Salomon Trail Half Marathon Wales
19 June 2018 - By Scott Darney
A third of last years Wales outing were back at Coed y Brenin for the Trail Marathon Wales 2018 this weekend, tackling the Snowdonian mountains in more typical British weather than last years hot and sunny conditions.
James Kennerley was back for his 4th year in a row, leading the 5.5 hour drive to our home for the weekend – Dolgellau, Wales – along with James Crisp, Scott Darney and Bill Smythe all back for their 2nd attempt. As the journey was not recorded on Strava, we cannot conclude as to whether it was a PB or not.
The weather forecast predicted that it would rain but it would stop around the start time of 10am, however the break never materialised and we set off in in wet conditions. There is also a marathon option that starts at 9am.
The race starts with a large climb, has a large climb in the middle and finishes with an even larger climb. Luckily, all the climbing meant that there was also a lot of descending and the four of us had incredible fun sprinting down the technical trails through the forests and overtaking those that had the beating of us on the uphill sections.
Pacing is key in a race that is so undulating, but it’s also very difficult to get right without a little bit of luck.
Scott Darney lucked out on his pacing and managed to finish strong with a time of 1:42:14 and claimed a top 10 spot in the Male Open category. James Crisp also improved on last years effort to storm home and claim the MV40 3rd place, and 15th Male Open with a time of 1:44:40. Bill Smythe made the biggest progress by running the course without an injury this year and came home in 2:01:40. James Kennerley also made strides on last years time and achieved his best time in 2 years with a 2:22:25 finish.
An important lesson was learnt from the previous year and the evening curry was booked in advance and consumed nice and early, giving us time to sample Dolgellau’s finest beers!
This is a great race, if a little brutal, in a stunning part of the country and next years date of 15th June 2019 is already pencilled in for a WRC boys outing.
Name | Time | Comments |
---|---|---|
Scott Darney | 01:42:14 | (10th Open Cat) |
James Crisp | 01:44:40 | (3rd MV40) |
Bill Smythe | 02:01:40 | |
James Kennerley | 02:22:25 |
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