Welsh 1000m Peaks Race Hit by Storms
Rob Howard / 08.06.2009
The race follows a route from Aber in North Wales and crosses the three main mountain ranges of Snowdonia, the Carneddau, then the Glydderau and then on to the Snowdon Horseshoe, where it finishes on Snowdon's impressive summit. The accumulated ascent for the day is estimated by the organisers to be at about 8000ft but this year only a few hardy racers made it to the finish.
In unseasonably cold, wet and windy weather only 245 runners from the expected 600 decided to give the race a go and some of them ran into difficulty resulting in rescues involving police, mountain rescue teams and two RAF helicopters. Fortunately, everyone was safely accounted for and there was none of the press hysteria which accompanied last year's OMM, although questions will be asked about the advisability of going ahead with the event.
Wales News reported the female category winner Dr Sarah Ridgeway, defending the decision and saying,
"The conditions were certainly bad, but if an individual runner thinks they can't run it then they can turn around and go back the way they came.
"We were all carrying the right kit and we were told if you don't have full waterproof gear, don't even start.
"It's the individual runner's responsibility to know what they're capable of, to understand what they can cope with."
A mountain rescue spokesman added, "There are some people with minor injuries and there will no doubt be some experience gained."
The results on the Gorphwysfa Club website show there were 130 finishers and can be seen on the website at www.gorphwysfa.org.uk
(On the same weekend the LAMM took place in Scotland and had much warmer and more favourable conditions – see Race Reports for news on this event.)
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