We added this race to our 2026 Club Championship after great reviews from those that ran its inaugural edition in 2025. So 24 Sky Blues headed west to race HQ at Rhiw Pool on the northwest edge of Radnor Forest – this was about 1.5 miles off the main road but there was a small marquee, a snack van and portaloos all ready for us. There was ample parking in a field right next to the start and the registration, chip timing and number pick up was very straightforward. My biggest dilemma was whether to carry my own water or rely on the two water stops – the weather was warming up (although low/mid 20s so nothing like heatwave conditions) and I was uncertain how much of the time we would be in the shade/open. In the end I opted to carry a small amount (which I managed to drop after about 3 miles!) and wear a hat. If I do it again I won’t bother carrying anything extra. After a short race briefing, including the forewarning there were some stony and technical sections, we were all lined up ready for the 10am start.
The actual ‘off’ caught a few of us by surprise (still chatting away) and with a short downhill section it was all a bit frantic but we were still on runnable fire tracks. After about half a mile we started the 1.5 mile climb up to the Black Mixen radio mast – this climb took us over very varied terrain with the continuation of vehicle tracks, up through the very stony section we’d been warned about (I mostly walked this) then out across more open land, although there were some sections following narrow sheep tracks where it was essential to watch your footing and a slightly wobbly fence to climb over. The views were stunning and seeing the mast and other runners strung out ahead certainly gave an impetus to keep going. Just past the summit was the first water stop and then a short flat stretch taking us into the shade of the forest. We followed the forest tracks for about 2.5 miles as they undulated and twisted around – it was amazing how quickly you’d find yourself running a stretch alone and then suddenly more runners would pop into sight.
The start of the descent was down through a deeply rutted track with some low branches – I reckon this is a favoured mountain bike route with lots of small ‘big dippers’ that I found difficult to really run at speed as I had to pick my route carefully but then we were quickly out onto a more open section . Annoyingly it was on this section I got caught out by a deep rut and running out of foot space I opted to ‘hug some heather’ rather than fall forward onto the rocks! I picked myself up and was glad we were shortly back out onto the fire tracks with a longish downhill to recover. The recovery was short-lived as there was a short climb up to the next water station just after mile 7. With a short grassy section down and up, we traversed through a wooded section before turning back out on the fire tracks to start the final ascent of about a mile. This started as a gentle ascent still with the shade from the trees but then there was a steeper open section of about a quarter of a mile – I walked most of this – but then we turned to pick up a track and slightly gentler slope up to the highest point. Turning back into the forest there was another sneaky uphill (which both myself and the lady I was running with commented on) but it was very short and soon we were firmly on the downhill homeward stretch of over half a mile. The fire tracks were gravelly in places so you did need to keep an eye out but my focus had now shifted to completing the race in under two hours – which I managed to do. There was an engraved slate coaster for all of the 132 finishers.
There were some stellar performance with Sam Juson coming in first in a time of 1:05:55 (I estimate I was at mile 6 about the time he finished), Sam Mayglothling in 2nd, Gareth Leek in fourth and Sam Harper second lady. Overall 14 sky blues were in the top three for their age categories. The full results and some photos are below (apologies at time of writing I couldn’t see any photos of Sam M, Gareth, Oscar or Mike B).
Overall I thought this was a well organised, well marshalled race. There were lots of technical sections so the long downhill finish was very welcome. I had 10.2 miles on my watch and 540m of ascent. Would I do it again – definitely yes.
Sam Juson 1:05:55 1st Overall 1st SM
Sam Mayglothling 1:12:21 2nd Overall 1st MV40
Gareth Leek 1:16:00 2nd MV35
Oscar Austin 1:25:55 3rd SM
Joe Lynch 1:27:54
Nigel Taylor 1:28:26 1st MV60
Simon Norwood 1:29:49 2nd MV55
Steve Partridge 1:30:41 2nd MV45
Miles Davis 1:30:46 3rd MV55
Jim Bowers 1:35:07 3rd MV35
Sam Harper 1:37:23 2nd Female Overall 1st FV50
Mike Bending 1:42:14 3rd MV60
Tim Jones 1:44:38
Tony Howsam 1:48:53
Liza Austin 1:49:08 3rd FV60
Tom Powell 1:52:28 2nd FV50
Steph King 1:54:11
Kath Hardwick 1:56:56 2nd FV45
Tori Dickinson 1:59:12
Neil Powell 2:04:12
Lisa Gray 2:15:42
Anna Bromley 2:20:00
Reachel Kenny 2:27:44
Christina La Monica 2:34:21
