On Sat 29th I travelled up to Dolgellau for the Cader Idris race, which is a fairly prestigious event with quite a bit of fanfare in fell running terms- a samba band and the like! With no team counting I was able to wear the VRUK vest. It’s a straight up and down 10.5m/3000ft climb. It was chucking it down with rain which was lucky because i didn’t get a shower for another 48 hours. The visibility was very poor but luckily I know the route well enough. I was pushed all the way up by Phoebe Webster from Aberystwyth, but from the summit to the finish gained 4 minutes, as descending is my speciality. Eventually I won in 1.42, getting a nice £100 cheque and a painting. From there it was onto West Wales to help a friend with a 21 hour South Wales Traverse, starting 3am Sunday. After an epic time in the last few hours involving him being very ill, I was relieved we got down to the finish at Llanthony Priory near Abergavenny where one of the previous pacers was waiting who fortunately happened to be a doctor. Next stop the European champs trial race in the Lake district and the dreaded 23m/7500ft Ennerdale race after that.
[Eek – Ed ]