
Ras Yr Aran, Mid Wales. Saturday 23rd March
Race report Matt Podd
Organised by Clwb Rheged Meirionnydd and the last race of their winter
series. It is 10 miles with 2800ft of ascent and starts from the small
village of Llanuwchllyn south of Llyn Tegid (Bala, for the English). It is an
out and back route passing over the summit of Aran Benllyn and on to
Aran Fawddwy, both of which are nearly 3000ft high. We were staying in
the area at our family cottage and it seemed like a good idea to enter –
actually I was quite nervous about a race this hard and it took some beer
before I pressed enter.
Saturday was very cold and windy with snow on the tops and lots of
vicious hail showers. Parked up and went to register in the Community
Centre to be told the route had been shortened on the advice of
Mountain Rescue. I’m not surprised and was secretly pleased. I put on
appropriate kit for the weather, packed all the other compulsory safety kit
in my bum bag and made my way to the start. Met a couple of folk I
vaguely knew and had a chat. People including Antonio, John
Armitstead and Dave Tait were mentioned – famous even in the
backwaters of Mid Wales.
Off we went up the road and then into fields with the nonstop climbing
beginning. Soon we were onto the mountain and a very steep rocky path
interspersed with areas of deep forbidding bog. The Shortened course
was about 7 miles, and we went up to about 2700ft where there was a good covering of snow, and it was bloody freezing – so I put my coat and gloves on. I felt sorry for the marshals as we turned and retraced our route down. Almost immediately I got eaten by a bog which stopped me in my tracks, thigh deep and wet gloved. Luckily this was the only fall I had on the way down. A steep and thrilling run off during which I managed to overtake a number of people. Crossed the finish line glad to be in one piece and not last. No medals or T shirts here, but it was only £8 to enter! After changing I retired to the Community owned pub for a well-earned pint. Good to race in a different area with new folk.
1. Tom Wood, Eryri, 53.26
15. Suzie Richards, Eryri, 1.07.35
81. Matt Podd, Otley AC, 1.35.42
90 ran
One thought on “Ras Yr Aran, Mid Wales. Saturday 23rd March”
I thought to do this one because I like to go to places that I have never been before instead of doing the same races year after year , then I realize it was too far away and to be honest I was glad instead to do the Chevin Park Run in the morning and minutes later ”We need to talk about Chevin ” . Matt Podd sent an amazing and interesting report and a beautiful pic from Mid Wales Ras Yr Aran , also Matt had a strong performance crossing the finish line in an impressive 1.35 and leaving behind him 9 good fell runners .
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