An early start for Irina at 5.10am to get over to Llangorse for a 7am start. She had a hilly 8.8km first leg ahead, which certainly ticked the box of her desire for a fell race!
Nat had camped the night before and collected the wristbands. The early birds did some great teamwork, completing a little car drop-off and getting everyone ready for a prompt start.
A few tracker issues were the first challenge, but finally, at 7.45am, Irina was off. Meanwhile, Nat got into position for the handover of the essential team kit bag containing the map, compass, first aid kit, bivvy, team bands and, of course, the all-important tracker at Pengenffordd.
Irina ran a fantastic leg, chasing the Cardiff team who had made a prompt start. Crossover of the team bag complete, Nat accelerated onto the leg ahead!
Irina, happy to have completed 608m of ascent, descended with relief, only to suddenly realise that the tracker was still in her vest pocket! After the tracker issues at the beginning, she’d pocketed it quickly and shot off. Needless to say, both Irina and Nat sorted the minor hiccup and ran back towards each other. I’m sure Irina enjoyed that extra uphill challenge — think of the fitness gains! 😉
Tracker issue resolved, Nat stormed along her section, embracing a steep hill and taking on 415m of ascent, which definitely got the lungs working.
Greg, experienced in the hills, took on 13km of the distance, with some interesting bits! He’d walked into position from the top of Gospel pass and was ready to tag from Nat. Neck and neck with the Cardiff team at this point, he cunningly tried to gain a lead with a freestyle ‘shortcut’.
Some you win, some you lose. I think Greg secretly enjoyed the tree clambering and seemed completely unfazed by the bloodied knees he’d gained in the process, despite looking like he’d had a fight with a cat!
Next up was Sam, enthusiastic and fuelled for the ascent–descent–ascent we had in store for him. Sounds gruelling. I believe it was!
This was not Plan A, but Captain Nina reluctantly stepped back from running due to the tedious Achilles issues, so Sam took on a leg rather different from the one he’d have chosen.
Team Cardiff had really put the accelerator down by now and, with a slightly different (maybe wiser!) route, we had some distance to make up.
Joe’s leg finally arrived, after him being a great car buddy throughout the day. The final leg involved a run across the hills to grab the tracker from Sam at Lord Hereford’s Knob. Seemed like a simple landmark, and the two were guaranteed to meet each other along the main path — but reality was that the handover took a little longer than planned!
I think Joe enjoyed the extra steps. Honest! Once the team kit, tracker and wristband were on, off he sprinted downhill on the road, before some navigation through fields and woodland to the awaiting, cheering team at HQ.
Team ‘Croft Ascending’ won an amazing 2nd place — no need to ask how many teams; all I’ll say is, more than two! We also took a whopping 1st place amongst the Herefordshire Border teams (team!).
The best sort of medals were the prizes… drinks and cakes!
This event is not for the faint-hearted, not just with regard to the running, but because the pre-planning and logistics provide a significant challenge. However, I’m sure the whole team would agree that it was certainly interesting hearing all the possible permutations of routes — in hindsight!
The event on the day was a big success. We were blessed with glorious weather and, as the pictures show, all the runners thoroughly enjoyed the hills, the navigation and, especially, the cake at the end. 😊
Next year, I hear… girls versus boys! 😉
