The Snowdon Skyrace in Wales is a challenging long-distance race, complete with technical scrambles. Naturally, it was the perfect opportunity for Jenny to dive headfirst into the world of skyrunning with her first-ever competitive event! Here’s how it went…
The night before my first Snowdon Skyrace was spent sheltering in my tent, listening to the pounding rain battering down on the canvas. The field where we were camped (and also the start point of tomorrow’s race), was utterly drenched. The trek across to the portable toilets was a squelchy, miserable mission.
Despite conditions being what you may call suboptimal, there was a general underlying mood of cheerfulness in the campsite. There were people huddled in groups under camper van awnings, chatting and laughing. Other campers joked about the kayak we had with us – how it would probably be more efficient to paddle the route tomorrow instead.
This uplifting atmosphere must have been why I got into my sleeping bag that night feeling excited and content, rather than disheartened at the prospect of running 38 very wet kilometres, in mountains I was still unable to see.
The first thing I learnt during my first skyrunning experience, was that having one hour between waking up, and starting the race, was probably not long enough.
On a positive note, it’s hard to get too nervous when the hour before the race is preoccupied with frantically dashing around filling up water, getting kit together, eating, queuing for the loos, warming up and registering.
There was a moment of relief when I was standing at the start arch with five minutes to spare; until the enormity of what I was about to do hit me.
The Snowdon Skyrace route is 38 km long with over 3,300m of elevation, including the iconic and epic grade 1 scrambles of Tryfan North face and Grib Goch. It includes the summits of Snowdon, Tryfan, Y Lliwed and Glyder Fawr through a series of steep, technical trails which must be completed in under 12 hours.
In the lead up to the race, I’d done a reasonable amount of training, but I had never run a route quite to this extreme scale before!
After what felt like an eternity at the start line, we were away! Once I was going, the nerves gradually slipped away and I began to enjoy winding my way up the first gradual ascent. I was one of many in the condensed train of runners bobbing up and down the rocky path.
Although it was no longer raining, the ground was wet and boggy in places, and I watched the speedy runners at the front of the pack disappear off into the mist above me. With fresh legs and a positive mind, it didn’t feel like long at all until I reached the summit of Wales‘ most famous mountain, Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa).
It was my first time up the iconic mountain; shame I was utterly submerged in a cloud! I chatted a bit to other runners and discovered that last year’s weather was particularly awful. So much so in fact, that a ‘bad weather route’ was put in place. I continued on, feeling grateful that at least I got to do the entire route despite the mist.
Once past Y Lliwedd, I descended to the first aid station by the Llydaw (lake) and was greeted by friendly people and a fantastic array of snacks. As tempting as the cakes and sandwiches were, I only trusted my temperamental stomach with bits of banana.
I munched on these as I started what was probably the flattest section of the route; along the miners’ track towards pen-y-pass. Although the path was fairly unexciting, by now visibility had improved massively, and I was enjoying the mountain views as well as the many supportive hill walkers cheering me on.
At pen-y-pass, dodging groups of tourists and vehicles provided a new challenge. But soon I was plodding my way up a squelchy path; feeling much more at home. I went into my own world ascending Glyder Fawr, but suddenly snapped back to earth to hear someone shouting my name. Looking behind me, I saw my boyfriend running up towards me a few hundred metres away.
He had been watching, but narrowly missed me at Pen-y-pass, so decided to chase me down. As a person who is very open about his strong dislike for running, I was impressed by the dedication! The extra support spurred me on until he peeled away and I was running on my own again.
After a few kilometres of technical descents, and some minor route finding issues, I was at aid station number two, feeling pretty good and looking forward to the most exciting parts of the route that were coming up.
By this time I had found myself in a pack of people. Yo-yoing in front and behind the same familiar faces was nice though, and a bit of chat was welcome after running the last few hours mainly in silence.
The path up to Tryfan was steep and I remember starting to feel a bit slow and sluggish. However Tryfan North Face – the first of the graded scrambles – perked me up, and I had a blast getting some quality hand-on-rock action.
The descent from Tryfan felt long, but with a new running friend to talk to, a group of energetic marshals, and another surprise visit from my boyfriend, I kept on going until the final aid station in the valley. Although I was getting tired, my mind was feeling good and still relishing the whole race experience.
A man I was running with told me that “the podium finishers have it easier as they don’t have to run for as long”. This comment managed to entertain me until I reached the epic Grib Goch scramble.
The ridge was fantastic and I managed to overtake a few people which pleased my competitive spirit! Suddenly, I was back at Snowdon, and all that was left was to descend the same path that we had started on all those hours ago.
The first few kilometres of descent were fab, but I started to get a bit low on energy once the path flattened out. I started walking but the guy I had been running with came up behind me and told me he couldn’t finish in front of me as we had been together for so long. I would simply have to start running again.
Together we continued on, the starting field and finishing arch clearly in view. A lady that I don’t think I had seen before, darted past me, and I was encouraged by a sudden surge of motivation to chase her down.
Unfortunately I couldn’t beat her, but I came across the line as the 9th female, and I was very happy with myself!
I also discovered I was 1st (out of one!) in the under 23 category, so sat on the grass happily admiring my dragon trophy whilst eating sourdough pizza and soaking up the finish line atmosphere.
Although tired, dirty and a bit battered, I was thrilled about completing a tough route while still having an utter blast! Watching the other runners come over the line, I felt motivated all over again, and started wondering what my next running adventure would be…