Beacons Way 100 mile 2023 – Race Report

Date: Saturday 22nd July 2023

Official miles: 102 miles 

Strava says: 106.22 miles

Elevation: 20,154 ft /  6,143 m

Strava says: 26,860 ft /  8,186 m

Weather: Biblical rain, 50+ mph wind

Start: Abergavenny Castle

Finish: Llangagdog Community Centre

Route type: Point to point

Conditions: Very wet and windy

Website link: Beacons Way 100 miles by GB Ultras

Describe the route in three words: wonderful, happy adventure

The Beacons Way 100 was something I desperately wanted to do but couldn’t enter as I was scheduled to work… however, my boss very kindly moved my work dates so I could do it – it was meant to be. I knew the majority of the route from various FKT rounds and races and had recced checkpoint 1 – 3 as well as checkpoint 9 to the end. I’ve done so much training in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) and felt in a great place for this race, I had resolute confidence that I could complete this course. I had a couple of goals, one was to beat the ladies course record of 31h 15m and the other was to go sub 30. I devised a schedule which I felt was very doable and would see me finish in 29 hours and 50 minutes.

I went to race registration on Friday and as I walked through the Abergavenny Castle gates Kev was coming towards me, I couldn’t contain my squeals of excitement and gave him a huge hug. Once I had my number 34, Kev and I did a little pre-race chat for his Aid Station podcast and then I headed to my friend’s house to stay over.

I’ll mention how staying at Francis’ house came about as trust me, it will be relevant! I had only met Francis once before, on the checkpoint 1 – 3 recce which was organised by Glenn Davies from the Running / Hiking the Malvern’s Facebook group. We’d got on really well and during the course of the day Francis had offered me his spare room if ever I needed it. I triple checked at the time as I knew I’d take him up on the offer one day, so that’s where I was the night before this phenomenal adventure of a race. Francis had left me to it after showing me where everything was and then went to stay over at his girlfriend’s.

Race morning and I wasn’t nervous at all. There was nothing to be nervous about. This race was where I needed to be, it was my dream to do it and I couldn’t have been better prepared both physically and mentally. Turns out that race confidence was really going to count today and I had it in bucket loads. Plus the weather was on my side too. I can’t say I love running in bad weather but I know I thrive in it for some reason, take a look at Round Mynydd Du. That was 14 hours solid rain and I just got the job done. I had a feeling the weather would put others off but not me.

I had a list of people I wanted to chat to on the start line and it ended up being a bit of a selfie collecting exercise. I met Tim Woodier who is a friend of Brett and SWT Winter record holder with him. Jaime was there, another friend of Brett’s who’d supported me on the final 25 miles of the Gwynne-Harris Round. I got to meet Ed (Gwynne-Harris) in person and we had a good old natter on the start line. Glenn, Kev, Sophie (Lake District 100km), and two ladies from Instagram (Claire and Laurie) were there too, it was quite the social gathering! Glenn introduced me to his crew – Zosia.

6am. Time to go. There was no rain at the start but it started up before we’d reached Skirrid. I’d put my Fenix in my edited version of UltraTrac mode which turned out to be a bad choice, it wasn’t working too well from the off. I didn’t think too much about it as it was working ok enough and we were all grouped together following each other, I had a feeling it just needed a bit of time and then it would improve.

Heading up Skirrid it was amazing to watch Sophie strongly charging up there, even though it was her first 100 miler, my money was on her for the the ladies win then Ed and Tim for the men’s race. I tapped the Skirrid trig at 6:56am and started my way down.

My plan had been to pass through Checkpoint 1 Skirrid Mountain View (7 miles) 7.35am without stopping and that’s exactly what I did, the marshals called out for my number as I sailed through and I shouted it back to them. 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Good work.

Next stop was Hatterell Hill. Jaime was on the course calling, “Well done Lizzie!” it was such a happy surprise and gave me a little boost. The climb is fairly long but not challenging, I was going for self preservation rather than pace but there was a photographer on the course. I was the running version of the Mario Bros ghost, every time that camera pointed at me, I ran, the moment it pointed away, I walked. I’d seen the GB Ultras race photos and they were flipping awesome, I wanted one! In all my race photos I look like I’m walking or my face looks gormless or my eyes are closed. As well as the photographer there was a drone too which I waved at!

Tap on the next trig, Hatterrall Hill, 7:59am, done. I thought about my husband Ky as he said he’d start tracking me from around 8am so I Whatsapped him the photo. I made my first (of many) nav errors and managed to add in a ton of elevation, as soon as I realised I turned and cut across the ferns to get back on track, another guy had followed me. My watch really was not working well. I had adjusted the battery setting to Jacket Mode thinking that would help but it didn’t.

I was heading up a forest path and as I passed through the gate spotted Llanthony Priory, seriously? How am I here already and where on earth is the time going? Checkpoint 2 Llanthony Treats Campsite (13 miles) 8.48am I was around 25 minutes ahead of schedule. My race plan was going perfectly, I’d hoped to be ahead of schedule during the day so that I could create a buffer for the overnight section. I had a water refill (lemon Tailwind) and grabbed 2 Marmite sandwiches and a packet of crisps.

