Running Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 50km

A great day out in the Welsh mountains feat. surprising heat and the realisation that maybe ultra running is just quite hard

Standing on the start line of pretty much every race I’ve ever done, I’ve had a very clear vision in my mind for how it’s going to pan out. That vision usually involves me coasting through in a sort of dreamy flow state, gliding up hills and bouncing down them. My pack never chafes, my feet never hurt and I never retch trying to swallow down a mini malt loaf. I manage to properly smile rather than just grimace at the marshals and I cross the finish line feeling like I could run the whole thing again - but also happily satisfied that I tried my hardest. I definitely never consider that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if I broke my ankle and had a good excuse to stop running.

In an unsurprising turn of events, the reality rarely has much in common with this fantasy and last Saturday’s 50km run around the Welsh mountains for Ultra-Trail Snowdonia was no different (especially where the malt loaf was concerned). It was also actually 56km.

I entered UTS back in November, mainly because it’s the…