Report by Guy
I remember years ago Rachel Nelson apologetically offering a snail’s eye view of a race. That’s where I’m coming from now!
The Fan Fawr fell race is short (1 mile up, and 1 mile straight back down) and steep (1,000ft climb approx), and ‘what you see is what you get’: apart from the flatter bog half way up you can pretty well see the whole course from the start at the roadside.
From the start I was almost last (in fact I turned after 5 minutes or so to check, and was relieved to see there was a handful of runners behind), but after the first steep climb I was beginning to catch a few, then we traversed the big, before tackling the second, even steeper end of the ridge. By the time I was half way up leading runners were already swooping down the hill. Once we’d crested the brow we were exposed to the full force of the wind, for the few hundred metres to the trig point, and the turn for home.
With tired legs I knew I had to take care where I put my feet, especially with the wind threatening to blow me sideways. Soon came the really steep descent, where I couldn’t see the slope until it seemed I was vertically above it. Not my preferred terrain! Through the bog I twice had to stop to reaffirm a shoe, at risk of being sucked off. Lastly it was a relatively pleasant fast run down to the finish.
The results aren’t entirely reliable. Tim was somehow given a much faster time than his actual time, and I had 40 years knocked off, recorded as an M40.
- Tim J 17th. 21.17
- Patrick 43rd. 25.26
- Amelie G 60th 28.04
- Flora. 61st. 28.07
- Ireland. 72nd. 30.10
- Guy. 76th. 31.11
- Gary. 77th. 31.34
There were 84 finishers, Flora was 1st F60, I was 1st M70 (though Gary was given the bottle!). Gary and Flora both won their age categories in the summer series.