As I headed for Bal Bach I thought that the Marmite sandwiches were very weird tasting and actually not very nice, that’s because they were peanut butter (I did not realise they were peanut butter until checkpoint 8)!

I passed another photographer who was hiking up, he told me he didn’t think I was in the race as I looked too casual… hmmm, did he mean I wasn’t going fast enough or did he mean I looked fresh? I got to the ridge and it wasn’t long until I started the descent through fields past Ty Mawr. It was around here that I ran with Rory, we had a good chat. We passed through the pretty church of St Issui at Partrishow and the lane afterwards is as stupidly steep as I remembered! We started the climb up Crug Mawr and Rory soon power hiked away from me. Another summit, another tap, Crug Mawr 10.11am. My gpx was completely useless at this point and I’d been running purely on memory from the recce. I thought ahead to the descent down to Crickhowell and was a bit worried as on the day of the recce we had taken a different route down. I found myself at a gate that clearly was not right, darn it, I had overshot the path. I retraced my steps and got back on track.

I was nearing Crug Hywel (Table Mountain) and knew I needed my wits about me. I spotted the Iron Age hill fort on the right and for the life of me could not remember seeing that on my recce! Which way now? I turned around and shrugged my shoulders at the guy running towards me, he pointed me in the right direction and it turned out the path down to Crickhowell was the one that we had done on the recce day after all. It was so overgrown though and the lower sections looked very different. I missed the turning and started a reasonably steep climb and thought that this cannot be right, I should be heading down to Crickhowell not up! Back tracking again I found the correct route. Once in Crickhowell I had no clue which way to go so I just went the way I knew, through the houses (this was the long way around!) and flagged down a car to ask for directions to the village hall. I finally made my way in to Checkpoint 3 Crickhowell Village Hall (26 miles) 11.37am and felt relieved to be indoors so I could sort myself out. I was now way ahead of schedule as I had planned to be here at 12.10pm and have a 20 minute turnaround.

I explained to the marshals about the watch situation and how frustrated I was. I saved the run and powered the watch down. I hung my waterproof on the back of a chair in the hope it would dry out a bit whilst the marshals refilled my bladder I took my sodden top off and put my spare layer on making a note to make sure a new dry layer went in at my drop bag. RD Wayne came over to talk to me about my gpx and told me I should have my map in my hand, it was really good of him to take the time and give me reassurance that I might be a bit slower but I could just run off the map.

The smash potato was awesome, the marshals were trying to push some baked beans on me, not a fan of them I declined and did think they would wreak havoc, they said they’d be a little wind boost! While I was faffing around I became aware that the guy on the chair next to mine was considering pulling out, I think he had a stitch. I encouraged him not to. He told me that he was going for a sub 24 and didn’t think it was possible now. I looked at him in disbelief, “Are you a seasoned ultra runner?” “No” came the reply. Without even thinking I blurted out, “Well you’re not going to get sub 24 then are you? If you are on for 24 hours you would win the race!” He blushed and sheepishly said, “I’m a fast runner, how do you know I won’t make sub 24?” “You just told me that you’re not a seasoned ultra runner” Not very sportsmanlike of me but I thought he needed to know. The second ultra I did I went in with his same attitude, I thought I could do a race in 18 hours, it took me 22 hours. When I hit the 18 hour marker, that was all I had been mentally prepared for and still had a very long way to go, I think I would have appreciated someone giving me a reality check.

20 minutes later, watch fired up again, I headed out. Kev’s wife Gill was there with a box of homemade banana flapjacks. Honestly, I have no clue how Kev is so slim. If I had a Gill in my life I’d be enormous, her home bakes are heavenly. Gill had been waiting outside for quite a while so she told me off for spending too much time in the checkpoint! It’s fine, it’s fine, I’m up on the schedule.

Heading out of Crickhowell I caught up with two guys and thought one of them was the guy with the stitch, I wanted to apologise to him. Turns out neither were he, I got chatting anyway, Tim Marsters and Graeme Hatcher. Tim was treating this race as a training run (a classic ultra run phrase!) he’s doing DBR next year and is on the camp volunteer team this year, I put my order in for a glamping experience as I am doing DBR this year. The three of us ran together quite happily for a while until Tim gradually pulled away.

I hadn’t got my poles out yet, I had planned to get them out at Crickhowell but then decided to wait for the next climb. The route winds its way along the side of the hill, around Cwm Mawr and I felt this was as good a place as any to put the poles to good use. Crikey this hill was a gift! This is one of the few parts of the routes that was completely new to me. Graeme and I silently soldiered on up, trust me, there is no breath for talking! Once at the top we gave each other a well done.

To my relief, my gpx was now on fine form. Graeme and I ran together for the whole of this 10 mile section between checkpoints. On Blacks to the Beacons there had been a checkpoint in Bwlch so I knew that the path was a bit hidden and very easy to overshoot.

We ran along the pavement and I could see Checkpoint 4 Bwlch Village Hall (36 miles) 2:42pm, I heard someone call my name. What? Who’s that? Francis?? It can’t be? It blooming well was though! What a happy surprise!

