I was very lethargic and sickly.

Although I had experienced rough patches and lows in the preceding 4 days, I’d never had a really bad patch so maybe this was it. Ok that’s fine, the last half of the day was going to be tough then but at least I was on the home straight now.

The further I climbed the worse I felt. My pace slowed and I started getting stomach cramps which led me to have to relieve myself. I thought I might have felt better after that but I didn’t. I had to go another 3 or 4 times - I don’t want to go into a lot of detail but suffice to say I didn’t have very much fluid left in me by then end of it.

Getting registered

As if on cue the weather also changed – the temperature dropped, and it started raining.

My stomach contractions had slowed now and although I still didn’t feel any better I was hoping that I might be past the worst of it. Sadly a few moments later I dropped to my knees and was violently sick. I was feeling truly dreadful and at one point I even considered pressing the emergency button on my tracker.

All hope of finishing the race was gone now. It was only around another 10 miles to go to the end – no more big climbs and a lot of it on road but it might as well have been a million miles. My pace has dropped to a slow shuffle, I had no energy whatsoever and I felt sick and nauseous. The next checkpoint was a road crossing around 2 miles away and I tried to focus and gather enough strength to make it that far and retire there.

At this point another runner came up behind me – it was Remy, the French lad I had talked to in camp last night and passed earlier. He could see that I was obviously in trouble and thankfully stopped to make sure I was ok. I told him my race was finished and that my target was just to get to the next checkpoint, but he wasn’t having any of it. He said he would stick with me and we would make it to the end together. He tried talking to me but it was pretty one sided as I didn’t even have the energy to speak.

Soon after another runner came by, a local lad called Llion. He was a bit older and more experienced and he recognised the seriousness of the situation a bit more. He asked if I wanted him to phone race control, and I just about managed to convey that I wanted to try and make it to the next checkpoint and retire there.

Llion also stuck with me and the 3 of us soldiered on. It soon however became apparent that at this pace it would take us hours to reach the road and that in fact I might not even be capable of it. Despite some encouragement I still wasn’t able to keep anything down.

Llion called race control – they said that they would send someone out from the road crossing and to keep me moving. They would meet us along the way.

Again we soldiered on and came to a point where there was another climb to get over. It wasn’t a big climb , maybe a couple of hundred feet. In normal conditions I would have been up and over it in 10 minutes but at that point it might as well have been Everest.

I started the climb but it was a real struggle, so I had to stop and rest for a few minutes to try and gain some strength to get over it. More or less straight after sitting down however I was violently sick again, although it was just dry reaching as there was nothing left inside me.

Llion then called race control again. He put me on the phone to them but I couldn’t even speak. They told the guys to lie me down in my survival bag, keep an eye on me and wait for their arrival.

I don’t know how long I was lying there, I was drifting in and out of consciousness with Remy keep checking on me to make sure I was ok. Eventually the support team arrived.

They put up an emergency bivvy around me, asked me lots of questions and then gave me some meds – a pill to take the sickness away and some paracetamol to bring my temperature down.

After about half an hour I started to feel a bit better and then subject of getting down was raised. “Do you feel well enough to make it down on your own steam?”. I still felt like crap but I didn’t feel sick anymore and what other choice did I have? My feet were in pieces and my knee was still really painful but I was still capable of movement and I felt just about good enough to give it a try so they got me to my feet and off we went.

Race control advised them to take an alternate route back to a road, it was a little longer than the race route but it didn’t involve any more climbing so off we went.

It seemed to take an age to cover the couple of miles back down to the road especially given the fact that most of it was just over rough fell and not on paths but I gradually started to feel better and became incredibly thirsty drinking all the water I had available to me (not surprisingly seeing as I’d lost so much).

When we reached the road a support car was waiting to take us back to the last checkpoint where the medical team, Alli and Tom, departed and then we drove back to race finish. I can’t express my that to these folks enough, they truly got me out of a bad patch and were both really nice people too.

Getting registered

The car journey back gave me a chance to reflect on the days events and it started to sink in that although I’d came incredibly close, I’d failed to complete the race. This was really hammered home when I arrived back at race HQ in. The event has booked out a huge sports hall in which all the racers and families/supporters were gathered. There was a huge buffet, the beer was flowing and everyone was in good spirits.

Getting registered

Shane gave a speech before all of the finishers went up on stage individually to receive their finishers Dragon trophy. There were a few awards given out, one of the most poignant for me personally was for the act of kindness. It was given to Llion and Remy for looking after me during my ordeal although they were still out on the course and hadn’t yet finished. I was relieved to hear that they’d been given a time bonus (they’d spent over 2 hours with me) – I had been concerned that by staying with me they were potentially sacrificing their own races. I’d told them to push on and leave me on multiple occasions as I was significantly slowing them down but they were having none of it and stuck with me. They both finished the remainder of the day and completed the entire race.

After the awards I left the festivities and went back to the tents, got changed and instantly fell asleep.

The journey home the following day was almost as epic as another days running. It took 5 hours to get the bus back from Llandelio to Conwy, and then about the same again to drive home.

On reflection it’s disappointing to have not completed the full route, but I still had a great race experience – it would have been much more disappointing to have retired much earlier on.

A few lessons learned

1. Being organised is super important, you can waste a lot of time faffing especially at the mid-day checkpoint. The less ‘stuff’ you have the fewer decisions you have to make and therefore minimise your faffing. One of the marshals told me that Jim Mann was the most organised person in the race – he had a sticker on his drop bag with a list of things he needed to do and was in and out of the mid-day checkpoint within minutes.

2. Have a daily routine and stick to it. This was mine:

After each days running the first thing I would do is get some food inside me (I kept my food bowl at the top of my bag so it was easily accessible). Go back to tent, freshen up & change clothes (I’d change into the clothes I’d be running in the following day). Get my kit and drop bag sorted for the next day Charge my phone, watch and GoPro (using a powerbank) Sort out my feet (draining blisters & letting them air out) Sort out my sleeping stuff Sleep

Morning Go for breakfast Pack up sleeping equipment Tape my feet Run

3. Look after your feet - this was my biggest mistake. I’ve been lucky enough to get hardly problems with my feet, even after long training days and racing but even after the first day I had issues. One thing is for sure with multi day events is that unchecked niggles become problems and problems become bigger problems. Addressing these at the earliest opportunity is key (that goes for anything, not just footcare).
4. Look after your feet
5. Look after your feet
6. (are you getting the message)

Regarding my knee maybe if I’d done more (i.e. some) strength and conditioning or used poles from the start then it wouldn’t have been so much of a problem but who knows. Sometimes you get injured despite doing all the right things and in an event of this nature it’s inevitable that problems are going to occur.

As for the sickness, it’s difficult to know what caused it but 5 days of drinking out of sometimes questionable water sources is my best guess. A filter and some purification tablets is a good call for next time.

Overall I was happy with my race, other than my knee my body seemed to cope well with the daily pounding and sleep deprivation and it’s given me the confidence to enter similar multi day events in the future such as Tor De Geants.

I’ll certainly be back for another go at the next running of the race.

For anyone who is interested here is the official behind the scenes video of the race: