Thursday 9 January 2014

A Fancy Paddy

“It’s your Dad, I think he’s dead!”
Dad & I
 I had been expecting a call like this from my mother at some point during the Spring of 2009, but regardless, the phone call that night still came as a shock. An ambulance was on its way to the family home and I told my mother I would come across straight away. I grabbed my lad out of the bath, dressed him and we headed out the door. I arrived after dropping the lad off on route to find the paramedics in the front room trying to resuscitate my father who was lying on the floor. They had arrived quickly and had being trying for around 20minutes, but to no avail. Lots of things crossed my mind at that point but I do remember two vividly. Firstly my father had stated he did not won’t to be revived (he had pulmonary fibrosis from years of working on building sites), he had come home from hospital to die and had accepted his fate with grace. Secondly, was the love of life that my father had always had. Even in his last few days at home he spent hours watching birds out of his window visiting the garden; which he classed as far more interesting than anything on television (well apart from Coronation Street!). Also one of the last conversations I had had with him he just looked at me and said “Son, you should start to run again. Running always made you smile.” At that point I hadn’t ran for around 13 years. I had been an amateur club track athlete and given it all up with the excuse of that “life is just getting in the way”. A few weeks later after my father’s funeral I started to run again.
Those initial running steps I took in the summer of 2009 were the first on what has become an incredible
The Paddy Buckley Route
journey for myself and 2 years later on Friday 3rd June 2011 I found myself going through a check list. Mmmm 5 pairs of Innov-8’s, check, 5pairs of socks, check, Hagloff waterproof, check, selection of Buffs, check, various vests and shorts, check, ridiculously tight skins, check, Nuun tablets, check, daft amount of food, check, beach wear & surf board, check, 80’s disco shirt, check, Rave t shirt, check, bikers jacket, check and last but not least bow tie and dinner jacket, check. All this can only mean one thing…it was time for my Paddy Buckley Round…with themed fancy dress road support points
J

I had spent a lot of time doing reccie runs over the Paddy route with my friend Tracy (Aka The
Tracy Dean aka The Fell Fairy
Fell Fairy http://tracymdean.blogspot.co.uk/) over much of the spring of 2011 and in between eating, moaning about my latest ankle twist and just going oooooohhhhh and aaaaaahhhhh at the scenery we had talked a little bit about my Paddy attempt scheduled for the 4th June that year. One of our random conversations brought up the subject of adding a little bit of fun to the attempt for those involved as well as myself and before you could say “I’ll have another Cornish pastie please” the idea of having themed road stops was born. So a  plan began to formulate in the empty space between my ears and it went something like this; Nantmoor was going to be a beach Party, Pont Caer Gors was to be a 70’s/80’s disco, Llanberis was Rave, Ogwen was a Biker Party theme and Capel was a black tie finish. Brilliant! Although this sounds a little bit odd, for me it was perfect planning as it took away the enormity of what I was planning to do; run a sub 24hour Paddy after only being running for a couple of years.

So that Friday morning I loaded everything in the car and Tracy and I
Outside Petes Eats
were heading to North Wales pretty much on schedule (which for those who know me is a remarkable achievement in its own right!). The weather forecast had been viewed diligently all week and most excellent conditions had been forecast for the weekend, and by the looks of things they were spot on. My attempt at the Paddy had been scheduled for an 11am start on Saturday the 4th from Capel Curig, so the plan was to travel down the day before and relax. I had arranged to meet Gaynor Prior (Lakeland L100 Winner & Cesaers Camp Winner Record Holder http://shoeaholicsguidetorunning.blogspot.co.uk/) and her husband Dave in Llanberis on the Friday afternoon for a preplanning meet.
 They had very generously offered to do all my road support for me! Which just emphasised to me what a fantastic couple they are and also that they are just ever so slightly bonkers. So in Pete’s Eats the maps were laid out and all the road stop points were marked whilst eating large platefuls of spag bol with chips and garlic bread, all washed down with a local beer, mmmmm. After about an hour (Poor Dave; during this time he was sat out in their van looking after their “lad” Albert…..Albert being the infamous fell running English bulldog, often spotted at the top of “Skidpaw” in the Lakes!) we said our good byes and arranged to meet at Capel Curig in the morning.
Gaynor and just some of the supplies!

It was onto Lyn Gwynant campsite for Tracy and I, as I had chosen this as base camp for my attempt, as from my perspective it looked reasonably central for people to camp and be ferried to and from for the various legs. So in no time I duly started to erect the tent ready for tomorrow whilst Tracy carried on with the important task of playing her Ukele and drinking cider (ermmm I mean carb loading!).
I had just completed the task when Jon Whilock (Paddy, Bob & Ramsey Completer) came across and said “O you’ve camped here have you, we are over there” said he pointing to
Tracy Carb loading
150 yards away. Ha, so much for the one big base camp. Never mind though, as I was not staying in the tent tonight anyway. I had booked a room in the Royal Goat in Beddgelert. Well I thought I may as well have a bit of luxury the night before as I could get an early night in the comfort of a posh hotel and emerge all rested and raring to go the next day. So we arranged to meet Jon at the Hotel for a “half” later that night. After I had booked in I noticed that Tracy’s “carb loading” was going well; so not one to be left behind I thought I’d better crack on and start my “carb loading” routine.  I must admit I think we both did a truly excellent job of it. Even when Jon turned up later I could tell he was impressed and secretly worried that with all my carb loading he would not be able to keep up with me over the Moelwyns. This was clearly emphasised by him telling me to
Tracy & Ukele
not drink anymore and not to let anyone else buy me any more beer. However, upon quick consultation with another support runner Bryan Carr (Paddy, Bob & Ramsey Round Completer), and Doctor of Medicine of some repute I was assured that my Guinness was most excellent at “Carb” loading.  Mmmmmm Jon’s gone…..to the bar then
J. The evening was rounded off by Tracy serenading the 3rd floor of the hotel with her Ukele. However, all good things must come to an end and I was tucked up in bed by a respectable 1am.

Saturday morning I was woken with the sun pouring its bright rays into the hotel room, this is it, this is the day, I thought. Well I’d better get a move on then. So it was down stairs for cereal, more cereal, juice, lots off, toast, a full English breakfast, more toast, croissant and a pot full of tea. Tracy had a more Lady like breakfast of healthy fruit whilst eyeing up a nice Mulberry bag across the table. Brilliant I could face the day. Gaynor had sent me an email with lots of useful ultra running tips on, so it was time to put some of these into action. A large pot of Vaseline was produced and I went to work......

So it was 30 minutes before the start time and I turn up at Capel Curig greased up and wearing my skins with a big floppy hat….my, I’m so fashionable. We met in the National Trust car park behind the Pinnacle Café and Joe Browns climbing shop. It was fantastic to see so many people who had turned up to support me on
Fashionable me!
the forth coming leg or to just watch me start. Jon Whilock and family, George Bate, Simon Reed (Bob, Paddy & Ramsey Round completer) and family, Dave Harrison, Bryan Carr and family (including Holly the fell Collie), Den & Dale Colclough, Mike Perry, Shane Godrich , Dickie, and  Gaynor & Dave equipped with an air horn!
At 11am myself, Jon, George, Dave, Bryan and Hollie were off. It was down the road in glorious sunshine, through Plas y Brenin car park and then up through the wood to start the ascent of Moel Siabod. In the woods much to the dismay of George, I started to use my poles. Four weeks previously I had badly torn my ankle resulting in an afternoon in hospital, with x rays and lots of prodding…ouch. Nothing was broken but there was extensive tears and bruising on both side of my right ankle so to help take the strain off it I had decided to use poles and had purchased a pair of Black Diamond Ultra Poles from Racekit (www.racekit.co.uk). I had never used poles before but they really did help with the ankle so I was going to take them with me on all the legs….besides I’d got George to carry them when I wasn’t using them ;) By the top of Moel Siabod it really was evident it was going to be a hot sweaty run across the Moelwyns. I was reminded on the way up to keep drinking at least every 20 to 30 minutes, I had decided on this leg to drink nothing but nuuns as I am a hairy monkey and due to the heat I knew I would sweat a lot. The leg was going by fantastic. Chief navigator Dave Harrison was doing a brilliant job and Jon was keeping a beady eye on pace (I had decided on a 23:30 schedule). By the time we were at Cerrig Cochion we were 5minutes up on schedule which I was pleased about as I had “tweeked” my ankle on the run to it and was muttering some anglo-saxon terminology under my breath. The run from Allt fawr to Moel Ddu was breath taking. I love the remoteness of that part of the run with the stillness of the small lakes.
In the Moelwyns on a Spring Recce
 It was at this point that all of my support crew bar 1 also swerved off to fill their water bottles. I had not realised at the time but due to the 26-27 degree temperature everyone was drinking far more than they had calculated on and even at this early stage the risk of dehydration was becoming a problem.
They had kept this worry hidden from me though and assured me they would catch up very quickly. In the quarries we were met by Dale, Simon and Mike who had decided to join us for this last part of the leg before continuing on with the next to get a few extra miles in (at the time Dale was training for the Lakeland 100 and Simon for his Ramsey Round). It was good to see them all along with fresh faces and fresh smiles we were soon heading up Moel Ddu. We got to the top 14minutes up on schedule. It was then into the Moelwyns proper all went well except for the run Craigysgafn to Moelwyn Mawr where I had another ankle moment and lost 6 minutes on the schedule. Right it’s just Cnicht then an easy run in I thought to myself and some ice cold drinks J With that in mind another 4 minutes was clawed
Cnicht Spring recce, George begging Chocolate of Tracy!
in going up Cnicht. Then the run in began. My road stop was at the National Trust car park so there was the 1.5mile or thereabouts road section to run at the end of the track. I was met at the bottom of the track by Gaynor wearing a bikini over her running kit and some flower necklaces with Orange juice in hand for me. Brilliant it was beach party time at Nantmoor. I walked with Gaynor for a while whilst drinking my orange juice before her Sensei voice kicked in and told me to start running again. I got to Nantmoor 11minutes up on schedule but more importantly I was greeted with a fantastic sight of a make shift beach set up. Deck chairs with water wings, mini surf board, wind break, bikini clad women (albeit over running kit). Haha it was just brilliant, all thoughts of tiredness or possible dehydration vanished from my mind. I finished the first leg feeling great. Although later Gaynor confessed when everyone saw me initially they thought “O hell, he looks awful” haha, sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Beach Stop!

Dave Prior served me up some of his home made spag bol, it was gorgeous and a whole bowl soon disappeared. I’ll state at this point Dave is a most excellent cook and over the last few years I’ve been fortunate to munch down on a few of his creations. I was also handed some cold flat coke which was fantastic at washing the spag bol down with. And whilst that was going on they had made me a cup of tea (funny how you always crave tea after long runs…well I do), I tried it, mmm perfect and just the right amount of sugar I said. Dave and Gaynor looked at each other a bit wide eyed but said nothing. It was not until later they told me they had put 8 sugars in it!!!! Haha. Suddenly the beach boys music stopped playing and my 10minute warning came on. Gaynor had also done a themed music playlist for each stop but at 10 minutes warnings came on to get my backside up and
The Pain!!!!!!
running otherwise I would be subject to Noddy Holder and Slade! Bryn Banog had my name on it, so without further a due, Simon, Dale, and George were joined now by Tracy and we all set of at a trot.