Francis guided me into the hall and said, “I’ve got a bag of things you might need, I was thinking about things that would make you comfortable”. I couldn’t believe it. The bag was better than the best Christmas day morning, filled with all sorts of goodies – buffs, socks, gloves, hat, a towel, food and the true icing on the cake – he had a lovely yellow waterproof jacket! I was sodden. Whilst I changed out of my wet jacket and top he filled my water bladders and the marshals brought some soup over. Sitting comfortably, warm and dry, dipping cheese sandwiches into my soup, I was very content, Francis updated me on my positioning and schedule, I was still ahead. We made a plan that he would meet me again at Talybont with another waterproof jacket and more supplies. I left at about 2:52pm, I was ahead of schedule by 18 minutes.

Next stop was Talybont, this was a milestone as it was a drop bag checkpoint. I left Checkpoint 4 and turned to wave at Francis as he drove by, tooting his horn. Admittedly I had overshot the turning but waited until he was out of sight before I sheepishly back tracked! I crossed the ancient road bridge which I remembered doing on Blacks to the Beacons. I had a real faff around at the canal. I ran down the canal but thought I was wrong. I ran down the road and knew I was wrong. I ran down the canal again and completely missed the turning.

There were some canal volunteers having a tea break, I asked them where the Beacons Way was, “Over the bridge” “What bridge?” “That one over there!” “That’s a bridge?!”

It was a lock and quite narrow, I hadn’t realised! I thanked them and headed across and up the hill. I spotted Glenn behind me. I caught up with a chap (Tsz) who I would end up seeing a lot, and pulled away from both he and Glenn. 

It was on this 9 mile section that I met Will and caught up with Graeme again. We had a miles long track section which steadily goes uphill and to the top of the ridge with a great view over Talybont Reservoir. Tsz was a man on a mission and surprised me by passing by and getting a great lead. It was just the three of us with Tsz trotting steadily on ahead and we all pulled each other along, I told Graeme that I was walking for ten then running for ten, he joined me in this plan and we were finally rewarded with the car park, Checkpoint 5 Talybont (45 Miles) 5.02pm.

As this was a drop bag checkpoint I had allowed myself 40 minutes here. It was an outdoor checkpoint though and I needed to change all my clothes. I left the marshals to refill my bladders and asked if they minded if I could change in the van. It was the full works: waterproof socks, shoes, pants, leggings, waterproof trousers, long sleeve top, windproof jacket, buff, gloves, waterproof over mittens, warm hat and rain cap on top of that. I flung open the door as Glenn came by, we greeted each other and Francis’ head popped around the van door, “There you are!” Thank goodness, I was worried that we’d miss each other as I was still ahead of schedule, by 23 minutes! I checked I had everything I needed in my bag (I was so paranoid that in my unpacking and repacking and in the dark of the van I would leave my head torch behind). I put on Francis’ red waterproof jacket over my windproof jacket and felt so warm and dry and cosy. I ate a sandwich and on the marshal’s recommendation took a cinnamon bun for the road. Time to head up the glorious Craig y Fan Ddu. This is a great climb as it is rocky steps which determine the stride length for you. I could see Will ahead and Glenn behind. I power hiked to Will and we remained together for the rest of this 7 mile stretch. As ex-army, he is very familiar with the Beacons. I knew that we’d be hitting the halfway point on this stretch and I had a Cadbury Brunch bar in my bag, my friend Ingrid had given it to me and told me to eat it at mile 50. The thing is though, as much as I desperately wanted to take a silly selfie of me eating it at mile 50, I just couldn’t face the thought of trying to operate a camera phone in these conditions. I decided to shelve the idea and just thought about the Brunch bar instead.

If it were possible, the rain was even more intense and the wind gathered even more momentum. As we were heading towards Fan y Big, the wind trying desperately to sweep me off my feet, we could see a marshal in the distance, he told us we needed to take the low route to avoid Fan y Big as it was just too dangerous up there. I must confess, this worked massively in my favour. I have only climbed Fan y Big from the other direction, it’s a brilliant climb, really enjoyable but I have always thought I don’t fancy going down it, and certainly in these conditions. I’d already wondered if sitting on my bum and sliding down would be a good option. We crossed over the Roman Road and heading up Jacob’s Ladder. I was so glad Will and I were together, we were both enjoying the weather and it was nice to be able to share it with someone. Will complimented me on my hill climbing pace. A couple of times I had to take a moment to regain my balance and not let the wind throw me over.

We could see another marshal who explained to us that we needed to take the low route around Pen y Fan, I staggered towards him, fighting against the wind, he shouted the directions into my ear against the howling storm and then put his hand on my shoulder, “You’re doing really well”. Such a simple gesture, but it was a special moment for me, he was so sincere, it meant a lot.

Will and I continued, I saw a couple of small birds who somehow seemed to be carrying on their business as usual, how?! We came to the motorway and headed down. I hate that path but today I loved it! 

I really needed a wee at this point and was pleased to see proper toilet facilities (I had thought it was just portaloos here) at Checkpoint 6 Storey Arms (52 miles) 7:34pm, I was 20 minutes up on my schedule. I headed to the gazebo (goodness knows how it was staying up!) and sat in the chair, I proceeded to eat the entire bowl of jelly beans whilst the marshals refilled my water. There was then much discussion on what salted food I could eat. I didn’t want to take my wet gloves off as I’d never get them back on again (I’d had a battle putting them back on after using the toilet) yet if I tried to eat crisps they would just disintegrated. It was then decided I should make my hands into a bowl shape, the marshal filled my ‘bowl’ with salted potatoes and I proceeded to eat them in the same way a dog eats from a food bowl. I also had a salt and vinegar rice cake circle thing (weird but weirdly nice in a tasty cardboard kind of way). Time to head.

