Rotary Across Wales Walk. All timings approximate.
Apologies for the inaccuracies - I wasn't paying much attention to the navigation and my brain has blanked out nearly everything linked to discomfort.
Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0159hrs
Where am I and why am I awake?
Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0200hrs
Why is my phone beeping? Oh. Blast. Where did I stash those Geobars? And the brioche? And the isotonic? Is there coffee?
On a bus in Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0300hrs
Team Feed Me! met up in the foyer of the hotel at 2.30am and we walked to the pick up point, passing groups of young revellers who hadn’t been to bed yet. I can’t believe there are so many people in running and walking kit at this hour of the weekend! Nobody’s chatting much – I think we’re all mostly asleep and trying to catch an extra few minutes’ worth of shuteye before the action begins. I eyed the proliferation of walking-poles with trepidation. There would be a lot of careful dodging to do at the start.
Glandyfi, Saturday June 23rd 0400hrs, 0 miles
We piled off the bus and were directed up a lane. Have we started? Yes? Suppose we ought to run then. Not many runners in this event. A chap in front of us and a couple in Cancer Research vests set off like the clappers but we chose a rather sedate pace since we expected to be on our feet for at least 10 hours and wanted our feet to function afterwards. Soon we were going uphill and this meant walking. Tarmac gave way to forestry track and eventually fields. After a minor navigational blip, we were at checkpoint 1 at Nantyfyda, in a farmyard. By this time my right foot was giving serious gyp, so I stopped for ibuprofen, water, fruit and a shoe adjustment, then we were on our way again along Glyndwr’s Way. Checkpoint 2 was at Glaslyn but I may have been sleepwalking most of the way there. My memory blanked until…
Staylittle Village Hall, Saturday June 23rd, 0630hrs, 15 miles
Breakfast! Cup of tea, bacon, egg, toast, beans, sausage … Just what I needed! And I had a yogurt drink just to be healthy. I needed clean socks as the previous section was wet so had a quick change. Bliss despite the lack of dry trainers! We met the fast chap here (who had given himself a bit of a detour) and stopped for a decent rest here before setting off for Trefeglwys and checkpoint 4. Most of the section between breakfast at Staylittle and lunch at Llandinam is road. We followed our strategy of walking the uphills and running the flats and the downhills, with occasional uphill runs when we could clearly see a downhill coming soon.
Llandinam Village Hall, Saturday June 23rd, 1030hrs, 26 miles
Lunch! Bit early, but welcome all the same. I wish all long distance events were as well supported! The catering was magnificent and served with a smile. Bread, ham, pasta salad, burgers if we wanted them, fruit… and more ibuprofen as the first lot was wearing off. We met some of the other runners again here and stopped for a decent rest. The next section was uphill, hence walking, so we ate plenty too.
Bryndadlau, Saturday June 23rd, 1230hrs, 30 miles
I’ve never been so close to a wind farm before! A bit of boggy ground – at least we got over it before it was churned up by many feet – led to soggy socks again. Soon we were on the track through the wind farm, with the turbines whup-whupping away overhead. This section was easily runnable even on tiring legs. We turned onto a narrow, undulating tarmac road and followed a run-walk strategy to Devil’s Elbow and checkpoint 8. Beyond this, farm tracks took us to Black Gate, checkpoint 9, 36 miles in. The next section, through many farm gates, was again runnable in sections but by this time changing from walking to running needed mental preparation! On the downhill sections, tired quads made braking difficult and my main strategy was to let gravity do the work and just hope I could make my legs turn over quickly enough to keep up. A recipe for facial gravel? I got away with it this time! After checkpoint 10, at a picnic area just off the B4368, the route is through Ceri forest then turns on to a road, mainly downhill with about 100m uphill at the very end. We pelted down the downhill and my quads burned. Never has a final uphill been so welcome or so comfortable!
The Anchor Inn, Anchor, Saturday 24th June, 1440hrs, 42 miles
Yes indeed – the finish is in the bar! Only three people finished before us.
Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Sunday June 24th, 0800hrs
Hey, my legs feel OK! Hang on, I’ll just get out of bed….
