Snowdonia Marathon - Feedstation Five

Snowdonia hosts spectacular sporting events such as the Snowdon Race, Étape Eryri, the Snowman Triathlon and yesterday was the Snowdonia Marathon. Staging these events involves a huge volunteer effort and feedstation five, on the way into Beddgelert, was staffed by volunteers from the Snowdonia Society.

We followed our instructions laying out refreshments in the prescribed sequence of water, squash, isotonic and gel. 75 minutes after setting out from Llanberis the front runners, with police escort and motorbike mounted cameraman, raced past totally ignoring our goodies. For the next ten minutes runners arrived in ones, twos and threes but then it was rush hour; so many customers it was difficult to maintain high standards of service. The knack of placing a polystyrene cup into a runner’s tired and moving hand is a skill that comes with experience, better practised with waterproofs.

It’s a popular event, sold out six months in advance, with good humoured runners, lungs full of invigorating mountain air. An event which is a welcome out of season boost to the local economy with many competitors travelling and staying the weekend to take part.  Thank you to the runners, the volunteer marshalls, the sponsors and especially to the organisers who make it happen and last year donated £14,000 to local good causes.

This year's winner was Rob Samuel, from local club Eryri Harriers, with a time of 02:43:50.