It was with trepidation that I left home at 0500 hrs for the 2 hr drive to Llanthony Priory in the heart of the Blackies near Abergavenny. This event is without doubt the toughest imaginable (worse than the Jungfrau, Eiger, Swiss Alpine and appropriately even the full 100 Hilly Hundred –all of which for some stupid reasons I’ve done). The event is organised and manned appropriately by the Longtown Mountain Rescue people who do a fantastic job here and in the nearby Brecon Beacons. They even e mailed the 1100 combatants on Friday as follows: “Saturday will be a good day-light rain and hill fog clearing to leave a bright and breezy but dry day. But the freezing level will remain on the summits and it will feel cool at the height of the wind”. Freezing not as in frost but as in chill factor at zero degrees-how right they were.
In these predominantly long distance walking events with a 2000 hrs finish time you register any time after 0630 hrs, collect your card for stamping at the check points around the course and push off. I left at 0730 hrs by which time hundreds had already started on the 10, 20 and 30 mile events accompanied with the mandatory map, compass, whistle, torch and survival blanket/bag. Plus food of course. Water stations are few and far between (2 I think) but as always I drink from the mountain streams-best water anywhere and not in plastic bottles!
The Blackies are a series of ridges separated by U shaped valleys with neo vertical sides and yes, you’ve guessed it, you go from ridge to ridge, along the tops then up and down to the next ridge. The terrain is horrendous with rock strewn paths, black peat bog trails, paths in gorse and heather, vertical ups and downs and boulders a plenty to navigate. Running is not really a possibility so it’s race walking, shuffling, slow walking, and hands on knees etc for much of the course. Mind you there are wonderful open spaces on grass on the tops but I was so knackered up there that race walking was safest and easiest and I only fell over 4 times.
But the wind they mentioned was horrendous. It howled up the sides from Hay on Wye direction and over the tops non stop almost blowing you sideways or full into your face-and it was freezing! Thus my full compliment of clothing and spares in my back pack. It was finally behind us for the final top ridge 7 miles on the Offa’s Dyke Path.
Again in this event (as in March’s nearby Brecon Beacons 3 Peaks event) it was with pleasure and sadness that I ran over another of my great grand dad’s farms. This time at Tal y Maes farm, which is the remotest farm anywhere I reckon but huge in size with hundreds of sheep and cattle. He must have been crazy to farm here but very fit I guess! No changes there then since time began-just different families now.
This was the 30th year of the event so at the final check point you had the chance to do an extra 2 ish miles to make it 30 or use the usual course for the c 28 miles. For me it was a no brainer (but not for everyone) and the usual final mile trail was the easy option.
But this last mile was the worst and it took 45 minutes as it was a vertical descent from Bal Mawr at 1800 feet down to the Priory with precipitous drops of 500 feet from the 2 foot wide rough rock strewn path that we had to scramble down. Crazy or what?
Finally the Priory with drinks, cakes and a warm reception.
Next year? Well the views and scenery are wonderful but it was so hard that I may do the 10 miler having scaled the Blackies now at least 18 times-once with John Aylmer when we did it (the other way round) in 8 hours. But I have to go back to the area-best anywhere in the UK.
Massey time: Dave Phillips 9 hrs 18 mins. (22 mins faster than last year-or “less slow?”)
Race report by Dave Phillips.