26th Snowdonia Marathon - Race report
Wet'n'wild...
As the heavens opened and the wind let rip, the spirit wasnt dampened for those taking part in the Snowdonia Marathon this weekend. MST were there, cold, wet and miserable, to bring you the thrills and not too many spills.
Yes, there was another marathon taking place this weekend that was slightly worse affected by the clement October weather in the north and west of the UK – and the OMM certainly got more column inches. But the marathon to be at this weekend was in the north west of Wales.
In its 26th year this race always commands a place in the calendar of those seeking that little bit of extra spice in their marathon running, plus with the last four miles going firstly off-road, uphill to 1200ft at Bwlch y Groes (yes there really was a tea station there!) and then a rapid and painful descent into the village of Llanberis, that kind of terrain and elevation definitely qualifies the race for coverage on this site!
In conditions that could only be described a ‘challenging’ (60 mile an hour gusts and over 2 inches of rain were recorded at Capel Curig) the runners really earned their t-shirts at this one. Times were certainly slower than in other years but with Italy-based chef and winner Martin Cox describing the conditions as the “worst I have run in”, it was more about survival than racing for most.
Leading from the gun Cox opened up a sizable lead by Pen Y Pass, some 4 miles into the race, only to be caught be the chasers at 10 miles as he stopped to adjust his shoes! A lead group of four then used each other for the next 10 miles and it wasnt until the Bwlch y Groes climb out of Waunfawr at 21 miles that Cox once more got away. He kept the lead to the finish in Llanberis to win by 13 seconds from Eryri’s Rob Samuel.
Cox was comfortably clear at 9 miles
In the womens race things werent so close as the Belle Vue Racer Alison Sedman was a clear winner of near 4 minutes. The Manchester athlete becomes the fourth female to have won the race three times.
Alison Sedman - female winner
There is a good piece on the Beeb site on barefoot runner Yanni Papastavrou too. The research scientist nicely summed up the atmosphere, “The friendliness here was unbelievable, not just towards me but to everyone taking part. I certainly hope to come back and try it again.” and will no doubt be applying the E45 for the next few days!
Yanni Papastavrou showing a dirty set of heels...
Exclusive Snowdonia Marathon MST Podcast to come later this week.
Full results here and some great images courtesy of those nice people at the Snowdonia Marathon below and here
Soaked, but happy!
Race winner Martin Cox
Try as he might, Cox never caught the 'moke'
Iain Ridgway (second right) ran strongly for 13th
