Running 37 Miles In The Welsh Mountains - Black Mountains Trail Running Challenge
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
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The Black Mountains trail running challenge has been described as perhaps one of the toughest and most scenic ultra races in Britain. My brother, his girlfriend and I headed down to south Wales to find out why.
We camped at the Newcourt farm campsite, 100 metres away from the start and finish line, and set off early at 7.30pm. From tackling bramble bushes, scaling rocky slopes and running across long mountain ridges, this was one of the hardest events I’ve taken part in. With 8,300 feet of elevation gain and 37 miles clocked up, I was absolutely frazzled and deflated when I crossed the finish line.
That being said, I had tonnes of fun taking this challenge on and would love to try it again someday. If you’re looking to train for a longer ultra marathon or if you simply want a fresh challenge, I’d highly recommend this to any fellow runner.
The company that organise this event, Trail Events Co, provide you with a minimum kit list, and for good reason. During the race, it rained heavily and there was even a hailstorm at one point. Having the right kit made these situations easier to deal with and allowed me to carry on running calmly.
This video documents how I got on, I hope you enjoy it.
Kit list on the day:
Sports watch - amzn.to/3l3bhPU
Bag - amzn.to/3MpMhid
Running shoes - amzn.to/3N6wuEM
Camera - amzn.to/3uN3NV8
Extension pole - amzn.to/3hNmP9b
Outdoors Microphone - amzn.to/3erMMdc
Dry bags - amzn.to/3NBa66s
Portable chargers - amzn.to/3a5ytex
10,000mm hydrostatic head lightweight running jacket - amzn.to/3A7VUi4
My Strava performance on the day: / strava
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Great video mate. Great song choice too. Worked well.
All round great video! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks!
Nicely done. What's the next challenge lad?
Cheers! Next big challenge is definitely the North Downs Way 100 in August, that’s going to be crazy
Nice to see you out doing the trail running buddy. Definitely your best environment and one where you shine! Good luck for the North Downs Way 2022.
Cheers for that Shaun, it certainly was a fantastic route and an enjoyable run! Looking forward to the North Downs Way, more training for that coming up. Thanks pal
P.S. Thanks for taking the time to make these vlogs mate, they are really good. Your choice of music is also on point!
Ah nice one mate, thanks for the kind words. I do try to choose some decent tunes for the videos so that's much appreciated!
Loving watching all your videos Craig. I’m really starting to think ultra running might be my thing (I haven’t actually done any ultras yet…)
Cheers Conrad! Ultra running is my favourite out of all the distances. For me, ultras are adventures; you never know what's gonna happen
Looks amazing, this is an event that I wouldn’t mind doing! Is it well signed posted?
It's a great event; I'd highly recommend it. It was very well signposted but Trail Events Co who organise it ask you to download the route GPX file as a failsafe. That being said, we managed to stray off route about 5 times during the race but these were only minor deviations and we quickly found our way again
what an epic run. you got every weather pretty much. the climbs looked brutal but the views though. Well done for completing it.
Cheers mate! It was really fun and honestly one of the toughest races I’ve done. If you’re looking for a challenge, I’d recommend this one
Well done guys 👍🏻 You got the full range of weather for it! Good luck in the 100 🏃♂️🏃♂️
Cheers, Mark. It was a crazy race, that's for sure. Highly recommended if you're into trail running; this was my first proper trail race and I really enjoyed it!
Great video and really captured the day. We were signed up for the Ultra but dropped to the Marathon (was still 29.5m). The hills were brutal up and down. The hail stone was horizontal. Well done on your time 👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks very much and congratulations for finishing the marathon. It was a brutal but fun race, that’s for sure!
Those trees are super beautiful! What a place to race!
Agreed, it was an absolutely beautiful place to race! Hopefully will do it again in the future
Great video, very tough course. I'm volunteering at NDW100 this year so will say hi and good luck if I see you.
Cheers Michael. Do you know where abouts you're going to be positioned on the course? It's going to be a crazy day, that's for sure
@@runningcafe1 just had the email will be at Puttenham.
@@michaelday1896 nice one mate, very early on in the race then!
@@runningcafe1 yeah about 7 miles in. Be good to see everyone still fresh legged. Trying to get a volunteer place for next year so need to do my hours.