BREAKING THE BACK OF WALES
Runner reveals what it’s like to take part in gruelling mountain challenge
WALES is a country full of beautiful, mountainous and often treacherous scenery.
The stunning surroundings stretch from the top of the country down to the South Wales coast.
A steep spine through Wales, it’s normally viewed from a distance with few trekking along the mountains.
But for five days an elite group of runners take on the toughest mountain race in the world along the route through the country.
Legendary for its difficulty amongst runners, the brutal Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race is 315km long, with more than 15,500m of ascent across wild, trackless, and remote terrain.
By comparison a normal marathon is slightly more than 42km.
In the 2019 race it started at Conwy Castle and ended at the other end of the country in Llandeilo.
Now one Welsh runner has revealed exactly what it’s like to take part in the stunning race.
Keen for a new challenge and inspired by a love of mountain running from a childhood often spent in Snowdonia, Anwen Darlington took part in the race in 2019.
The runner, from Llandudno, was fifth in the female runners after finishing the race in 56 hours and 54 minutes.
Anwen said: “It felt like a whirlwind of a week. It’s a really exciting race in that you are covering a huge distance under your own steam through some really fantastic countryside. However, I’ve never ran a race with so many highs and lows.
“The terrain and landscape that you run through is beautiful, you meet so many lovely people and the team around you are brilliant. On the flip side, my feet have never been so sore, my stomach such a mess, or been quite so exhausted before in my life.”
The race is split into five days with runners camping overnight once they’ve passed through that day’s checkpoint.
Organisers said in the 2019 race the average daily distance was 63km and the average daily height gain was 3,100m.
The organisers said: “By modern ultrarunning standards these are not huge distances individually, but please do not underestimate the cumulativedifficulty AND bear in mind that much of the route is across wild, remote and
totally trackless ground. It is very rough underfoot. In 2012, one seasoned 100-mile ultra runner stated that any day of the Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race was tougher than any of the 100 milers he’d done... and he’s done over 100 of them!”
The fastest participants run for around eight to nine hours a day and the slowest, who finish the race, run or walk for around 13 to 15 hours a day.
With such intense days, food is highly important to the runners. All of the meals are provided and are vegetarian, high in calories and a source of protein.
It’s all served in a dedicated catering tent – but runners do have to do their own washing up.
Anwen said: “There was a good variety of food at the overnight camps. It was a different meal each night, think cottage pie, lasagna, pasta bake etc and there was a good selection for breakfast time too.
“Lots of tea and coffee and hot chocolate kept the thirst at bay, and there was plenty of cake for pudding.
“Unfortunately, I had some really bad stomach issues from day two onwards at the camps so sadly didn’t get to sample as much as I would have liked.
“Out on the hill you are expected to be self sufficient. I thought I had a good variety of food but by Day 5 I was so very bored of flapjack, caramel waffles and pepperami! One highlight was stopping in Machynlleth at a Co-op where all I wanted was chocolate milk and Bounties!”
As with any long-distance race, preparation is key.
Anwen, who lives in Dundee, said she had around a year to prepare, and had never run an ultra-marathon before taking on the Dragon’s Back.
She said: “I’d never run an ultra before, let alone five in five days but was pretty happy running about in the hills.
“I mostly used weekends for getting out in the hills and built up to doing back to back runs of four to six hours.
“In the two months before the race I was practising what I was going to eat and getting used to increased time on my feet in the Scottish mountains.
“I only recce’d a section of day one (the Snowdon circuit) so lots of exploring certainly made me improve my navigation skills and confidence as I had lots of excuses to go and visit new places to run and explore.”
“Alongside running I tried to keep some basic strength work going and did a fair bit of cycling. I did a couple of practice races; a twoday ultra and the Great Lakeland three-day just to see how I’d cope running long back-toback days.
“I’ve been lucky in that I’ve spent years running about in the hills and orienteering, so I think that stood me in pretty good stead for the race.”
The race itself is a huge operation to organise, with support workers helping to make sure runners get to the finish line.
Runners’ overnight kit bags are transported to each night’s camp by the organisers and they operate resupply points.
One challenge of the race is that the route it not marked and runners can often choose their own path.
Some parts are mandatory but in 2019 the majority of the route was “recommended”.
Participants are tracked digitally in realtime and any corner cutting on the mandatory sections will be penalised.
Despite all the difficulties Anwen recommended the race to other runners.
She said: “I’ve never done anything like it. I’ve done quite a few long hill/fell races across the UK and really enjoyed these.
“Over the past few years I’ve also done some skyraces abroad and loved them, but at least they’re over in a few hours rather than a few days.
“Dabbling in mountain marathons are probably the most similar races I’ve done to the Dragon’s Back, but they’re only two days.
“The main differences are how important you fuel yourself and recover. You can struggle through a few hours or a couple of days picking at snacks, but for 200 miles you really need to concentrate on what you’re eating and how you choose to spend your time in the camp.
“Your mentality and how you approach times when you feel awful is also a huge factor. Over such a long distance you can guarantee you will have moments where you wonder why on earth you thought this was a good idea and really doubt that you will get to the finish. Get a strategy in place for these moments before they happen.
“Finally, I’ve done lots of fun races in some really awesome places, but this is the biggest adventure that I’ve ever done – just fantastic.”
The first race took place in 1992, with the second not happening until 2012.
Organisers recently announced that after being a biennial event, the race from 2021 will take place annually.
The next race will be held in September 2021 and entries open in September 2020.