Preseli Beast Bach May 2016

My first race for 18 months and a brutal looking race at that. But, it was a running race, I love running, it's unlikely I am going to die whilst running (although I came to think otherwise during the race), so I don't get anxious unlike in triathlons where the swim section is my psychological battle because of my fear of drowning. 

It was a late morning start time so nothing to early and the drive across was beautiful. I had decided to wear my marathoner camelbak for the first time to see how it felt ready for my longer marathon training runs. I know you shouldn't try anything new on race day but when I tried it on it fitted so snuggly that I knew it wouldn't be an issue, and it wasn't. 

I knew this race was going to be tough. It's 2000ft of climbing over 11 miles with "the beast" featuring as the highlight, basically a hike up a pretty big mountain over grassy terrain!!! I had seen the profile, but didn't know what to expect really in terms of terrain. I wore my trail shoes and the weather was decent so I had shorts and t-shirt on, with a buff to kerb the bed hair!! 

The start/finish was in a little village square and the locals certainly now how to put on a show with drums being banged and even a little golf cart lead out with hooters and sirens! The sound of those drums as I emerged from the trails on the way back was a welcome sound as this race was brutal! You had your race pack beforehand and I'd bought a t-shirt, as I love a good t-shirt to show off the race achievements, and a slate coaster. I still feel like a cheat getting these before the race has been finished, but then it is a motivator to make sure you complete to be sure you can make use of them I guess, lol. 

So the hooter sounded and off we went, hundreds of footfalls in tandem, up the road out of the village and then right onto the trails. Into a forest section which was fast but potentially a fall hazard as there were tree roots a plenty and little boardwalks that were going to be slippery if wet. After about 1k the race then started, up, and up, and up. This was pretty much a constant theme, lol. As it was the first ascent was a steep grassy single track and unfortunately if the person in front of you stopped to walk you had to also. I can't say I was ready for walk then but you had no other choice until you found a spot to pass. 

The terrain of the race was a mixed bag, forest fire roads, wooded trails, grassy single track ascents and descents, boggy marshland that landed you shin deep in mud, and then proper fell racing up almost vertical mountains on grass that required you to walk and distract yourself from the screaming in your calves! The final 3 miles was a very fast descent off the mountain followed by a return through the wooded trip hazard and then back out the trail to the village drummers! Coming into this race I wasn't sure if I was race ready. I was fit, but having not raced for so long and speed work having been minimal I didn't know what to expect of myself. 

As it was I can't say I "enjoyed" the race. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, especially on a sunny day, but you didn't dare look up because the footing was so uncertain that you could trip at any moment. There had been a long hilly on a forest fire road that I was determined to run all of it even as others started to walk but then rounding the corner and seeing a line of racers in front of you walking up a bloody big mountain that seemed to go on for at least a mile was demoralising, as was the way my calves said "no thank you very much" to the walked ascent due to it's beyond steep gradient! Then when you got to the top of that you had a little respite before it pitched up again. Thankfully though, at the top of that final climb over rough grassy terrain was the start of the descent and boy was it fast! If you'd fallen then you'd have landed a good 10 feet in front of you I'm sure such was the slope down and the hazards underfoot! 

Pretty beautiful right!

 Throughout the race I'd been too-ing and fro-ing with another girl and on that final pitch up I had just re-overtaken her. Thankfully, on that descent, I left her for dust and I left nothing out there on the way back in, overtaking people on the fast single track section, and then holding off others in the last section through the forest and out into the village. As it was a guy approached me after the race to say he had kept me as a marker point down the mountain by about 400m but that I had pulled away from him so he couldn't catch me. When I got back to the village with about 400m to go I was running as hard as I could to be sure no-one caught me and crossing that line was one of the most welcome reliefs ever!

Thank f**k!!!!

As it was I was 11th female so I didn't do too shabby at all! The food on offer back in the village hall was amazing, although I can never really stomach much after a race, so a nice free cup-cake did me nicely rather than the cawl that everyone else was tucking in to! A change in the toilets as i was stinking was a welcome relief and then after watching for a while and catching up with run4all club members I made the trip back home. All in all a good day's work! Can't say I enjoyed it...would I do it again??? Now I know what to expect maybe, but at the time I would have said no. Still, a cracking race, and great preparation for hilly races to come...