Ultra Tour De Cymru (South Wales 100) Ultra by Run Walk Crawl: June 21st to 22nd 2019

The Ultra Tour De Cymru (was SW100) is billed as a 100-mile ultra-trail footrace starting and finishing in Cardiff, crossing the South Wales Mountains and Valleys and the Brecon Beacons.  It is a test of endurance over varied and challenging terrain, suitable for the committed and competent ultra-trail runner. The route has approximately 6000 meters of ascent and is over 90% on trails. It was a UTMB qualifying race eligible for 6 UTMB points (note: new regime in place from 2021).

The Race certainly lived up to its description. The 1900h start on the Friday meant that my usual pre-race routine had to be adapted slightly but I travelled over from Bristol in the morning with the kit I needed for the first half of the race; my wife, Sandy, travelled later having collected  our daughter, Gwyneira, from school. I managed to get some rest at my mother-in-law’s house before my sister and brother in law, Jo and Mike Gwynne, took me to the start at Cardiff Harlequins RFC. I wasn’t sure whether this evening start would be good or bad, but it did mean that I was ‘fresh’ for the night navigation across some tough, high ground. The weather was set to be good which removed one potential complication. Checkpoints (CPs)were spaced approximately every 6-10 miles and there were a number of compulsory clips located on the course (for example, the top of Cribyn) to stop people cutting corners.  Jo and Mike crewed me for the night section of the race and then Sandy took over from Tal-y-Bont reservoir. I never rely on the check points completely during races but these seemed fairly well stocked even if a little late setting up in the later stages; it was the one thing that Jo, Mike and Sandy commented on was that they would often arrive at CPs to find them either setting up or not there yet! 

The Route: In 2019 the route started in Cardiff and headed out of the city along the Taff trail and crossing the River Taff before heading west along the waymarked 'Ridgeway route'. After chatting with the race leader in the first few miles up to Taffs’ Well, he then shot off at some pace up the Garth; having run a few 100 milers I had my own race plan and settled into an easier pace. After approximately 15 miles along the ridgeway route having passed through Llantrisant, the many wind farms along the section and up Mynydd Y Gaer we turned north to Glynogwr and through Ogmore Forest and its flooded paths, before reaching open fell to the top of the Bwlch.  

With night falling head torches were needed as the route followed the Maindy Trail down and across the valleys of Treorchy, over Maerdy Mountain and Mynydd Bwllfa and down towards Hirwaun. It was just after leaving Treorchy I began to see the leader’s head-torch ahead of me which started a game of cat and mouse.

After Hirwaun the route took me past Penderyn, out into 'Waterfall Country' and the Brecon Beacons National Park. The 'Four Waterfalls Walk' route is a highlight of the route as you pass under the waterfall 'Sgwd yr Eira', by moonlight.  It was just before Ystradfellte Village that I finally managed to catch up and pass the early leader; it was great to see another friendly face with Sean O’Connor and his son, Tom, running the CP offering encouragement. 

As the sun began to rise it was time to cross the more exposed summits of Fan Llia, Dringarth and Fan Frynych. The ground under foot was really boggy and difficult to traverse quickly. It was with great relief that I eventually dropped down through the Graig Cerrig Gleisiad (Nature Reserve) to the layby in time for a brief stop and breakfast at the CP. 

With beautiful clear skies above and the temperature rising, the route then took me to the top of Pen Y Fan (via Corn Du) and across the stunning Brecon Beacons mountain range of Pen y Fan, Cribyn and Fan y Big before a long descent to Talybont reservoir.  From here the steepest climb of the route is Tor Y Foel -  the crux of the route - and mentally for me the most difficult of all the climbs. At this stage everything hurt.

Heading south through Trefil it was next onto the Rhymney Vale, the mountain peaks of Rhymney Hill, Mynydd Bedwellte, New Tredegar, Cefn y Brithdir, Gelligaer (picking up Mike as a pacer) and then Caerphilly Castle. I had hoped to make up some time in this section, but my legs had different ideas despite Mike’s best efforts to chivvy me along. Skirting around Caerphilly Castle, it was onto the final push through the Warren and over Caerphilly Mountain (Mike being randomly stopped to be asked about the local bus timetable?!) and Crag yr Alt, before heading back to Cardiff via Castle Coch.

Pros: It is on the doorstep, so many of the trails on the route are familiar and for those that aren’t, carrying out recces are straight forward. The sights and scenery are amazing: the waterfalls such as Sgwd yr Eira are truly breath-taking, as is the Brecon Beacons mountain range of Pen y Fan, Cribyn and Fan y Big.  

Cons: The course is signposted except for the Brecon Beacon section (as a national park) which is the bit done at night in the dark. I was lucky the weather was good but in bad weather the conditions on the tops of the mountains would be difficult.  Just when you think that you’ve done with climbing, after the long descent to Talybont reservoir, there is the steepest climb of the route, Tor Y Foel.

Memorable: running through Treorchy streets at pub closing (I thought all Welsh men could sing or at least hold a tune!); the sound of windmills in the dark; the sunrise over the Beacons/Tal-y-Bont. 

Not So Memorable: The last few miles running from Caerphilly Castle along the Taff Trail. Having not consumed anywhere near enough real calories since the Beacons it felt like this section went on forever and all I could think was “when is this going to f@*$ing end?”.  I have to thank Mike for accompanying me in and Jo for crewing me and supplying a beautifully sweet orange ice lolly through this last section to keep me moving.

The finish was both memorable and something of an anti-climax. I had finished first and Gwyneira with our good friend, Fiona Pounder, made enough cheering and bell ringing to wake the dead - but the race team were still busy setting up the finish for the SW50 and the main body of SW100.  They had also set the finish meal and photo backdrop upstairs in the rugby club – a flight of stairs too far after 100 miles and 6700m of climbing. Jo eventually tracked down my medal and two finishers from the SW50 congratulated me. A few days later the 1st Male Veteran trophy arrived unceremoniously in the post; however, the 1st place overall award arrived only after a gentle email reminder! 

Recommendation: This is a well-attended race organised by a reputable company and is an excellent race especially if you like going up and down mountains in variable Welsh Weather!  They have excellent medical back-up but the GPS is erratic and I was “lost” to both the tracking system and my crew for quite considerable sections.  The main gripe for me was the “last minute”-ness of setting up the later aid stations and finish line.