The sun was still beating down and temperatures were still high even though it was now going into early evening. We left Aberglaslyn woods and came out to make our way across to the lower slopes of Bryn Banog. I was at the back of the team as they merrily chatted away up front. At one of the field boundary’s the team started to circumnavigate a small incline but I didn’t follow them. I was just in my auto pilot stage from doing my reccie runs. I normally swung to the East of this mound and not the West so off I went to the East. When we hit the lower slopes of Bryn Banog I had emerged some 2-300metres ahead of the team. Theoretically great for reducing my effort over distance, but practically and actually not so great. I had removed myself from my water sources as I wasn’t carrying any myself, not very clever of me given that I was sweating heavily and was starting to feel quite thirsty. I was annoyed with myself and barked back at the team about getting some water. As soon as I done it I felt awful. These people are my friends who have willingly given up their time and travelled to Wales to help me get around these mountains and achieve my goal. What a complete immature selfish diva I had been for that moment barking orders. I sat down on the slope thinking to myself what a plonker I was whilst Dale trotted up the slope to me with some water. Dale handed me the water as I immediately apologised to him for my outburst. Dale is a very experienced UK fell runner and has helped out on countless Bob Graham Rounds (an excellent navigator on any of the BG legs) and with all this experience and knowledge he knew straight away that my outburst had just been an anxious panic moment. As soon as he said this I knew he was right, on some level I was worrying about the end result of the journey rather than just enjoying the point where I was, the right here right now moment.  So with just a couple of sentences from the wise man of the hills I had come back down to earth and felt grounded although still quite sheepish. I apologised to the rest of the team for being a plonker as we all made our way together to get up to the summit point. It was an incredibly beautiful evening with a clear blue sky
Tracy dress for the
Typical weather on a n Y Garn Recce!
and fantastic views. I had done this leg a few times with Tracy on training runs in Wales. I used to rave on to her how beautiful this leg of the Paddy was and on every occasion the weather had been claggy/foggy with no great views at all.
I remember saying to her it will most likely be perfect on the day of my attempt just when you can’t stop and take 5minutes to take everything in. And low and behold it was. By the time we had run across to Y Garn the last mountain on this legs hit list the sun was setting and the evening was drawing in. We descended at a steady pace and entered into Beddgelert Forest and I steadily plodded along the forest tracks to the next road crossing. A few of the crew trotted on ahead to let the road support know we were on our way. As I rounded the last bend I nearly doubled in laughter on top of a grass mound were 2 of my next two support runners Shane and Richard they were gyrating to some 70’s music whilst dressed in afro wigs, big sparkling sunglasses and completed by dodgy shirts and ties! Brilliant.
Albert resting before the 70's Disco!
Gaynor & Dave had got the pit stop sorted for me like a super-efficient formula 1 racing crew. Some 70’s Disco was blaring out, Dave was being Matre D and asking what I’d like to eat and drink. “Any more Spag Bol & Coke?” I enquired. “Certainly Sir” came the reply ha. Gaynor had got my new sock and shoes ready, whilst disco Shane and Dickie were sorting my gear out. First class service all around. We were expecting another support runner at this point to help us Nav over the Snowdon leg. But alas no sign of him yet, “not too worry though” I thought as I knew I knew the leg well enough to nav myself. I just needed to engage the brain. Just as we were about to set off a car came driving into the Pont Caer-gors car park in a cloud of dust and out jumped Iain Ridgeway. I had forgot that we were up on the schedule by around 22 minutes so no wonder we had nearly missed Iain. It’s a good job that he WAS actually arriving early. Ever the efficient mountain runner though, Iain had in no time got his shoes on and grabbed his rucksack and was alongside us in the blink of an eye.
 Once again it wasn’t long before we were all nattering about bits and bobs and within no time we had ascended Craig Wen in 18minutes quicker than had been on the schedule! I was 44 minutes up at this point.
Iain Ridgeway & Clive ascending Elidir Fawr
I was a little worried that perhaps I was travelling a bit too quick, but I felt ok so decided that I’d just go with the flow and see what happens. The ascents up Yr Aran and Cribau Tregalan went well and once again we just pipped under the scheduled times. It was about here though that the weather started to change and the clear sky that had been with us gave way to a low cloud base coming in, along with an increase in the wind a little. I remember cooling down quite rapid with the change to night time.  So it was time to get the trusty Hagloff on and march up to Snowdon’s summit. At the summit visibility had dropped down to around 20 metres but the paths are well defined so it presented no problem. We descended from the peak with Iain leading the way to Carnedd Ugain (Crib y Ddysgl). At the trig the visibility hadn’t improved so Iain took a compass bearing as we were travelling “off piste” from here to pick up the Snowdon Ranger Path. A few minutes later and boom, Iain had led us on the path and down we trotted to then ascend Moel Cynghorion. From there on in it was easy running over the last few peaks to Moel Eilio. As we started the descent from this final peak of the Snowdon leg the twinkling lights of Llanberis at 1.30am could be seen. Which was fitting as the next stop was also about twinkling lights; it was the Rave themeJ.

