Categories: uncategorized
Date: 29 September 2004 12:48:38
race the train is an excellently organised and quite unique race based around the talyllyn steam railway in tywyn, wales.
what makes it particularly unique is that your supporters rather than being left standing about at the start/finish can ride on the train, and if you're lucky yell abuse at you when they pass.
there's a fun run, 10k and kiddies races throughout the saturday morning and a bit of a bash in the evening. the main event in the afternoon is the 14.5ish miles out and back which the train does in around 1hr45 minutes. since it's fairly severe off road in places on unmade farm tracks and sheep tracks you have to be pretty speedy to actually beat the train.
last year i managed 2:08 or was it 2:18 (i severely died toward the end) but thoroughly enjoyed it so i came back a little wiser this year but probably not much fitter as i haven't had time for any specific training.
we came down on thursday evening to dry out, having abandonded a very very wet snowdonia and were camping about half a mile from the town along with a few hundred other runners by friday evening! although the early arrival ensured a good spot. knowing that last year it had been hot & bone dry, and this year the weather was a little damp and changeable i went out friday evening to check out the small part of the route that is public right of way. unfortunately being armed with a scrap of map printout i got a little lost and ended up going rather further than i wanted. it was damp and muddy in places, but not too bad.
so shortly before the afternoon start we gathered on the bridge alongside the station in tywyn and when the train's whistle went off we all charged. about a mile on the road to start with, knowing the course i was determined to run a sustainably hard pace for the first half. getting off road my trail shoes were instantly better than last years choice of only mildly grippy running shoes.
there are some steep climbs in the first half but mostly on sensible roads or dirt tracks making them quite runnable. the field strung out a little and my friend andy was looking rather rough already (and he's meant to be faster than me heehee).
toward the turnaround point with the track on your right you can look up and see the faster runners already having crossed over and climbed significantly. we've got that still to come of course!
sure enough, after a couple of long stretches on nice smooth grassy fields comes the turnaround point. back across the field and through a gate onto fairly single track path before crossing the track (under i think!) and up a steep tussocky bank. here starts the sheep trail which perches on the side of a steep hill, trying not to think abotu the consequences of misfooting i'm sure a few have come a cropper here in the past. almost no chance of overtaking here so just try and conserve energy for the next sections.
i cant recall properly which order things happen in now but eventually the shep track gives way to a gravel farm track that climbs with great views and a surprising location for a water station before diving down the side of the hill again.
there's a field which you'd think was a releif but since it's also on the side of the valley and you have to run diagonally across, up it's camber it's a whole new world of ankle and calf pain.
the suicidal dive down to the dolgoch falls is enjoyable and they certainly looked spectacular after the rain this year. unfortunately this is then followed by a roughly stepped climb back out of that little valley.
another descent, the marshal warns us of the mud as my ankle gets swallowd up buy it followe d by a rather slippy ditch to cross just to finish you off.
finally you rejoin the route you ran on the way out and follow it back over a couple of climbs to the road, at one point whilst im away from the track here the train finally passes me. as i drop down alongside the track into a field i'm almost level with the last carraige and watch it steam off into the distance.
back on the road and it's almost over not withstanding a sneaky left and long drag uphill on a lane. eventually we're back toward town and i know how far it is to go.. i can open the throttle a little to cross the bridge where we started and hang a left into the field with the finish. staring at the clock over the finish line it ticks dangerously toward 1:55 i manage a bit of a spurt to keep it a few seconds under.
didn't manage to see lisa on the train this year, but chuffed with the improvement in time. maybe in a few years i'll be able to sneak in ahead of the train.