The 10 Peaks Brecon race, sponsored by Clif Bar, is a run/trek over a set route through the Brecon Beacons National Park. Competitors navigate themselves around the course, visiting the 10 mandatory Peaks in the set order (plus some other mandatory checkpoints). Competitors can negotiate their own route as long as they reach the Peaks and check points in order. This years event was held over the weekend Saturday and Sunday 5th & 6th September.
There are two distance options on offer. The short course, covering 58km (36ish miles) and the long course, covering 89km (55ish miles). With elevation of 3000m and 4800m respectively neither option is for the faint hearted. Spurred on by my efforts at the Lakeland 50, and a perverse desire to torture myself over more hideous mountains, I opted to try the short course. The reasonable late entry fee of £67.50 included two nights free camping at the race HQ based at the YHA Danywenallt Talybont-on-Usk, what more could you ask for? Other than a little help convincing your sceptical wife on the virtues of camping, a hitherto unknown delight on her part!
With surprisingly little coercion and armed with a new tent and a couple of sleeping bags we headed west on the M4.
Race HQ was reasonably easy to find and we arrived on the Friday afternoon in good time. A large car parking and camping field awaited us with few other competitors around. After pitching the tent I headed for registration which was both quick and painless. I was given my race number and Sportident timing chip along with a Clif Bar goodie bag, route map and race t-shirt. I had previously downloaded the GPX file of the route from teh event website and would be navigating my way using a Garmin GPS64 handheld. Food was on offer from the YHA, however we opted to head into nearby Brecon for dinner, and a mobile phone reception! Communication was likely to be at a premium over the weekend.
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| Race HQ Talybont Reservoir |
On our return the campsite was buzzing, cars and tents everywhere with a steady stream of arrivals well into the dark. With start times of 05.00 for the Long Course and 06.00 for the Short Course I opted for an early night and tried to get some sleep confident that there would be a lot of early morning activity. I wasn't disappointed and around 04.30 more cars duly arrived and waking campers were shuffling about. I missed the Long Course start but I made my way over to the HQ tent for the Short Course race briefing. In next to no time I was saying my goodbyes and we were led single file into the start funnel and one by one we dibbed in to start our timers and we were off.
The route crosses the dam at the end of the Talybont reservoir and follows a short road section before heading up to Carn Pica (762m), the first of the 10 Peaks.
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| The first of many! |
The early morning mist and cloud was covering the summit and the extent of the climb before us was unclear. Some overnight rain had left the conditions underfoot slippery and in places it was hard to get a good footing on the steep sections. After a gentle climb the route got slightly more extreme and a lung busting ascent saw us reach Peak 1 and the checkpoint. After dibbing in we headed off across the boggy mountain top in an increasing amount of drizzle. Parting cloud treated us to some impressive views, although short lived, and we headed down to the Neaudd valley before our next ascent to the trig point at Twyn Mwyalchod (642m). This climb, although mercifully short, was steep and very very slippy underfoot.
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| Twyn Mwyalchod trig point |
A reasonable flat section then led us west towards Corn Du and the descent to the 1st aid station at the Storey Arms. The path down is a popular route to the summit of Pen y Fan and it was busy with walkers. Having negotiated a way through them all at a reasonable running pace I made a very quick pit stop at the aid station, putting on my waterproof smock, before heading across the A470 for the climb straight up to Peak 3 Fan Fawr (734m). The next section followed a gentle downhill which on a good day would have been very runnable. I was struggling to stay upright in the mud and ran the sections that I could. The route crossed some deep ravines and included navigating some stepping stones across the crystal clear waters. This was a beautifully remote section of the route and brief gaps in the cloud and mist allowed a view impressive views. Another river crossing skirted the top of a magical waterfall which I will one day go back to when I have a little more time to take it in.
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| Magical |
The climb from the waterfall was gradual although it was wet and starting to get cold. In little time Peak 4 at Fan Llia (632m) was upon us followed by a reasonably runnable section through to the second aid station. Immediately prior to the aid station was a tricky river crossing which could easily have resulted in a race ending drenching! Opting for little more than coke at the aid station I packed my waterproof and pressed on along a short section of road before heading off on Sarn Helen, which is a Roman Road meandering through Wales. The route is undulating and very very rocky. In places mostly impossible to run on.