Glo hoops abound at the Llanberis pit stop!
As I scuttled into Llanberis at around 2am I was once again chuckling to myself. I was greeted by a load of hooped glow sticks around the support van with Rave music blasting out and Gaynor, Clive and Tracy wearing day-glo leg warmers and skirts (although I think Clive opted out of the Skirt wearing) ha. Jon Whilock was also ready and waiting but wasn’t as keen on the day-glo look. Tracy had convinced him to at least wear a glow stick which he did and duly covered up with his sleeve. Once again the pit stop crew were amazing. Iain had run on ahead to let them know I was coming so everything was ready, food, drink and my own rave T-shirt. Just before Noddy Holder started to blare out of the music system I was off on my way to ascend the Glyders leg. My support runners for this leg were Jon, Clive, Iain for the first few ascents, and also joining us was Sarah Ridgeway and Brian Carr. We were missing Bryan though, no one seemed to know where he was (I later found out he was in the car park around the corner from us and wondering where we were!). I remember chatting to Sarah saying that we had another collie coming along to join her and Iain’s 2 dogs for this leg. But alas Hollie the Collie was going to miss the nightlife on the Glyders.
The Glyders leg of the Paddy route was really my make or break leg. I knew that if I could get through this leg fine I would complete the round. It’s never been my quickest of the legs when I was doing the
Glyders recce and those rocks!
recce’s. I don’t think even when I was fresh I ever made it from Glyder Fawr to Glyder Fach in the scheduled 16 minutes. Obviously the dodgy ankle going into a night section over probably the most rock infested of the Paddy legs didn’t help; I knew I wasn’t going to be fast and I was glad to have the extra time I had gained earlier on in the bag. About half way up the first ascent to Elidir Fach tiredness also started to
Blah!
affect me. I think the combination of the exertions so far plus the changes from my usual sleep pattern zone were beginning to build up. It was also around this time that my ability to eat was beginning to reduce. I have a vivid memory of trying to eat a cheese and onion sandwich on the way up Elidir Fach and not being able to. In the end I managed to discard the filling and just eat the bread and butter. It was a bit of a task so I decided to switch to gels for the rest of the leg. Clive then became my right hand Gel man. At the base of each summit ascent he would hand me a gel already open and ready to consume. John was back into time keeping duties whilst Sarah and Iain were undertaking the navigation. There was still quite a bit of swirling night cloud around as we ascended Elidir Fawr. But there was no hesitation with the navigation and we were on the descending path from Elidir Fawr with no problem heading towards Mynedd Perfedd. Despite my looming tiredness and my impression of Tom Hanks in “Big” when he tastes Cavier (except in my case it was the onion), I had only lost 2 minutes on the first two peaks of this leg over a 72minute period. However, looking at my schedule afterwards I then went onto lose 10 minutes over a period which should have taken me 27minutes! Looking back now I would say that the short ascents to Mynedd Perfect and Foel Goch were my lowest energy points. I was also being very cautious about my ankle. I knew I was tired and that is normally when my concentration levels drop and accidents happen. In no uncertain terms Jon told me at the summit of Foel Goch I was losing time and that I
Up in the Glyders at sunrise. Photo Sarah Ridgeway
needed to get my act back together again. He was right, so I decided it was time for my ipod. I probably lost a couple of more minutes with faffing about trying to unwind my ear plugs and getting it set up but pretty soon I was skipping along at a reasonable click dancing around rocks to the sound of “Korns Greatest Hits”. I ascended Y Garn only being a minute of my schedule time. I was now feeling more energised and raring to go for the rest of the leg. So Jon, Clive Sarah and myself pressed onto Glyder Fawr (Iain had dropped back done to Nant Peris at this point to get some well-deserved sleep). Sarah took us up to the summit of Glyder Fawr with a perfect line. Dawn was also upon us at this point. I made my way to the summit as some spectacular views of the Glyders unfolded before me. I felt my spirit lift as the early morning sun shone upon us.
Summiting Glyder Fach with my rave shirt still on
 photo Sarah Ridgeway