…OWWWWW!
Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0159hrs
Where am I and why am I awake?
Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0200hrs
Why is my phone beeping? Oh. Blast. Where did I stash those Geobars? And the brioche? And the isotonic? Is there coffee?
On a bus in Newtown, Saturday June 23rd 0300hrs
Team Feed Me! met up in the foyer of the hotel at 2.30am and we walked to the pick up point, passing groups of young revellers who hadn’t been to bed yet. I can’t believe there are so many people in running and walking kit at this hour of the weekend! Nobody’s chatting much – I think we’re all mostly asleep and trying to catch an extra few minutes’ worth of shuteye before the action begins. I eyed the proliferation of walking-poles with trepidation. There would be a lot of careful dodging to do at the start.
Glandyfi, Saturday June 23rd 0400hrs, 0 miles
We piled off the bus and were directed up a lane. Have we started? Yes? Suppose we ought to run then. Not many runners in this event. A chap in front of us and a couple in Cancer Research vests set off like the clappers but we chose a rather sedate pace since we expected to be on our feet for at least 10 hours and wanted our feet to function afterwards. Soon we were going uphill and this meant walking. Tarmac gave way to forestry track and eventually fields. After a minor navigational blip, we were at checkpoint 1 at Nantyfyda, in a farmyard. By this time my right foot was giving serious gyp, so I stopped for ibuprofen, water, fruit and a shoe adjustment, then we were on our way again along Glyndwr’s Way. Checkpoint 2 was at Glaslyn but I may have been sleepwalking most of the way there. My memory blanked until…
Staylittle Village Hall, Saturday June 23rd, 0630hrs, 15 miles
Breakfast! Cup of tea, bacon, egg, toast, beans, sausage … Just what I needed! And I had a yogurt drink just to be healthy. I needed clean socks as the previous section was wet so had a quick change. Bliss despite the lack of dry trainers! We met the fast chap here (who had given himself a bit of a detour) and stopped for a decent rest here before setting off for Trefeglwys and checkpoint 4. Most of the section between breakfast at Staylittle and lunch at Llandinam is road. We followed our strategy of walking the uphills and running the flats and the downhills, with occasional uphill runs when we could clearly see a downhill coming soon.
Llandinam Village Hall, Saturday June 23rd, 1030hrs, 26 miles
Lunch! Bit early, but welcome all the same. I wish all long distance events were as well supported! The catering was magnificent and served with a smile. Bread, ham, pasta salad, burgers if we wanted them, fruit… and more ibuprofen as the first lot was wearing off. We met some of the other runners again here and stopped for a decent rest. The next section was uphill, hence walking, so we ate plenty too.
Bryndadlau, Saturday June 23rd, 1230hrs, 30 miles
I’ve never been so close to a wind farm before! A bit of boggy ground – at least we got over it before it was churned up by many feet – led to soggy socks again. Soon we were on the track through the wind farm, with the turbines whup-whupping away overhead. This section was easily runnable even on tiring legs. We turned onto a narrow, undulating tarmac road and followed a run-walk strategy to Devil’s Elbow and checkpoint 8. Beyond this, farm tracks took us to Black Gate, checkpoint 9, 36 miles in. The next section, through many farm gates, was again runnable in sections but by this time changing from walking to running needed mental preparation! On the downhill sections, tired quads made braking difficult and my main strategy was to let gravity do the work and just hope I could make my legs turn over quickly enough to keep up. A recipe for facial gravel? I got away with it this time! After checkpoint 10, at a picnic area just off the B4368, the route is through Ceri forest then turns on to a road, mainly downhill with about 100m uphill at the very end. We pelted down the downhill and my quads burned. Never has a final uphill been so welcome or so comfortable!
The Anchor Inn, Anchor, Saturday 24th June, 1440hrs, 42 miles
Yes indeed – the finish is in the bar! Only three people finished before us.
Room xx, The Bell Hotel, Newtown, Sunday June 24th, 0800hrs
Hey, my legs feel OK! Hang on, I’ll just get out of bed….
…OWWWWW!
posted by HeebieJeebie on
7/01/2007 04:24:00 pm
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