Clem Dixon, Christian Poulton, Tarbo Fukazawa and Ian Marshall made their way to Dolgellau in Snowdonia for the race described as the toughest in Wales! Can’t really argue, the difficulty is not only the 5 mile climb from the town square but the differing terrain, steep tarmac out of the town, a wood infested with ankle turning roots, a swampy field and then the climb actually tarts. A long steep pull up the ‘Pony Path’, an impressive sight looking up and seeing a stream of colour slogging their way up. On reaching the top on through the checkpoint which must be reached within 1hr 15 mins otherwise you are turned back down the hill. From here the last mile or so to the summit is on a very rocky path, watch out for runners hurtling back down. The last few metres to the summit are an easy scramble, touch the trig point turn round and briefly look up to appreciate the stunning view from 3,000’ before gingerly picking your way through some jagged rocks to reach the rocky track back down.
Descending can be tricky on Cader you are constantly watching your feet and trying to look ahead virtually all the 2.5 miles to the bottom of the ‘Pony Path’. Back across the swampy field which sapped a bit more energy from the legs, through the wood watching for those pesky roots and eventually out onto the road and a last 1.5 miles gallop downhill on very tired legs to round the final corner and into the town square where a huge crowd clapped you in. There was tremendous support throughout the race.
Christian improved on last years’ time and won the V50 category, a tremendous run. Tarbo also had an excellent debut at the event.
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