The summit was bagged with a 2minute gain on the schedule. 20 minutes later we had also summated Glyder Fach. It was 4 minutes slower than the schedule I was using but I was not going to worry about that as during my earlier recce runs I normally took at least 18minutes. Just one more summit to go; Tryfan. I grabbed an extra gel from Clive at the top of Glyder Fach scree slope descent in anticipation of the Tryfan ascent. I was not descending fast due to being over cautious about my ankle and although I found using sticks beneficial from a support perspective I found that they did hamper my descending speed. Looking back though it may have been a good thing and reduced the amount of impact damage my quads were receiving. I liked the ascent up Tryfan.  The combination of a cool temperature and a scrambling ascent, allowing me to use my upper body strength, meant that I only lost 2 minutes on the scheduled time. I think all of that was lost on my cautious scree slope descent from the previous summit of Glyder Fach. The descent
View of Tryfan from Ogwen that morning.
from Tryfan however was fuelled with a little excitement of reaching my “Rock” roadside stop. I trotted down to the Ogwen layby to see Dave and Gaynors trusty Bongo van with a massive skull and crossbones flag flying and once again some rock music blaring out. It may have been 6.30am but it was time to rock!
Bongo & skull & Bones Rock stop!
I think I had ate all of Daves spag bol by then so it was a more traditional breakfast of porridge and a nice cup of tea. Within what seemed like a very short time Noddy Holder was heared on the music system….eeek time to get a move on. The Carneddau leg had my name written on it and it was time to get the job finished. So I set off with Tracy, Dale, Dave, & Mike. First up was Pen yr Ole Wen, one of my favourite little scrambles in Snowdonia. I can’t say I was up it at a fast pace as I could feel the tiredness beginning to bite into the muscles. I remember get a little shove from Tracy at one of the climbing points as if to give me a little nudge to get a shuffle on. It worked I put my head down and concentrated on getting to the summit. I knew once I was up I had completed most of the ascent for that leg then and it would be reasonable running after that. About three quarter of the way up the ascent the weather changed and a small low system moved in. Within about 5 minutes our view had been cut to about 25 yards due to low level cloud base. The associated drizzle and plummet in temperature meant that we all got our jackets on, but despite this we still managed to reach the summit in 57minutes, only 1 minute off schedule. We grouped at
Albert congratulates his Dad at the finish!
the summit and headed off to the next peaks. The lack of visibility did not present any problems over this section. I had ran it that often I was beginning to recognize certain rocks on the trod’s. There are only a couple of key turns to get right and as long as you get them right it’s a fairly straightforward leg.  However, the coldness and rain made the going slow on a few of the descents due to the rocks being extremely greasy and slippy. We lost about 15minutes in the middle of this leg due to the conditions, but this was fine as the end was in sight. Approaching the last ascent my acknowledgement of completing the round was sinking in the weather started to brighten. The cloud was starting to lift and it was warming up as the sun gained height in the sky.  I felt energised (easy to do when you aren’t carrying anything!) and pushed on towards Pen
Happy me at the end :)
Llithrig y Wrach. I got to the summit and turned to start the descent but realized a combination of my energy burst and the team getting waterproofs off we had spread out. Dale’s experience once again shown through as he halted us all till we had regrouped. The descent from this point is one of those funny lines that is only on a minor trod and if missed you can end up getting way laid. So it was important for us all to do the descent together. The descent is great fun and we all really enjoyed the run down to the main road into Capel Curig. The cloud lifted and the sun shone down on us on the last few glorious miles. We all got to the road with big grins on our faces. Tracy then shouted out, “Right Ant, lead us home”, so of we set along the final kilometre on the road traveling at a fair pace (Tracy’s Garmin registering 6min mile pace!). We came into Capel to be greeted by a large banner across the traffic Island saying “Finish” it across it and everyone cheering myself and support home. It was a fantastic and welcome sight. Within a minute Gaynor had produced champagne and beers. The final black tie road stop began, but this time with no threat of Noddy Holder interruptions!
Champagne & Black tie finish!