I soon caught up with Will and we ran the whole of the next section together. We were now in a wilder, more isolated area, crossing many fast flowing streams (which were just innocent trickles when I did them on the Gwynne-Harris Round) we followed the path along the high edge of Craig y Fro and to the wall above Craig Cerrig-gleisiad National Nature Reserve. We nearly overshot the pile of stones where we needed to turn and as we ascended towards the ridge of Fan Dringarth and Fan Llia I was grinning inanely thinking how much fun I was having (seriously though, what is wrong with me?) just as I had that thought, Will screamed above the wind, “I don’t know why, but I absolutely love this!” It was great fun!

I’d given up drinking at this point, I’d tried a couple of times but drinking whilst rain was being blown up my nose made me feel like I was drowning. I decided to just open my mouth and let the rain quench my thirst instead, better than waterboarding myself.

I could see what looked like a massively steep track in the distance, I realised it was a raging waterfall though! Wow, this must mean we are near the next checkpoint already! As we headed down towards the car park I could see Tsz up ahead. We passed him and arrived into Checkpoint 7 Sarn Helen Car Park (59 miles) at around 9.30pm. I was delighted that I had made it in during daylight, what an achievement. The marshals here made me realise the calibre and efficiency that these guys were operating at. Talk about getting their runners in and out fast. I had one marshal feeding me, the other on bladders and head torch. This amazing lady told me off as my bladders were still almost full, “You really must drink more than this!” I promptly had a Coke and sheepishly apologised and then told her about the waterboarding situation and I think she forgave me. She located my head torch and batteries in my pack, got the head torch set up, checked it worked and helped me put it on my head, no need to turn the light on just yet though, it’s still light! Off I went and I really don’t think I was at this checkpoint that long, if I had done my own head torch it would have taken ages.

This part of the route I knew really well, I’d first done it with my friend Tariq and I could remember so many details. The Roman Road of Sarn Helen which passes the standing stone of Maen Madoc, the footbridge over Nedd Fechan (the water was raging!), the track, the moor crossing and the old buildings. I’d switched my head torch on along the Roman Road but it was still twilight when I caught up with Tsz, he popped behind me and I lead the way, he stayed close behind until the checkpoint. I needed the loo (again!) and knew there was a good place to go coming up. I told Tsz to carry on and not look behind him! He was very polite. We exchanged a few pleasantries but it’s safe to say that Tsz is not a chatty runner.

I knew that we’d be skirting around Carrig Cadno rather than crossing the top and thought back to the day Tariq and I had stood up there in glorious sunshine, very different weather today! We went through a weird sliding style thing where my leg got stuck, Tsz released me and we were into Ogof Ffynnon Ddu National Nature Reserve, famous for the major cave system beneath and the rare limestone pavement. It really would not be long until we reached the next checkpoint. I was also aware that I needed a number two, and was pretty confident I could not wait until checkpoint 9 which was an indoor checkpoint with toilet facilities. As we reached Checkpoint 8 Penwylt Car Park 11:29pm, it was so dark, I wasn’t sure if it was actually the checkpoint or not, I shouted over, “Are you a checkpoint?” “YES!” come the reply. I ran in shouting, “Have you got toilets?” “NO!” came the reply. I shouted back, “But it’s a Code Brown – critical! Where’s a good spot?” They pointed me in the direction of a suitable area. To my horror, I realised Francis was there, weird that I was embarrassed about someone I know hearing my predicament yet didn’t give a care about a car park of complete strangers, I suppose because I thought I’d never see them again! Francis gave me a pack of tissues just in case I needed more than what I already had and I left him to fill my waters. Code Brown now extinguished, I had selected some sandwiches and was shocked when the marshal told me I was first lady, how could that be? I’d been third all day? I must have passed Sophie and Hannah in a checkpoint without realising. Francis had brought me one of his long sleeved tops, with a hood (!) as well as another waterproof jacket, dry gloves and a buff.

The marshals informed me that we needed to move on to the low level route. I selected the route on my Fenix which then decided to crash. This has never happened before. This was also super annoying as I was ready to go, I was warm and dry and desperate to continue. The marshal stood close to me whilst he helped me to problem solve the watch situation. I stuck my arm out form under the gazebo so my wrist had a clear view of the sky. “I’m getting cold!” the marshal cuddled me for warmth! Still no joy with the watch, my body temperature cooling rapidly, Francis and I went to sit in his car to keep warm, my arm stuck out of the window. Francis gave me a pep talk and then we saw that Hannah was in the van next to us. Argh, if it weren’t for my watch crashing I could have gained a mile on her by now!

