And again

Cader Idris with N&B

After 20+ years I finally got Mrs sbrt to come up a mountain with me. Not just up any mountain but up Cader Idris and to one of my favourite places Llyn Cau.

Cader, Gadair, Gader or Cadair?

Ras y Gader/ Cader Idris Mountain Race

18/5/13

Whatever you call it, this is a Classic, Welsh, mountain race. Not the most scenic route, up the iconic Cader Idris but the rest of the ingredients, made it a great day out.

Starting off with a circling Red kite, greeting me at the border of Meirionnydd. Ok I will cut the poetic bollox, the kite was completely indifferent to me but hey, it was a treat to see it all the same.

The rest of the ingredients, in no particular order;

Batala Bermo  Brazillian, Samba, Reggae, drumming band from Barmouth. Doing there thing at the start line.

Catching up with Lightning. Always a pleasure

Great support  and atmosphere provided by the good people and businesses of Dolgellau.

Catching up with Johnny B and Andy. Fantastic result Johnny. I am not worthy.

A spot prize of a Welsh Dragon Buff. Woo hoo. Not sure If being an Englishman, I am allowed to wear this.

Bara brith (Welsh Fruit-bread) and a cuppa.

Seeing the fast guys and girls, blasting back downhill.

Up!

Up!

Up

And more up

1st Lady Lauren Jeska, Flying

Still smiling

Photos of #34 by Alastair Tye and Graham Spencer

Many thanks to all who made it happen.
See you next year

S.A.D. part 2

What a difference a couple of days make. After near perfect conditions on my first S.A.D. run the weather could not have been more different. The run starts from Minffordd again but this time instead of taking the usual ridge up, I follow the footpath around the edge of Llyn Cau and strait up Crag Cau.

Once up on the ridge it is 'clag central' with some slightly scary gusts of wind. It is good to get out of it and take refuge in the summit shelter. I scoff a cereal bar, take a bearing and head off into the miasma.

 From here things went wrong. Instead of following the bearing I decided to trust my mountain memory and gut feelings...... Fool.

Next time the cloud clears, I am heading down a spur towards Lyn y Gadair. The clag closes in again. My first thoughts are "I hope I don't have to call Mountain Rescue. The shame." 

 Map out, belay jacket on and have a think. Unlike the weather, all becomes clear.

Up and running again, it seems to take an age to reach Mynydd Moel, where I can confirm I am in the right place. Phew! From here it is just a soggy jog, back to join Mrs sbrt and Billy for brunch.

S.A.D. (Seasonally Affected on Cader Idris)

Monday the16th of January, officially the most depressing day of the year. I guess some of us just didn't notice.

Can you see the 'rock face'

Do I look S.A.D.
Second thoughts, don't answer that.

Counting contours, Ras Y Gader 2011

Top right is Penygader, our turn around point

As you may have guessed from the number of posts about Gader Idris(Cader Idris), this is one of my favourite places and races.

The race is a strait forward  out and back course of 10.5 miles(16.9 km) and 3000 ft(0.9km) of ascent. Here is the race map . Starting at sea level, from the town of Dolgellau, well marked and marshalled (no navigation required), just a trot up to the trig point and back down again. Simples.

   

Dolgllau, the start and finish line

Simple yes, easy no, not for me anyway. The amount of ascent and descent  is much higher than any of my local runs or anything in the Peak, also much of the course is pitched stone and rock  .

from the start its a sharp tarmac climb out of Dolgellau to the only level part of the race. A mile or so of easy running, which goes through shaded woodland, around Llyn Gwernan and then across the boggy meadow. Even after seeing the runners in front struggle with the marshy section, we all did a little comedy dance.

comedy moment in the boggy meadow 

. 

Onwards and upwards

#63  navigationally challenged,  backmarker,  MV 40+ and  numpty. Stephen Burt.
In spite of having "special needs", Stephen manages to enjoy a happy and active life

Moody mountain

From the Car park at Ty-nant  it is all up hill. 750metres upwards in 3km, give or take a bit. I don't use GPS or have any digital mapping for this area,  so all measurements are thanks to Ordnance Survey map OL23 and a piece of string.

Enough of facts and figures, that's not what fell running is all about. Much as I enjoy looking at maps and pondering routes. Its sections like this that float my boat. the steep climb and the 'brain out, brakes off' dash back down. I am not fast or fearless enough to be a great descender but I love it. Going with gravity not against it, a bit like falling without hitting the ground. 

Yep! going up has its own rewards but downhill is where the fun is at.

One up one down

One of the faster runners enjoying the descent off Penygader.

After the drop off the mountain, it was jelly legs and mardy bums all the way back to Dolgellau.

Other  highlights;

It was  good to see  fellow blogger, John, aka Lightning of http://mytrainingandracing.blogspot.com/ and also to meet Mrs Lightning.

All the very best for your plans for this year.

All runners received a commemorative mug.

It didn't rain.

A lovely cuppa tea and a scone.

Back to facts and figures;

This was the 21st Ras Y Gader . Happy coming of age!

Lloyd Taggart won, with a time of 1hr 21min 27sec. Only 9 seconds short of the record.

I finished 4 minutes slower than last year. Taking 2hr 16minutes (oh dear! Again, I really must try harder).

More Gader results and links to race photos from the excellent Mud Sweat And Tears site.

Many thanks to all who made the 2011 Ras Y Gader possible. See you again next year.

Gader again

 The  Cader Idris Fell Race comes of age this month. It is the 21st birthday of the Ras y Gader and I have just posted off my entry for this cracking race.

Mrs sbrt and I have been returning to this beautiful area, since our first camping trip together, many moons ago. It was love at first site. Long sandy beaches, the unspoilt Rhinnogs and of course the iconic Chair of Idris (Cader Idris, Gader Idris, or Cadair Idris).

 These Photos are from  a camping holiday two years ago (2009). I nipped out for an early morning run, stopping for a cereal bar breakfast, at Llyn Cau.       

Ras Y Gader 2010

That was  hard work.


I came away from this race satisfied rather than elated and I am not sure why. It could have been the weather, (we were in cloud and rain up on Gader) the long drive or because I aggravated some old injuries.

The race was a 5 mile climb out of Dollgellau round the trig point and back down the same way.  I really enjoyed the descending off the peak on the rocky path but the final 1/4 of a mile, tarmac run-in felt like torture.

Results; I managed to finish 127th of 214 in 2hrs 12min. RayM was 140th in 2hrs 16 well done Ray.

It was also good to meet up with John Nightingale of http://mytrainingandracing.blogspot.com/. Shame we were driving it would have been good to have a post race beer with you John.

The View

Eating/drinking a gel. Mmmm fruit flavoured cold snot.

Dodgy Greek dancing

Many thanks to all the helpers, organisers and especially the marshals who were up on the hill, in the rain. See you next year.


Race photos by http://www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk/caderidris2010.html