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| Sarn Helen |
The race route leaves the Sarn Helen road to climb to Peak 5 at Fan Frynych (629m). From here the route heads back east following the mountain ridge overlooking the A470 and some impressive views towards Corn Du and Pen y Fan which are Peaks 6 and 7 respectively. I negotiated the narrow path along the ridge before the route drops down to the Storey Arms to the final aid station and some much needed hot food. After topping my bottles with a mix of water and coke, and disposing of quite possibly the best cheeseburger in the world, I crossed the road for the ascent to Peak 6 at Corn Du (873m). This climb is intense and gets increasingly steep as you reach the summit. Nearing the top the route follows the ridgeline with an almost sheer drop to the side and impressive views down to the oasis of Cwm Llwch.
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| The view to Cwm Llwch |
The distance and elevation between Corn Du and the 7th Peak at Pen y Fan (886m) was mercifully short and simple. Being the highest two peaks in South Wales these are popular spots and were very busy. Fortunately the rain had stopped the cloud had lifted and the sun had put in an appearance. As a result the views were just phenomenal and no words can do them justice. I stopped for a few minutes to take it all in, sitting for a while I looked across to the next two peaks which I could see clearly in the distance. At just on 30 miles and 11 hours in any notion of a performance had gone and I made a decision to just make the finish my goal. I initially had some misplaced notions of a 12 hour finish but that was clearly not going to happen. I made my way from the hustle of Pen y Fan on a brutally steep descent before climbing to Peak 8 at Cribyn (795m).
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| Peak 8 - Cribyn |
The descent played havoc with my knees. I had been using poles since the start and was leaning on them heavily on the way down. The climb up Cribyn was hell and I kept stopping to look back at the views of Pen y Fan and its sheer face. From the summit of Cribyn the view towards Peak 9 at Fan y Big (719m) looked very similar and it didn't disappoint. The steep descent from Cribyn made my knees ache even more and the meandering climb up to the penultimate peak sapped what little energy I had remaining.
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| Peak 9 - Fan y Big |
From the summit of Fan y Big the route follows the ridge line of the mountains around to the final Peak at Bwlch y Ddwyallt (754m). I followed the undulating route as quickly as I could. The sun was going down and the air was cooling quickly. I stopped to put on my base layer and pushed on with a cold cross wind to the final Peak. From here the route largely followed the first few miles of the route back to the finish. After crossing the boggy high ground and negotiating some hideous peat banks I made it back to the first peak and began the descent to Talybont. Maybe it had been the early morning mist, or maybe just fresh legs, but I don't recall the descent being as steep on the way up as it was on the way down. My knees were really complaining at this point and I made painful and slow progress. Once on slightly flatter terrain I started to run, this hurt much less than walking so I actually made reasonable time over the last mile or so. It was getting dark and I was relieved to make it back to the dam at the head of Talybont reservoir and the finish at the YHA to my left. As I crossed the dam I made a pathetic attempt at a whistle, which my wife fortunately heard, and she made her way to the finish to welcome me in. Having had no mobile signal at race HQ my progress through the day had been completely unknown and we were both thankful that I had just made it home before it got dark. My finish time was 14.08.02 over a distance of 36.8 miles. Slower than I wanted but I was pleased with the finish especially given the elevation profile.
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| 10 Peaks elevation profile |
This is the second ultra marathon I have attempted over mountainous terrain and whilst very similar I have to say that this was far harder than the Lakeland 50, despite being 14 miles shorter. I fuelled with naked bars and black olives along with some cashews and an S-cap every hour. The cheeseburger was a welcome addition and latterly I munched my way through quite a few haribo's to try and invoke some form of sugar rush. There isn't much I'd change on the nutrition front but in hindsight I possibly should have made more allowance for hydration. I used very little water in the early part of the day as the conditions were cold and wet but I had to limit myself between the last aid station and Peaks 6-10 through to the finish as I only had two 750ml bottles in my Salomon race vest.
I came in 66th position out of 94 finishers on the Short Course so not a bad day out in all. Hats off to those completing the Long Course. At 20 miles longer its an epic undertaking over some punishing terrain.
Having Welsh roots this was always something I was keen to take part in. I have many happy childhood memories of the Brecon Beacons and I was blessed with some of the most impressive views the National Park has to offer. I'm not sure I'll rush back to this one. Maybe I would consider the Long Course in the future. For now I have enough planned ahead. I also have the Might Contain Nuts ultra in December to consider over a similar route. At 42ish miles with a 14 hour cut off I need to be realistic about my chances of a finish on that. So for now its back to the South for a few events. With Farnham Pilgrims Marathon next Sunday (13th September) followed by the Downslink Ultra (38 miles) and Beachy Head Marathon at the beginning and end of October respectively there is still plenty of time to build.
Peace and love xx
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| Great memories |
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