Black Mountain Roundabout

This story was taken from the September 2006 Sospan newsletter. We were inspired by the story and have therefore posted it here for all. If you have never done a mountain marathon, you can't say that you don't know what you're letting yourself in for! Well done Gwyon. Story follows...

I love fell walking, enjoy running and so when I followed a link Martin had put on the Sospan’s web-site I came across the Talybont Trial, organised by the Newport Outdoor Group I started getting interested.

After looking at their web-site I found that they organise each April the “Black Mountain Roundabout – Mountain Marathon”. A little bit of surfing and I soon found that there are many events for those who love the mountains.

Living in Llanelli means that we can’t easily train on long steep multi terrain hills, although the hills above Pontardulais can be useful but I thought I’d give the “Black Mountain Roundabout” a go.

Rule one when doing anything in the mountains is prepare for the worst-case scenario [people die in the Brecon Beacons, because they are not properly equipped]. The organisers demand that each contestant carries a waterproof jacket & trousers, first aid kit, whistle, compass, map, fluid and “food”. A full kit check is carried out on the day & badly kitted participants are stopped from taking part.

The course is not marked, you have to map read & pass through 10 checkpoints. There are only two drinks stations [15 miles and 20 miles]. After messing about with all sorts of combinations I managed to get my rucksack down to 13 pounds.

Training: I followed a marathon training schedule I found on the internet, plotted a course that basically took me up and down Mynydd Sylen twice and with other hills on the run the total ascent was 2,300 feet with a maximum distance of 21 miles.

The Black Mountain Roundabout is an event not a race. Runners and walkers take part and you keep your own time. A piece of advice I picked up was to develop a good walking technique because some fells are so steep and long it’s very difficult [almost impossible] to run up them.

What kind of time could I expect to do this in? The longest one-day mountain marathon in the UK takes place on the Isle of Man. It is 30 miles with 8,000 feet of ascent. The winner does it in five hours and the walker/runners do it in about 7hours 30 mins so if I managed to do the “Roundabout” in 6 – 6 ½ hours I’d be chuffed.

The day arrived: beautiful blue sky, which was a relief as doing this is in the mist & rain would have been really hard going. The weather would be cold [0 celsius on the highest summits] but sunny.

The first two miles, starting in Crickhowell, is on roads then it’s multi terrain for the next 22 miles. I got to the first check point on Crug Mawr [@ 4 miles and 1900 feet climbed] but the wind was picking up.

The next 8 miles was relentless. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, the wind was icy cold, we went through ankle deep peat bogs, frozen puddles and open exposed moorland. We finally got to the second check point on Waun Fach @ 2,600 feet [12 miles done].

Soon after this we dropped down, got out of the wind and began making our way to the 3rd check point at Pengenffordd [Poor map reading here: I went the wrong way, fell and lost about 15 mins.]. Cold drinks supplied here. 15 miles done but time wise we’re only half way, the next 10 miles are the hardest [3,400 feet ascent to go]. I’d taken just under 3 hours so I was on track.

The climb [1,000 feet] up to Mynydd Gorse was steep and my calves were screaming at this point but the run down the other side was great. Then it was another steep 500 feet climb up to the top of Mynydd Troed and I began to get cramp in my right quads. Still it was a great run down to the next drinks station at 19 miles.

The wording on the website is “You have done 20 miles by now and you're about to hit the wall - 1800 feet of it - before you top Pen Allt- Mawr”. They weren’t joking. This climb was horrendous. My hips were hurting, it was never ending, there’s no real path just heather and grass. The summit looked a long way up. I stopped to have a drink and the guy passing me said “Don’t stop mate, you won’t start again”.

I finally got to the summit [ooh, that hurt].

Then a reasonable jog to the last check point on Table Mountain.

Then down the hill towards the road back to Crickhowell. By now I’m really looking forward to running on road again. Then at last the road and it’s the last mile to the finish. Back in about 6 hours 15 minutes. The first guy back was a well-known fell runner and he did it in just under 4 hours.

A great day out. Look forward to next year.