The completion of my Paddy Round is without a doubt one of my proudest moments of life. There is also no doubt in my mind I could not have undertaken it with the help of all my friends that were there to help me. So thank you George Bate, Bryan Carr, Dale Colclough, Shane Goodrich (& Dickie), David Harrison, Clive Hevey, Mike Perry, Gaynor Prior, David
Prior, Simon Reed, Iain Ridgeway, Sarah Ridgeway, and Jonathon Whilock. Last but no means least a very special thank you for Tracy Dean for accompanying me on many, many, many runs over the route, and for her support not only over the weekend but on the months of buildup beforehand. I raise my glass and say
George, Simon & Dale.

“Cheers!” to you all and my father for putting me back on the trod again. 

That one was for you Dad J
Leg Start and Finish Point Summit Split Actual Yay Scheduled  Actual
Time S/Time Boo Time Time
1  Moelwynion Capel Curig - start 0 11-00 11-00
1 Moel Siabod 58 56 yay 11-58 11:56
Support Runners 2 Clogwyn Bwlch y Maen 18 16 yay 12-16 12:12
Jon Whilock 3 Carnedd y Cribau 10 10 yay 12-26 12:22
George Bate 4 Cerrig Cochion 38 37 yay 13-04 12:59
Dave Harrison 5 Moel Meirch 14 14 yay 13-18 13:13
Brian Carr 6 Ysgafell Wen   22 22 yay 13-40 13:35
Holly the Collie 7 Mynydd Llynau yr Cwn   4 4 yay 13-44 13:39
8 (Unnamed top) 7 6 yay 13-51 13:45
9 Moel Druman   10 9 yay 14-01 13:54
From Quarry 10 Allt Fawr 14 11 yay 14-15 14:05
Simon Reed  11 Moel Ddu    39 35 yay 14-54 14:40
Dale Colclough 12 Moel yr Hydd 9 9 yay 15-03 14:49
Mike Perry 13 Moelwyn Bach   31 27 yay 15-34 15:16
14 Craigysgafn    13 13 yay 15-47 15:29
15 Moelwyn Mawr  10 16 Boo 15-57 15:45
16 Cnicht 52 48 Yay 16-49 16:33
Aberglaslyn - arrive Beach Party Time 50 55 Boo 17-39 17:28
Road Support Gaynor 15 10 yay
2  Eifdnydd Aberglaslyn - depart 17-54 17:38
17 Bryn Banog 50 45 Yay 18-44 18:23
Support Runners 18 Moel Hebog   34 36 Boo 19-18 18:59
Tracy Dean 19 Moel yr Ogof      20 18 yay 19-38 19:17
Dale Colclough 20 Moel Lefn 12 11 yay 19-50 19:28
Simon Reed  21 Y Gyrn   24 26 Boo 20-14 19:54
George Bate 22 Mynydd y Ddwy Elor   12 11 Yay 20-26 20:04
23 Trum y Ddysgl       27 24 Yay 20-53 20:28
24 Mynydd Drws y Coed 9 8 Yay 21-02 20:36
25 Y Garn   12 13 Boo 21-14 20:49
Pont Caergors - arrive Disco Party Time 26 31 Boo 21-40 21:18
Road Support Gaynor 15 11 yay
3  Snowdon Pont Caergors - depart 21-55 21:29
26 Craig Wen   57 39 YAY 22-52 22:08
Support Runners 27 Yr Aran 19 16 yay 23-11 22:24
28 Cribau Tregalan   55 54 yay 0-06 23:18
Iain Ridgeway 29 Snowdon 18 16 yay 0-24 23:34
Shane & Richard 30 Crib Y Ddysgl 11 14 boo 0-35 23:48
31 Moel Cynghorion 49 44 yay 1-24 00:32
32 Foel Goch 23 24 boo 1-47 00:56
33 Foel Gron 16 17 boo 2-03 01:13
34 Moel Eilio 16 14 yay 2-19 01:27
Llanberis - arrive Rave Party Time 36 36 yay 2-55 02:03
Road Support Gaynor 15 12 yay
4  Glyders Llanberis - depart 3-11 02:15
35 Elidir Fach 55 57 boo 4-05 03:12