The competitive spirit in me was getting very frustrated, this was my chance to lead the race for a bit! Francis was giving me a stern pep talk and telling me that if I had already caught her than I could gain a lead on her again. The watch still wouldn’t work and I knew the only way was for me to start running, but this was risky as the next section was 12 exposed miles. We opened the window and I asked Hannah if she would mind running with me whilst my watch sorted itself out. Hannah is the sweetest kindest natured person and was always smiling, she was very happy for us to go together. I waited until Hannah was ready and we set off, the moment I got moving my watch figured out what it was doing. There is a footpath off the lane which I overshot (I did that with Tariq too!) and Hannah told me that I should go on ahead, she wanted to go back to her husband to borrow his watch. We said goodbye and I went down the fairly narrow and rocky footpath, past Craig-y-nos Country Park and then north along the bridleway. I turned left off the footpath and realised my tracker was missing! I rang all three race numbers, of course the first two were answering machines as off duty (so I left a message), assistant race director Laura picked up immediately. Laura seemed to think I had my tracker as it appeared to be moving. Of course, as soon as I got off the phone I found it! It had twisted under my pack. I had been so used to it butting me in the chin throughout the run! I had to go along a lane then onto a footpath, a marshal was waiting making sure we were all taking the low level route. He asked me if I was called Elizabeth and I said yes, I had found my tracker.

I caught up with Tsz again and he slipped in behind me. We were heading upwards and the wind and rain intensified. We had steep ground to our left and many waterfall crossings. We were soaked. At first I found the route easy to follow but then it became more difficult as it was not always easy to see a path, this was not helped by the fact my watch now seemed to have a lag to it and it would not give me any helpful information any more, it was spinning around rather a lot. We veered off course a few times but found our way back on track again. I was pleased to have my silent partner with me, it gave me a lot of comfort knowing that we were on this ride together and if I doubted my nav I could ask him for a second opinion. With each waterfall crossing it seemed to get more and more wild until we reached an intensely fast flowing waterfall. I could not see a path on the other side and it was very steep too. Tsz and I both stood there, using our head torches to scan for a path. I consulted my watch, I turned to Tsz and shouted, “Do you agree that we need to cross this?” He said, “I don’t know. I do not have the gpx.” I felt physically sick. I had gone from feeling very safe having this guy with me to now feeling intense pressure as everything now rested on my shoulders. I looked at my watch again. We need to cross. I used my poles to check the depth of the water and feel for any loose rocks, this sounds very dramatic but one false move and we would have been swept over the edge. I put my right leg in, the water was above my knee, I moved one pole forward and then the other. I put me left leg in, I made sure I had a strong stance before moving my right leg. Mistake. I had put it in the line of fire and the rapid was pushing against it with all its might. I re-positioned my right leg then I was able to haul myself out and safely on to the other side.

I turned and watched Tsz cross. “I am so glad we did this together!” his reply? “Well you can only save yourself”, I didn’t feel that was reassuring at all. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get up the steep bank. We were back to running again. 

Some time passed and Will caught up with us. Relief swept over me, he was a chatty guy and now at least two of us had the route. Tsz was getting slower, I told Will we should stay together as Tsz didn’t have the route. The thing is, now I was having to move slower, I was not as warm as I had been. The wind was relentless, there was no where to go but deeper into it. The path became very narrow with a steep drop to the right. There was a very scary moment where I stumbled on a rock, I was heading for the drop, but then the wind moved my running pole in front of my leg, tripping me again and changing my direction of travel and away from the edge. We went off course again and again, I felt frustrated that Will wasn’t helping me out at all on the nav. We turned more into the wind, it was relentless. My head torch blew off my head, it was caught in my hair but of course as I was circling to look for it, the light was shining behind me so I genuinely thought it had blown off the mountain altogether, thank goodness I had a back up head torch in my bag. Will fished it out my hair and we continued until we reached the water body of Llyn y Fan Fawr, we needed to head around it. There were 2 head torches in the distance, I think they were shouting at us, we were more sheltered so we could hear them shouting, “How far round does it go?” we shouted back, “Just keep going!” there wasn’t much we could do for them being on opposite sides of the lake and not really sure what they were saying.

We came off course again and I realised we must continue to follow the bricked stream which was part of a dam. We came to a big generator and high fences, I was sure we had to go straight through but the water board company sign said it was closed. There was no way round. Tsz was making strange noises and Will was trying to look for paths. I asked Will if Tsz was crying, there was no shame in it. I cannot express just how dire our situation was. We were all so wet and I was only just warm enough, any colder I would be crying. Will told me that Tsz was not crying, he was going delirious. I asked Will what he thought about the route direction, should we climb the fences? He said he did not have the low level gpx. I could not believe it. I was now responsible for two people. I could see a head torch coming and told the boys we should wait to see if they had gpx and if they felt we should go into the closed off area. It was Hannah. Still smiling. That woman is amazing. Hannah agreed we must climb the fences, the warning signs said “DANGER CLIFF KEEP LEFT” We were now on a gravel path leading down. What a relief, everyone was moving so slowly though. I decided to run on ahead then stop and point my head torch at them so they could follow my light. Running fast then stopping seemed to be keeping me warmer than moving too slowly. I saw lights ahead. It was Hannah’s husband. I explained the situation and asked him to put Tsz in his van and offer him a lift to the checkpoint, I told him he was delirious and I couldn’t wait any longer. He agreed. I left with Will and we ran down and down, getting warmer as now I was going at a decent pace. I continued to stop and start, making sure Will could stay with me but as soon as we were on the lane that lead to the checkpoint I left him behind as I knew his high level gpx would cover this. I passed the reindeer farm and two runners who had left checkpoint 9 already.

