Dragon's Back Race in Wales by Jason

Written by Jason

Earlier this month I spent a week at the Dragon's Back Race, a race in Wales billed as the "World's Toughest Mountain Race." (More on that later) Here's how the week transpired for me. Hint: My major lesson learned was that I did not train enough for this event.

Saturday morning the whole family was up before dawn to travel to the Copenhagen airport, where I boarded a plane to Manchester and the other three to London Gatwick. I was a bit sad to be without the girls for the week but also excited for them to have their own experience in London and southern England. After an easy transfer to the train in Manchester I was on my way to Llandudno Junction, just across the river from Conwy Castle and the start of the race. Buying lunch in the station was a bit overwhelming -- for the first time in weeks ALL the packaging was in English, which I found distracting!

Through mutual running connections I was booked in a flat with three other runners I hadn't met, but we had been communicating via WhatsApp for weeks. I was glad to meet Sergio, Tim and Mike, along with Sergio's wife Helen. I unpacked all my stuff to ensure I hadn't forgotten anything from the extensive mandatory gear list and started to organize for the race. I took a short walk around town to get some groceries before we all walked across the bridge to Conwy and our reservation at Johnny Dough's. I enjoyed hearing everyone's stories at dinner: Tim was at the first Dragon's Back in 1992, completed Hardrock in 2005 and other US races recently; Mike was returning to Dragon's Back for the third time after getting "timed out" on the 2nd and 3rd days previously; Sergio was a newcomer to the race like me and recommended I race in his native Portugal later in our trip. After dinner I met Tim's partner Pam and Mike's partner Angela, both of whom were staying across town and volunteering throughout the entire event. That night I slept well despite a creaky top bunk.

Sunday morning was spent packing. I organized my things into four piles:

• my race pack (thanks Lori for the loan!), including food, water, clothing and mandatory gear like an emergency bag, map, headlamp, etc. 
• my drop bag items, to be dropped at the start for transport to the single support point midway through the stage
• my "camp bag" items, to be used each night at camp, including my sleeping bag, clothes for camp, food for each stage
• my travel luggage, which would be transported separately to Cardiff for pickup at the end of the race

Packing and organizing for races is always slow for me since I get distracted easily. It didn't help that the race had very specific requirements for the dry bags we were supposed to use, which I had purchased for pickup at check-in. I didn't have as much gear as I might normally but food was more difficult as I was unsure how many calories I'd need and unused to preparing for a race where nothing was provided except water. Eventually I got things mostly figured out and Helen dropped us off at the check-in. The process was slow because volunteers had to check all the mandatory kit items for every single racer, but the weather was beautiful and everyone was excited to chat about the upcoming event. About 280 racers were scheduled to start, a majority from the UK but with plenty of continental and non-European runners as well. My Hardrock shirt provided me with confidence as I learned of the multiple "recces" (pronounced 'rekkies', as in reconnaisance or scouting trips on the course) that many participants had completed on the course. Most people were worried about the upcoming Crib Goch ridge or the weather, which called for a great deal of rain over the week, even for Wales. The volunteers were fantastic and it was the first of multiple interactions with most of them over the week. The volunteers are a huge part of the positive atmosphere at camp and shared our joys and sorrows throughout the week.

After dropping off most of my gear I enjoyed a waterfront lunch with Mike, Tim and some of the most aggressive seagulls anywhere. I was very thankful for the continued sunshine, despite complaints from some locals about the heat (it was 25C/77F). The Conwy harbour is quite pretty and the castle makes for an imposing skyline. That evening we all gathered for a quick race briefing and dinner, then I got a chance to share with my niece that I was walking near a real castle before pretending to get some sleep. I fiddled with gear and food and the items I should have packed in my luggage but hadn't (oops!) until far too late.

Conwy Castle

My "dibber" for check-in throughout the race

Conwy Castle

Conwy Harbor

Day 1: Conwy Castle to Nant Gwynant
Distance: 49km (30.5 miles)
Elevation gain: 3800m (12,467ft)
Strava map link

Day one is the shortest distance, but has the most climbing and is definitely the most mountainous. We walked to the castle for the pre-dawn 6am start. Everyone was thankful for dry conditions despite heavy overnight rain. The atmosphere at the start inside the castle was inspiring, with dozens of spectators gathered on the walls above waving national flags and a Welsh choir singing multiple songs before we were sent off. The race uses a type of rolling start, with one's official time not starting until exiting the castle walls about 15 minutes into the event. This is to prevent injury and jostling as we made our way along the castle walls, down wet stone steps and along tiny passageways! In contrast to my last race in Tromso, Norway (which was extremely quiet), there was lots of casual chatter among the 263 competitors starting the race. 