Support Runners 36 Elidir Fawr 17 17 yay 4-22 03:29
Jon Whilock 37 Mynydd Perfedd 15 20 boo 4-37 03:49
Bryan Carr 38 Foel Goch 12 17 boo 4-49 04:06
Clive Hevey 39 Y Garn 22 23 boo 5-11 04:29
Iain Ridgeway* 40 Glyder Fawr 35 33 yay 5-46 05:02
Sarah Ridgeway 41 Glyder Fach  16 20 boo 6-02 05:22
42 Tryfan 35 37 boo 6-37 05:59
Llym Ogwen - arrive  Bikers/rockers Party Time 30 28 yay 7-07 06:27
Road Support Gaynor 15 10 yay
5  Carneddau Llym Ogwen -depart 7-22 06:37
Support Runners 43 Pen yr Ole Wen 56 57 boo 8-18 07:34
Dave Prior 44 Carnedd Dafydd 16 13 yay 8-34 07:47
Tracy Dean 45 Carnedd Llewelyn 30 37 boo 9-04 08:24
Dale Colclough 46 Pen yr Helgi Du 26 34 boo 9-30 08:58
Mike Perry 47 Pen Llithrig y Wrach 23 22 yay 9-53 09:20
Capel Curig - finish Black Tie Breakfast Time 37 34 yay 10-30 09:54
Ants Mobile O7968788009
Running Time 0 Total 22:11
Rest Time 0 mins 00:43
Total 0 0 22:54
Notes
Leg 1 Ermm by eck it was hot wasn’t it, around about 26-27 degrees C I was told. Hurrah for Nuuns. Cheers to Dave Harrison for that great line of Allt Fawr
Thanks to Gaynor for meeting us with orange juice at the start of the road after Cnicht, it was worth the time loss :)
Leg2 Ermm yep I was a bit fast on Bryn Banog, sorry folks.
Lost quite a bit on the run in but that was me being over protective of the ankle as I did tweak it a little over that grassy descent.
Leg 3 Yep I pretty much think I've got a good line to Craig wen. We were talking all the way so no silly speed was needed.
The clag came in as we were heading up to Snowdons summit. Cheers to Iain for great navigation in it to and off Crib y Ddysgl
Leg 4 Ta to Sarah and Iain for great nav on this leg. I lost time mainly on the descents due to my ankle phobia, although I did gain on the Tryfan descent.
Leg 5 Pen yr Ole Wen was a tough climb for me; thanks to Tracy for constantly feeding me the Nuuns out of her not very light rucksack. 
The last part of the ascent took us into cloud and light rain which stayed until the last summit, so alas no great views for the last leg.
BIG THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO SUPPORTED ME. YOU ARE ALL SUPERSTARS AND CONTRIBUTED TO A LIFE ENHANCING FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE :)


2 comments:

  1. Inspirational stuff Ant. 2.5 years to write up must be some sort of record but well worth it. Thanks for sharing.
    Good luck for the Spine.
    Simon

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  2. haha yes indeed Simon. I think a lot of people could have written a novel, had it published and turned into a film in the time its takenme to write this :P Unfortunately my luck at the Spine only lasted 4 hours, i then sustained a bad fall and damaged my hip. I tried to carry on but covering only 6 miles in another 4 hours brought it home to me my race was done. Gutted, but thats the way it goes sometimes.

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