I bowled into Checkpoint 9 Llanddeusant Village Hall (78 miles) at around 4.25am. I was way behind schedule now, by 80 minutes. I had a lot of emotions coursing through me which exploded out as a rant. Those poor marshals must have been so tired and there I was ranting and raving about Tsz and Will. I really liked Will but his reasons for not switching to the low level route was because he had to stop his Strava and he did not want to interrupt the run, he had told me this on the lane. Since when has Strava been more important than your own safety? And anyway, you can stitch Strava activities together to create one activity! I finished ranting and raving about the guys an I hung my waterproof trousers on the back of one chair, my windproof jacket on another and my waterproof jacket on another. I took my leggings and top off, I went into the bathroom and changed out of my wet knickers and smothered Vaseline all over that area as the wet knickers had been causing chafing. I then sat in the hall and removed my socks, pools of water on the ground, so much for them being waterproof. Now just in my pants and bra in the hope my skin would dry out. Will had arrived, I tossed the Vaseline to him as he had chafed balls. He didn’t look too good. Will said he felt sick. I tossed my bag of ginger at him and told him to eat it.

I ate a waffle with syrup, pasta in tomato sauce, a bowl of rice pudding and drank two cups of tea. The marshal saw how alarmed I was with the snacks I had packed into my drop bag so she passed me a handful of goodies to take instead, Milky Way, Skittles and Snickers. Hannah was here now too. I asked her husband about Tsz, he told me that Tsz had declined his offer and had continued.

I started to pack my wet gear away and stuffed my wet trainers with newspaper. I made sure I had all I needed in my pack and started to get dressed. I had leggings, socks, long sleeve top, short sleeve over the top, windproof jacket (not too wet), waterproof jacket (still wet), waterproof trousers (still wet), gloves, over gloves (still wet), hat and fresh trainers. I’d already decided I would leave when it was light or close to it as the nav on the next section is tricky in places. I put my head torch on though as I felt it was a good way to hold my hat on my head against the wind, plus keep some weight out of my bag. I had turned my watch off shortly after arriving so I put it back on and restarted it. I said my goodbyes and left.

Tsz was staggering up the lane, he was weaving from side to side, moving very slowly, I called “Hello” and he stood stock still, his head rolling around as if he could hear my voice but not see me, in fact, in a very similar way to our pet chicken Beaky who is blind. 

Tsz said afterwards on a FB post: Congratulations Elizabeth Gatherer and I must say thank you for all the lead in the night. I would probably quit the race as I can’t find my path in the low levels without the updated gpx in my watch. And I would possibly killed by the rain and freezing wind. You are so kind and nice during the challenging race. I always lack the strength to greet/chat during the race. It’s my pleasure to spend the time with you.

Tsz

I ran down the lane and passed two runners heading for the checkpoint. Two more were walking down the lane, it was Glenn and Sophie! Glenn ran to me and gave me a big hug. I told them about Tsz and how worried I had been for him. We parted and I nearly started crying with relief, my friends had got through that section. It really felt as though someone could die out there, truly, I am not being dramatic.

I had 9 miles to the quarry. The first section to Carreg yr Ogof is easy to follow, once at the trig I then had to continue South to Garreg Las and its twin Bronze Age burial cairns. The limestone path is rocky in places. There is a sharp turn as I needed to head west, I clambered down the rocks, I had fallen on these last time and really bruised my bum. I knew I was heading for the tricky section now but I had studied and studied the map. I had this! I could do it! But no, it wasn’t how I thought and I felt like I was all over the place. I could not find the sheep track that I had found on my recce. I knew exactly the direction I needed and decided to plough on in a straight line regardless of the terrain. I found myself wading through a knee high bog. I had just survived high winds on the edge of a mountain and river rapid waterfalls! There was no way this stupid bog was going to slow me down.

I got to the edge of the quarry and ran around it knowing that the checkpoint would be in sight momentarily. There it was! Checkpoint 10 Mountain View (87 miles), 8.08am. I ran into the car park and gave them my number. The marshal took one look at me. “You need a Pot Noodle and a cup of tea. Now go and sit in your crew’s car and I’ll bring it to you.” As told, I sat in the back seat of Francis’ car as felt there would be more space to change. Francis had managed to dry most of my stuff so I put two long sleeved tops on as well as his yellow waterproof, I had told him at checkpoint 8 that the yellow one was my favourite one. I thoughtfully put an empty sandwich bag in my pocket (so if I needed to remove my warm hat I could keep it dry). Francis gave me a dry cap to wear and I decided to keep the head torch on my head rather than in my pack. I shovelled down the Pot Noodle and drank the tea whilst Francis put more Tailwind in my waters, they needed to be full to the top as I had a 15 mile stretch to the finish now. He told me I could stay in the lead and as well as that, I was gaining on two guys ahead of me. He said I’d put a gap between Hannah and myself. “How are you feeling about the last bit?” “Fine, I know it really well. There is one tricky nav near the beginning then it is easy.” “Great, you’ve got this and you’re on for course record, what happened earlier? I thought something had gone wrong.” I briefly told him about the trials and tribulations of my nighttime section.