One unique aspect of the Dragon's Back Race is that the course is mostly unmarked. Competitors are required to carry the official race map, which shows a "recommended route" and occasionally a "mandatory route" (usually through towns or around specific landmarks. Tim was kind enough to share his course knowledge before the race, so I had a few shortcut opportunities lined up, depending on conditions. The first of these was only a few minutes into the race. As everyone flowed up a hill in Conwy, I turned right and went downhill through a neighborhood. The course marshall at the intersection confirmed, "Sure you can go that way. About 5 have done so already." The road curved to the right, then left, and then I was on a trail. Hiking up alone, I could see other competitors across the hill walking through a field of wet grass and up an adjacent trail. Eventually our paths converged and I merged into the conga line directly behind someone with a maroon shirt -- the exact same person I'd been following before the shortcut! I laughed and should have learned from this experience, but you'll see that I didn't.

me, Mike, Sergio, Tim

We enjoyed beautiful views of the coast and the upcoming mountains as we slowly climbed toward Tal y Fan, the first high point of the course. At one point we were treated to the company of multiple horses, including one that galloped past the runners on one side, then turned around and ran back behind us. This was super cool to see and an inspiring start to the day. Each day contained one water stop and one support point, and on the first day I was carrying extra water as there wasn't a great source for the first 20 miles. The forecast called for reasonable temperatures and little rain but high winds throughout the day. 

Our mountain pass water stop at Pen-y-Pass was also the site of the YHA Snowden youth hostel. I was pleased to find they sold snacks and happily purchased a high-calorie lemon bar to supplement what I'd brought. I should've gotten two as I ended up needing more food than anticipated later!

Shortly after leaving the water stop we began our climb to Crib Goch, the most technical part of the entire course. This ridge is featured on nearly all the promotional material for the race and is a tricky crux for many participants. I thought it was super fun! The first part of the climb includes some easy scrambling, where four points of contact are definitely useful. Some athletes were obviously uncomfortable, but the race had placed frequent course marshals and mountain rescue staff throughout the ridge. The wind was blowing hard from our left so as we proceeded up the ridge it was easy to keep one hand on the spiky rocks to my right and stay steady as I passed lots of others. This was my favorite part of the entire course. Another competitor later echoed my thoughts, saying "I felt most alive up there on Crib Goch, with the winds blowing, the beautiful views, and the rocky mountains." It was very slow going, and interesting foreshadowing of how much the course would impact my ability to cover distance efficiently. After Crib Goch, we continued around the rocky Snowden Horseshoe on better trails toward the summit of Snowden (Yr Wyddfa in Welsh), the highest peak in Wales at 1085m (3560 ft). We passed many tourists and locals hiking, and one jokester with his friends asked me "How many times have you done Snowden today?" I responded that this was my first time and he said "Well, this is my fourth, mate. Can I join you?" "Sure," I said. "We're going to Cardiff. We'll get there on Saturday." We all laughed in good fun as his jaw dropped. The views were fantastic along the ridge despite the multitude of hikers - Snowdon is commonly referred to as one of the busiest mountains in the world!

After making our way around the horseshoe the trail dropped precipitously off the nice rocks and into damp grass. We could see the day's camp from far above with only a short distance left, but the final descent of the day finished with a terrible stumble down a steep grassy hillside with no trail. I was glad to reach camp after 11 hours and 27 minutes, before the rain hit. I was pleased with my day and feeling confident as I checked into camp. 

My time: 11 hours and 27 minutes, 77th out of 234 finishers (29 DNFs or timed out)

Camp

The camps each night were similar and contained: 

• about 40 participant tents of 8 people each (reduced as people dropped out), 
• a long row of portable toilets,
• finish line tent, where we checked in and received our daily printout, confirmation that we had indeed hit all the checkpoints (~8-16 per day)
• medical tent, 
• kitchen tent including the part where we got our meals, 
• drying tent, which came to be one of my favorites. With both a heater and dehumidifier, this was a race-saver for me since I didn't have clean clothes for every single day.
• two long sinks with multiple taps for filling bottles and washing dishes
• charging tent, with 200 usb ports typically filled with GPS devices and phones
• large community tent with folding chairs/tables, beanbag chairs (my favorite) and lawn chairs, where competitors ate meals, chatted about the day, received our Dragon Mail, looked for lost and found items, and shared food (this was helpful as I could always use more during the day!) 
• a creek or river for bathing (cold but refreshing)
• an area for volunteer tents and race vehicles

I was handed my small drybag and made my way to my tent, where my large drybag was waiting for me. A few months ago there was a registration process to request tentmates but I had declined since I wanted to meet lots of people. My tentmates turned out to be a fun group of runners, and none of us had finished the race before at all! We were Cameron and Jonathan from California, Fumiaki from Japan, Ryan from Oregon, Jack and Patrick from the UK who were attempting their first ultra of any distance (!!) and me.

