Snowdon horseshoe record attempt (Running)

Tuesday 16 June 2009 01:57PM

I decided to have a couple of running days in north Wales between a weekend’s climbing and my 7th Msc module down in Machynlleth. The weather has been mostly great, so yesterday I headed out to have a crack at a fast Snowdon horseshoe. I first ran this round when I was 15 or 16, hitch-hiking over from Derbyshire and spending a couple of days camped in the pass, reccying the fastest lines. I didn’t know if there was a record for the run then, and felt pleased to run 1hr 41. I decided to pop into the ranger office to ask them if they knew of a record. They looked at me as if I was a spotty, scrawny, kid, which I was, telling me that the record was 1hr 26 and had stood for years. They looked more than a little suprised when I claimed to have just run it in 1.41!

I’ve got a lot faster at running since then, mainly through getting older rather than training harder, although the training is picking up a bit now, so I always felt it was a record that might go with a bit of attention from my adult legs, and yesterday afternoon I decided to go and have a look.

I seem to get more “psyched up” for these types of challenges than I do even for races, and I set off hard from Pen Y Pass, passing startled walkers returning from a long day on the hill. I ran all the way to where the path splits to start the ascent of Crib Goch, where it becomes steeper and running was mostly replaced with walking and pulling on the rock. It started to spit a little on the way up Crib Goch, and I hoped it would stay dry long enough for me to clear the exposed pinnacles. Thankfully luck was on my side, and it didn’t start raining harder till I was on Crib Y Ddysgyl, where the terrain was less severe. I got mixed up about the best line here, trying to remember mental notes made 14 years ago, and was glad to reach the summit and put my head down to run hard up to the ever-crowded summit of snowdon. A heart in mouth descent brought me to the foot of Y Lliwedd and the final uphill effort. Again I kept getting the line wrong, finding myself on awkward scrambly ground with a good path below me to the right, and then being unsure about which summit counted, and so going to both. From here I looked at my watch, I had 15 minutes to get back to Pen Y Pass in order to take the record, which seemed a big ask, but worth giving a go. I tried to open up as much as possible on the steep rocky descent before the track. At the track I had 4 minutes to spare as the heavens opened, soaking me in seconds. The record still seemed on, until I remembered just how long that track is – it went on for ever, even throwing in some extra ascent to add insult to injury. I arrived back at the carpark, completely soaked, 1hr 31 after leaving. Ten minutes faster than my spotty teenage self and close enough to have another go sometime…

Approximate split times (I didn’t have a watch with a split time facility):

Crib Goch: 29min Snowdon: 52min Y Lliweedd: 1hr 11min Pen Y Pass: 1hr 31min 30sec

Note: The record of 1hr 26 is only what I’ve been told, I’ve not seen it recorded anywhere, I can’t help but feel that some of the very good runners who have lived in Snowdonia over the years may well have run faster than this. Colin Donnelly for example, who holds an amazing record for the 15 3000 foot peaks of 4hrs 19, would seem a likely candidate. If anyone knows of anyone having run the horseshoe in faster than 1.26, get in touch (es@es-on-ice.co.uk).