Fron Four Fell race

A new fell race to put in your calendar for next year, the Fron Four, organised by Mike Blake. The race includes the Tuesday night fell races of Moel Tryfan and Mynydd Mawr, with two more checkpoints added, making a total of 13.5kM, and a 828m ascent. The race started from Y Fron, after registering at Ysgol Bron y Foel for a 1pm start.

First off the juniors, who were running about 2kM, with a quick presentation before the senior start. The previous sunny days in North Wales had been really nice, with temperatures in the early 20’s. Today, it was cold, drizzly and the cloud was down to below summit height. Ideal for me, as I prefer the colder weather for running, but a possible nightmare for navigation.


Over 30 lined up for the start, and as the gun went, we all headed off for Moel Tryfan at a height of 427m. A 1.8km run along the quarry roads, before starting the small ascent to the summit saw me in 8th place. As I ran with Paul Jenkinson, we split up after about 3km Paul decided to bare left, as I went right. As I started the uphill climb to Mynydd Mawr, I saw Paul to my left. My route seemed to be slightly quicker, but he passed me anyway on the way to summit! As I reached the summit of Mynydd Mawr, some hardy marshals (Iwan Morton, Dilwyn and Sioned), awaited us, and who directed me to the next checkpoint. A miss calculation on my part saw me going in a slightly in the wrong direction, but only added about 200m to the route. After I reached checkpoint 2, I turned around and headed for Foel Rhydd about 2kM away. From here, it was back to the summit of Mynydd Mawr before the fast ascent down to the finish.

I was 10th on the way down, over a minute behind Martin Cliffe. As I approached the finish, I'd managed to catch Martin, and passed him for 9th position with only meters to go.

Great race, despite the low cloud and low visibility. Some good hospitality at the school later with a panad and biscuits, and an Easter egg for coming home first junior and overall 9th place in a time of 1 hour 23min and 18 seconds.

Report by Eryri Harriers can be found here, with some photos by SportpicturesCymru here, and Peter Douglas here.

Kuota K Factor

I received my new bike last week, courtesy of Gareth and Matt of Revolution Bikes in Bangor. Over the past two years, their support has been invaluable, allowing me trouble free cycling, both for training, riding in the local time trials and competing at triathlon.

The new bike is a triathlon specific time trial bike, which I used for the first time on Sunday with fellow triathlete Arthur Connell. I took my new Kuota K Factor to recce the route of the Pwllheli Triathlon, and also have a go at the 5kM run course, along the sea front in the town.

The bike felt comfortable and really fast. Hopefully, this will translate to faster cycling times in my triathlons during the year..watch this space!

I also tried my new Inov 8 road x 255 whilst trying out the run course at Pwllheli. The new shoes were an instant hit, being very comfortable and light, a great road shoe which I might even try in my next triathlon.

Snow Training

The snow has hit hard over the mountains of Snowdonia, and although I'm unable to get out of my village to train at the local track, it is still possible to go for a run!

I've had a shoulder injury over the past few weeks, which has stopped my early morning swims, so I've been able to fit in some more running.....even in the snow.

Using my Roclite™ 312 GTX , I started on my four mile run. Even though it was cold, the shoes kept my feet warm and dry, and along with my Inov 8 Zip Tech tee, there was no issues with the cold.

Moel Eilio