I left the checkpoint after only around 15 minutes, I was behind my schedule by just under two hours. I’ve got this though! I can still get the record! I charged off in the wrong direction, started laughing and turned around. I struggled with the nav that I knew would be tricky but did a much better job of it than I had done during the recce. I hit the lane a little too earlier which meant my punishment was some extra elevation. 

My memory was getting muddled now and I had a list of things to do on this 15 miles but I couldn’t remember the order. The list was: sheepy-goats, castle, stupidly and unnecessarily steep lane, tree arch path, Welsh ladder, annoying field footpaths through a farm, Bethlehem, forest with stupid hill, ancient fort mini mountain, long lane, hill-with-viewpoint-bench-that-looks-like-I-need-to-go-up-a-mountain-but-I-don’t-have-to.

Now for the delightful lane past the horned sheepy-goats (no clue what they are!), I was on my way to Carreg Cennen Castle! Next was stupidly and unnecessarily steep lane so to take my mind off it I ate a Milky Way. I then had to go through a farm which lead me to tree arch path. Next up was long lane followed by Welsh ladder. Then it was forest with stupid hill, I paused to pick up someone’s litter which gave me a moment to catch my breath, this was followed by hill-with-viewpoint-bench-that-looks-like-I-need-to-go-up-a-mountain-but-I-don’t-have-to. This was cool as my list of things to do was getting shorter! I dare not look at my watch though to see how many miles I had left. I was just going to carry on as fast a walk as I could on the ups and a fast a run as I could on the downs and flats. It was time for the ancient fort mini mountain, which is in fact the ruined walls of Y Gaer Fawr, which date from 300BC. It is Wales’ second largest Iron Age hillfort. 

Hey, what’s that I can see? It’s the two guys! Francis said I could catch them! Right-ho, let’s go! I moved up a gear and started hunting them down. I trundled down the other side of the mini mountain and could see them on the lane, they were walking! I ran past them shouting “Hello” and “Well done!” (obviously though in my head I said, “You’ve just been chicked!”) It was Tim and Rory! I pulled away from them and emotion hit me, I had a cry. I had run over 100 miles, I was still running and I had just flown past these guys! 

Afterwards Rory said on A FB post: Fantastic effort Lizzie! Great to share some of the route early on with you and see you screaming past us in the last couple of miles having the time of your life – such a constant bag of energy and enthusiasm!

Rory

I pulled it together just in time to have a hallucination. There was a ginormous bird with bright yellow feet sat on a post right in front of me. As I neared I realised that this was no hallucination, this was real life. He opened his wings whilst watching me and then he closed them again, he was clapping me! I grinned and grinned at how lucky I was. At some point I had realised it had finally stopped raining so I had stowed my warm hat and yellow rain jacket in my bag. I climbed the gate at Bethlehem church ( I couldn’t figure the darn thing out on my recce and still couldn’t today) and then stopped in the field to take off my long sleeved top so I now just had the one layer. It was sunny and warm! I passed through annoying field footpaths through a farm, fixing the gate as I went as the latch had fallen out. Wow, I could not think of anything on my list now, just run through the little village at Felindre and then it was the overgrown footpath which would deliver me into Llangadog! 

Rory’s crew got to the gate just before me and let me through. I ran through the village, I ran down the overgrown path. I travelled along the small common. I ran into a field. I don’t remember this field. I ran to the diagonal corner as I could see a gate. This is wrong! I ran to the other corner, a-ha, this is good! Over the road, down the narrow street. Turn right! I went faster and faster as there was the hall, there was the finish! Francis was there, Glenn’s crew Zosia was there! Assistant race director Laura was there and so was Neil the cuddle marshal plus a few others! I steamed across the line! Whoop whoop! I did it and it was amazing and I felt amazing and everything was just so awesome!

I had a hug with Francis and the marshals kept saying something about a record but I didn’t know what they were talking about and then finally, finally the penny dropped. I had just set the new ladies course record! Wow! I was handed a massive trophy, a special buckle and a cold non alcoholic beer. Cuddle marshal asked me not to think he was a stalker but he wanted me to know that I was the first women he had tracked all night!

What’s in the snack pack?

4 bars

500 calories emergency food

Sugar coated stemmed ginger

Caffeine chews

2x 500ml bladders water – with Sis

Spare SiS tabs

Gloves

Warm hat

Inov 8 Trailshell waterproof jacket

Long sleeved spare layer

Arm sleeves

Sunglasses

Suncream

Vasaline

Spare hair band

Safety pins

Compeed, plasters, surgical tape, spare socks

Harrier Helvellyn Carbon Z-Poles and quiver

Silva head torch

Back up hard torch –  Petzl e+lite

Whistle

Life Systems survival bag

Harvey’s Brecon Beacons West and Brecon Beacons East maps

Compass

OMM Halo waterproof trousers

OMM ultra flexi cup

Salomon Bonatti waterproof over mittens

Fully charged mobile phone

Drop bag 1 – Talybont

Portable charger and Garmin charging cable, hydration tablets, ginger, bars, gloves, hat, shoes, Otter waterproof socks, Stance socks, buff, leggings, knickers, Montane long sleeve top, windproof jacket, short sleeve tee shirt, gauze, Sudocream, Vasaline, tape, plasters, plastic bag (for wet stuff), newspaper (to put in trainers).

