if I can do it, so can you (maybe)
I am driving on the way to the race when an extremely rare white rhino steps onto the road, so I swerve, lose control, and smash through a barrier, off the Golden Gate bridge and into the river, where I have to break free from my sinking Delorean (purple) and swim to the bank, chased all the way by robot piranhas. I make it to the race just in time, but I’m a bit tired and wet.
I am nervous the week leading into this race. Having run the Snowdonia Trail Marathon on the Sunday, smashing my body and mind against the cold rocks of Snowdon, I now have 6 days to get ready for the International Snowdon Race, 10 miles up and down Snowdon as quick as you can. I have the added pressure and privilege of being selected to represent Wales, and also Snowdon Race being chosen as part of the World Cup Series this year.
I am aiming hard for the ON Snowdonia Trail Marathon. It is the GB Trial for the World Mountain Running Champs in Argentina. I want 3 things; to win, to gain my first GB vest, and to represent GB in Argentina. I want these things so badly that I am prepared to wake up at 6am every morning for training, except on Sundays, where I wake up at 4.45am instead.
I decide to put the hammer down. I want to win, and I’m not going to hide it. The first 2 miles are uphill, the four of us are together, but I won’t let anyone past me.
I forget every year how hard Abersoch 10k is. Relentlessly up and down hills. A stretch of trail, and a brutal uphill at the halfway point, then finishing with 1km along soft sand. After the poor showing at London Marathon, this is the first benchmark test. I have to be faster than last year. But chasing your own shadow is so hard, you are always breathing down your own neck. With 1km to go I am on track to break 33 minutes, which is my A goal. I can see the finish line, I just cannot get there.
I know that Owain Williams is running really well, so resolve to try and hang on to him for as long as possible. Calf gets looser as race goes on. Gosh, I am really enjoying it. So exhilarating and different from the monotony of road running.
