Dolgellau 5

The annual Dolgellau 5 mile race took place on Saturday. Race started at 1.30pm, so no rush, but starting early enough to have a look at the course, register and warm up. These local races are great as they are a good test but also a good social event as everybody seems to know each other.

As the field congregated at the start line, Tim Davies, 2010 British Fell Running Champion, also lined up. The gun went off, and Tim sped up the first steep hill, using his superior mountain strength to gain a good lead by the time he reached the first mile. By this time I was in 6th position.

I was wearing my Inov 8 Road x 233's for the first time, making the transition from the 255's. The 233's are lighter, and I felt comfortable running in them.

Another steep hill, before the course levelled off and then headed down hill until I reached around 5.5k, and then it levelled off to the finish. By this time, I'd gained one position, and was up to 5th, but with 3 seconds behind the 4th runner. The course then followed the A470, until it turned left following the road into Dolgellau. Turning right, the course went under the main road, before going over the river and joining the cycle path to the finish. By this time, I was up to 4th, with Alex Lanz, the junior runner from Meirionydd Running Club in 3rd.

400m to go, which seemed like a lot longer. There was no time to catch up and get 3rd place, so I settled for 4th, in a time of 29:44. The 233’s coped really well, and I’ll be definitely be using them again.

Race pictures can be seen on SportpicturesCymru.