I immediately tried to figure out what to do first. I thought about this before the race and during the day but actually doing it while exhausted is very difficult! Here's my general routine each night: 

• wash and put on camp clothes (clean at first, steadily less so but at least not dirty running gear), 
• gather gps and wet items and take those to charging and drying tents, 
• get food and carry it to the big tent. All the food was vegetarian at this race. Each night there was a main (lasagne, shepherd's pie, etc.), a starch (rice/potatoes) and vegetables, plus dessert, cake, soup, chips (fries). There was also a tent dedicated to tea and coffee that I didn't use at all. 
• collect my Dragon Mail (Thanks to those who sent cheers during the race. It was wonderful to feel your love in my tired body and brain. You have no idea how special your messages are!)
• find a beanbag chair and dot-watch on the screen while chatting with other competitors. Reclining in a beanbag chair allowed me to put my feet up on a folding chair and also to focus a bit more. Sitting at a table I think I would have quickly become overwhelmed trying to keep up with all the conversations.
• go get more food and eat it (usually three or four trips to get food each night). 
• prep for tomorrow if time/energy allows (fill bottles, empty trash from pack, refill with food, clean clothes)
• set up sleeping mat and bag
• bathroom, brush teeth, bed 

Day 2:
Nant Gwynant to Dolgellau
Distance: 59km (36.5 miles)
Elevation gain: 3400m (11,155ft)
Strava map link

This day is regarded as another difficult day in the mountains. Each day the course is open from 6:00am to 10:00pm. Other than the fastest athletes, runners can start whenever they wish but the finish line closing time does not change. The top few runners must start after a certain time, otherwise they'll reach the finish before it has been set up! Based on my finish time the previous day, I decided to leave about 6:30 so I could avoid the rush at breakfast and the start line. This was a bad idea.

I felt pretty good after eating a big breakfast (which I kept the same each morning) of two helpings of porridge (oatmeal) with jam and seeds stirred in plus 2-3 waffles. Most days I grabbed a final waffle to eat as I walked out of camp. Today we started off with a big climb right out of camp, with the summit of Cnicht only 9km in and the day's high point of Moelwyn Mawr only 4km later. 

A few minutes in I heard a familiar voice behind me: "Hey it's you. How are you, mate?" It was Glen, whom I'd met the day before the race in the courtyard outside our flat. Writing now I am so grateful to have become friends with this man last week. He inspired and motivated me, made me laugh and supported me when I was in low places. We shared stories of our families and laughed at the absurdity of this event. In short, we took care of each other. At this point in the race we didn't know each other, but we ran together for a while. That turned into the entire rest of the day. We tried a shortcut during a downpour that turned into a "longcut" that was a very bad idea and resulted in us plodding uphill through heather, rocks and slippery mud and grass. It was type two fun for sure (the kind that's funny to look back upon but not fun at the time)! [Note: my dot-watchers tell me they were wondering what we were doing -- so were we!]

leaving camp with my cheeks full of waffle

conga line along the wall

This day was categorized by meeting lots of different athletes, lots of climbing and a mix of rocky traverses and fields. The longcut we took did allow us to see a rainbow, but the rain beforehand was very cold and at times sleeting on us! After the first few climbs, we descended and squelched our way through boggy fields and rolling hills before reaching a series of summits between 38km and 46km. After the last of these (Diffwys), we descended steeply down a trail, then a gravel road, then a paved road. We finally reached the river level after this joint-pounding descent, crossed the bridge and turned onto the flat old railroad grade...which never seemed to end. Nearly 5km later we reached the camp just before dark, pleased to have finished day 2 but aware of the urgency of getting to bed soon. I was so thankful for Glen's patient positivity as we struggled along the road and I got more grumpy with each passing step and no sign of the camp! 

Glen says we go this way!

No, this really is a shortcut...