Drop bag 2 – Llanddeusant Village Hall

Hydration tablets, ginger, bars, gloves, hat, shoes, Stance socks, buff, leggings, knickers, Montane long sleeve top, short sleeve tee shirt, gauze, Vasaline, tape, plasters, plastic bag (for wet stuff), newspaper (to put in trainers).

What I wore: Saucony Peregrine 12 ST, Garmin Fenix 6 Sapphire, buff, Sweaty Betty power leggings, Otter waterproof socks, Inov8 long sleeved top, Dirty Girl gaiters, Salomon Adv Skin 12 running vest.

Throughout the race I wore a total: 2x Otter waterproof socks, 1x Stance socks, 3x Saucony Peregrine 12 ST, 3x Sweaty Betty power leggings, 7x long sleeved tops, 1x short sleeve tee shirts (over the top of a long sleeve as an extra warm layer), 5 x waterproof jackets, 1 x windproof jacket, 2x warm hats, 3x baseball hats, 3x knickers, 4x pairs of gloves and 5x buffs. This demonstrates just how wet the conditions were. I would have benefitted from an additional pair of waterproof trousers.

Lead up: I had done an enormous amount of prep leading up to this race. Multiple back to back training days in Eryri (Snowdonia) and in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons). I had done a few races too, Beast of the Blacks, Lake District Challenge 100km, Wild West Ultra in Pembrokeshire so I was certainly mountain fit. I had continued with boot camp sessions and a hearty but healthy diet. I had a few sports massages leading up as well as a mindset session with Lucy. This is perhaps the most physically and mentally fit I have ever been for a race.

Morning preparations: I’ve had insomnia since May (peri-menopausal?????) but had finally broken the spell just before the race getting 5 nights of quality sleep. The Thursday before, no sleep. The night before, no sleep. 3.45am I gave up the attempt and got up. Interestingly, the first night I’d slept was after a mindset session with Lucy. We hadn’t focussed on the insomnia but I had mentioned it and I had acknowledged it and said that it was my secret weapon, everyone would be tired staying awake through the night whereas I was used to it! Breakfast and stretches performed, I got in the car and headed to the castle!

Summary

For me this was a fantastic experience, I feel that I had an enormous amount of luck on my side though and things could have gone very differently. If Francis had not decided last minute to crew me then I surely would have had to DNF as I would have got too wet and cold. Having the gpx issues were also a problem but thanks to my knowledge of the area, recces and good fortune that people were around when I needed them, this was not a big a problem as it could have been and I did not need to resort to map and compass.

Usually, I strongly feel that everything has happened for a reason and the finishing time is a result of this. For example, I would never say “If I had spent 10 minutes less in that checkpoint I would have finished 10 minutes earlier.” It just does not work like that, those 10 minutes will have been valuable for rest and recharge.

However, for this run I am going to go against my usual belief and I am certain that if it were not for the gpx issues and having to slow down to run with Tsz I would have got my sub 30 hour that I was aiming for. I have no regrets though, I did the right thing staying with Tsz. Can you imagine if I had left him, got sub 30 and then discovered he was lost and hyperthermic? I could never have forgiven myself. And I am pleased to say that it did not cross my mind to leave him!

Lessons learned

This was certainly a great test of my mountain craft and wet weather skills. I feel that without the support of Francis and the ability to be able to change my clothes so many times that I most likely would have DNf-ed. Now I am able to look back, I feel that the way I could have supported myself without crew would have been to not just have one spare long sleeve layer in my bag but two, plus an additional waterproof jacket. That would have been enough to keep me going to the drop bag and then in each drop bag I could have had an extra spare long layer (or even two!) plus additional waterproof trousers.

Keeping warm and dry in these conditions was absolutely vital. I feel that the few who made it to the end were the ones who had plenty of spare clothes.

I have learned that my Fenix must be in Jacket mode. I have learned that to change courses I should stop the run and re-start. I think I have too many maps loaded on my watch and I should delete them all. I also have learned how to stitch Strava routes together, it’s easy using this website – goatoes.org. No data is lost and segments are still recorded.

Results

Chip time: 30 hr 34 m 30 s

Overall: 7 / 110 (33 finishers, 1 outside cut off, 56 DNF, 21 DNS)

Lady: 1 / 18 (6 finishers, 9 DNF, 3 DNS)

1 new course record!

Beacons Way 100 mile 2023 – click here for results

Results of those mentioned in this write up:

Men

7th Tim Marsters 30 h 49 m 06 s

8th Rory Bennett 30 h 49 m 10 s

12th Glenn Davies33 h 26 m 27 s

13th Graeme Hatcher 34 h 13 m 15 s

25th Kevin Munt 39 h 45 m 50 s

Cut off Tsz 40 h 03 m 35 s

DNF William Maxwell

Women

2nd Hannah Large33 h 16 m 47 s

3rd Sophie Clarke 34 h 13 m 12 s

4th Claire Bishop 37 h 00 m 20 s

DNF Laurie Higgins

Photo credits:

Tosh Simpkin – @tosh_simpkin

Evan Davies Photos – full gallery can be found here

Alex Treadway – Travel, adventure and lifestyle photographer