Glen is #38. I am #198. Oops.

This is a really great trail we're on. 

There was lots of rain in camp that evening, but there were warm showers at the public campground nearby -- 500m away! That's normally not far, but walking through mud in sandals it took me a long time to reach this treat! In hindsight I should have focused on getting to sleep earlier. In camp that night I decided to get up even earlier the next morning in hopes of starting off early. Unfortunately two of my tentmates were timed out at various points on this day. 

My time: 13 hours and 27 minutes, 86th out of 164 finishers (99 total DNFs or timed out)

Day 3:
Dolgellau to Ceredigion
Distance: 70km (43.5 miles)
Elevation gain: 3400m (11,155ft)

Strava map link #1

Strava map link #2 (GPS battery died)

This day had the same amount of gain but with an extra 10km of distance added on. I knew it would be long, and after my experience the previous day I hoped to get an early start. Unfortunately that didn't happen and I left the camp about 6:30 again feeling frustrated with myself for being disorganized. It was raining and I turned on a podcast that eventually mentioned we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves, which made me feel a bit better!

From our start near sea level, the course started with a big climb toward the summits of Mynydd Moel (863m) and Cadair Idris (893m) less than 11km in. 

The tracker screenshots are from Meggan

Near the day's midpoint we were treated to the 175m/600ft out and back climb over 2km to Tarren Y Gesail. The weather was starting to clear at this point and it was fun to see many of the other competitors. It was becoming clearer by this point whose strength was climbing and whose was descending. We continued across the south portion of Snowdonia National Park before descending to the village of Machynlleth. Once again I was running low on food and I was very excited to stop at a gas station and grab a bag of Doritos and a Caramilk bar. I walked through town happily munching on the best bag of chips (called crisps in Wales) ever eaten.

From Machynlleth we climbed gradually for the next 20km to the summit of Pumlumon Fawr at 752m. We were treated to mostly pleasant running weather in the afternoon but the footing was awful: mostly boggy, muddy and filled with tussock (grasses that grow in clumps or bunches instead of forming a sod). Tussock should be a four-letter word -- Google tussocks in Wales and you'll get the idea. We also opened dozens of sheep gates, climbed stiles and avoided livestock throughout the day. Jokes were made several times throughout the event that one of the prerequisites should be "the ability to open multiple types of Welsh farm gates, regardless of rust level or current weather conditions."

The day finished with a long ridge descent, ending with a steep off-trail descent. I hoped to finish before dark, but eventually broke down and put on my headlamp, long after nearby competitors. I love running at night, and descents continued to be my strength so I was having fun. After slipping twice on places I was sure were solid, I put on my headlamp and continued down to the finish. 

My time: 14 hours and 30 minutes, 106th out of 144 finishers (119 total DNFs or timed out)

Day 4:
Through the Elan Valley
Distance: 69km (43 miles) 
Elevation gain: 2300m (7,546ft)
Strava map link #1

Strava map link #2 (GPS died just before the finish)

I met a leopard at one aid station

Not a hut...just a really big cairn

squelch, squish

I would rather forget most of this day. It was very rainy, very wet footing, and mostly walking through tussock fields. I didn't take many pictures because I spent most of the day walking through sheep poop, mud, tussock fields or a combination of all three. On the positive side, I linked up with Glen again for some long stretches and we managed to finish before dark. Far less elevation gain and a closing section on the road meant that the travel was slightly faster than the day before. 

Some others I met and leapfrogged or ran with throughout the week: 

• Caroline, whose cheery yellow backpack kept me going through some rough sections; 
• Neal, whose propeller hat propelled him to a finish despite making a cutoff on day 5 with 8 seconds to spare; 
• Niklas, who trained in Stockholm and spent two hours every Saturday doing hill repeats on a 30-meter hill
• Renton, who traveled from Singapore and who bravely waded into a large group of cows waving his poles and shouting to clear a path for us

I heard so many different accents it became difficult to know how to talk. Many of you know my subconscious habit of copying accents of those to whom I'm speaking (some find this annoying, some find it funny). By the end of this week my brain had no idea how it was supposed to sound!

When we reached the finish line there we learned of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. There was a lot of confusion and chatter in camp about whether the event could/would continue. Eventually we learned the event would remain unchanged except the finish could no longer be held at Cardiff Castle. The responses to the Queen's death were varied, but most athletes were more concerned about finishing their own journey this week.

My time: 13 hours and 41 minutes, 111th out of 136 finishers (127 total DNFs or timed out)

Day 5:
Into the Brecon Beacons National Park (It all comes unraveled)
Distance: 70km (43.5 miles)
Elevation gain: 3200m (10,499ft)

Strava map link

This day is billed as the crux, with most of the climbing coming in the second half of the long day. It was wet in the morning and the weather stayed ugly for much of the morning. The first few miles are on paved and gravel roads through uninspiring terrain. At one point I linked up with Mike and Pam from the US and we cruised down the road having a great chat, but we missed a turn and had to backtrack about 15 minutes. 

In Llandovery I was fortunate to find a bakery that is legendary among Dragon's Back participants. Right on the course, it is a beacon of hope for many runners in a very long day. I popped in and quickly grabbed two warm, flaky croissants and a ham and cheese wrap for later. I sent Meggan a video lauding the croissants as the best ever! The rain continued but the food definitely raised my spirits.

The long climb to Fan Brycheiniog drained a lot of my energy and I found myself falling behind most of those I'd been leapfrogging during the race. The rainfall increased and it was windy and cold as I struggled to move upward. At one point I caught up with Hannah, a member of the Montane sponsor relay team. We finally reached the summit and began to descend in rapidly improving weather but my tibialus anterior (tendon on front of ankle) had been acting up and I could barely run downhill. I was thankful for the company as we chatted but also aware of how slowly we were moving. I knew we were heading for a series of climbs and descents over 7 ridges in Brecon Beacons National Park and needed to keep momentum. We crossed a road after a creek crossing and I got a burst of energy as the sun came out and I ate a bunch of food. I had good uphill energy this time but was now dangerously close to the cutoffs. I actually moved well to the support point and CP5 for the day at 39km. When I got there I focused on grabbing my supplies and getting out efficiently. It was a steep climb out of the support point and I quickly dropped two runners behind me and began to gain on those ahead. I felt hopeful even though I left with only a few minutes before the cutoff. 

This part was kind of steep...

I'm done.

I made it to CP6 but felt like I'd used the last of my leg strength to climb out of CP5 and had lost my downhill running ability. My tibialis anterior (tendon on front of ankle) began to fatigue as the terrain eased and I found I could barely move going downhill. I had this problem 8 years ago at The Bear and it underscored what I knew: I hadn't trained enough for the mileage of this event. It seemed to take forever to reach the CP7 at Fan Nedd (stats reveal I had the slowest time in the race between CP6 and CP7). When I did arrive I was 37 minutes behind the recommended time of 15:15pm. I wanted to take off downhill to make up time like I'd done most of the first four days, but I could only hobble a little ways down before it became apparent that reaching the next cutoff wasn't going to happen. With multiple steep descents (not to mention the climbs in between) I would be hobbling in super late. I contacted the race staff and they arranged a vehicle pickup at the bottom of the valley, which took me a ridiculously long time to reach. Along the way Hannah joined me and also stopped as she was recovering from an injury.

My time: about 10 hours and 30 minutes, n/a out of 108 finishers (153 total DNFs or timed out)

Yes, that's a volunteer wearing a dragon costume

Glen through the aid station with a smile

Caroline rolling along

Day 6:
Cheering for others

After getting transported to Cardiff and seeing my family I was pleased to visit the finish line to cheer in a few of my new friends at the finish line. Congrats again to Glen, Sergio, and Caroline and I'm sorry to the rest of you I missed but who completed this amazing journey! You are truly Dragons!

Two of these numbers went through the course...the third is my spare number

Reflections:

I did not do enough race-specific preparation for this event, including run training, course scouting, packing, etc. and that's my fault. I was ready for the rocky technicality of the mountain sections -- they were super fun scrambling and beautiful. I was not ready for the sloppy, boggy, uneven terrain and the physical and mental energy it takes to navigate such areas. Fortunately I am blessed with resilient feet so did not struggle with blisters like many others. I had an amazing experience meeting runners from many places and am thankful for the chance to share stories and wilderness time with many of them. I endured 288km of challenging terrain and over 42,000ft (13,000 meters) of climbing. This was not the mountain race I expected -- the first day contained most of the mountain terrain and the rest was primarily bog and tussock-filled sheep fields. I enjoyed the supportive atmosphere at camp from participants, staff and volunteers, but I wish I'd had more time to enjoy it without the rush of preparation for the next day. I missed my family a lot during the event and look forward to adventuring in the wilderness with them! 

Thanks for reading. Here's to the next adventure, in my life and yours!