The Beautifully Brutal Christmas Challenge Thing!

From late October 2019 through to the end of December 2019 I found myself
between jobs for the first time in my working life. The Beautifully Brutal Christmas challenge came along at just the right time!

A crazy challenge of do or dare from Huw Williams supported by many friends from the Beautifully Brutal community, all egging each other on, offering support and having a good laugh in the process...

Laps up and down a street with Xmas Decorations

A daily 'Advent calendar' of running challenges, increasing in distance, repetition and embarrassing craziness as the month went on...

A total of 24 hours of running completed over the advent period covering 124 miles :-)

A truly inspiring and uplifting challenge... Just what the doctor ordered!

Da iawn Huw!

Run through a Supermarket

Fancy dress run

A run with birds

Pen Llyn Winter Edition 37 mile Ultra Marathon

The 'Beautifully Brutal' Pen Llyn Winter Edition Ultra Marathon was decidedly more brutal than it's Summer namesake, despite it being around 20 miles shorter.

It takes in much the same route as the Summer edition but with a start and finish point of Pwllheli Golf Club so missing out the the Aberech loops and a more direct route North to South which actually makes for a much nicer route, given the conditions on the day it was just as well! Huw described the weather forecast for the day at the pre-race briefing as "It's going to be shit, get shitter, then back to shit again, then it'll be shit in the dark"! Pretty accurate as it happens! :-)

The run started at 9am in howling winds and driving rain.

We took quite a battering as we ran along the exposed coastal path from Pwllheli up on to Llanbedrog Head and similar on the descent along Warren beach with sea foam and sand whipping across the beach and in to our faces!

The route then takes the same path up over Mynytho and once over
the crest of the hill and shelter of the worst of the wind only had to contend with the rain.


A good and direct route over from Edern, via Nefyn Golf Club to the Ty Coch where my family were bracing the rain to spur me on at the checkpoint there. Never has a hot soup in the rain tasted so good (did I mention it was raining!?).

The run from there seemed to get wetter as the steady rain became a driving heavy downpour.

Along the coastal path to Nant Gwrtheyrn and then the leg sapping climb as dusk came up the hill and continuing on up to the top of the BT tower hill which forms part of The Rivals.

Cold, wet, tired, and hungry on the descent this really was one of the lowest lows I've ever experienced on any event!

There were quite a few nods of encouragement and thumbs up from runners but an eerily quiet mood as runners had their heads down to make progress.

Between here and the pit stop at the Vic Tavern at Llithfaen was were a lot of runners dropped out.

By the time I reached the Vic I was numb with cold and shivering uncontrollably, seriously considering my first DNF. Met by my concerned wife Karen, I had some warm soup and coffee, had a complete change of running gear into dry clothes, donned better waterproofs (a little too late) and checked the time. Unusually for a Brutally Beautiful event, the time cut off of 10 hours was always in the back of my mind. Having run 29 miles, I had just over two and a half hours to complete the last eight miles. Three miles of which I knew were downhill. I decided that if I at least ran those three miles I could probably walk the remainder of the route and still just make it within the ten hour cutoff, so off I set.

By now it was full darkness and my mandatory head torch wasn't giving off the best light, but my additional hand torch more than compensated. At last the rain had stopped! I felt surprisingly good for the warm food and dry clothes and ended up running the rest of the way at a fairly good pace.

The Marshals all along the route were amazing, standing around in such dreadful conditions! Hats of
to them all!

I was SO pleased to complete this run, in 9 hours 37 minutes. Despite the relatively short distance for an Ultra, the conditions were brutal. Would I do it again? Yup probably would! :-)

Abersoch ROC Triathon ~ Leg 3 of Dave's Welsh Triple Challenge ~ £655 raised for the RNLI

Having not taken on a Triathlon since the 2016 Ironman Weymouth, the Abersoch ROC Triathlon ticked all the boxes to tempt me out of my unintended triathlon retirement!

A 1.5km Sea Swim, a 31 mile bike ride to the foot of Snowdon, a 12km run up to the summit of Snowdon and back down, 31 mile bike ride back to Abersoch for a final 1km run along the beach. 115km in total and equivalent to a half Ironman distance... Where do I sign!? :-)

It was good to be setting up in transition again!

Never a fan of mass swim starts but soon got in to the mix and jostled my way around the first few hundred meters to settle into a good pace, completing the swim in a fairly decent time for me of 35minutes and 17seconds.

Out of T1 on the bike and along the coastal road out of Abersoch, through Pwllheli around the marina and then through Criccieth to Tremadog on the outskirts of Porth Madog before taking a left turn in land and a slight climb through Bedgelert up to the foot hills of the Watkin Path into T2 for the 'run' up to Snowdon Summit.

I say 'run'. It was very much a mixture of powere hiking and running where I could with an out and out scramble up the last steep half mile up to the summit of Snowdon, making the timed cut off point 6km up the route with 25 minutes to spare!

I took a few moments to savour the views at the summit after 1 hour 50 minutes and 45 seconds of climbing!

I thought it might have been an easier route down but the scramble down was probably more precarious than going up! once on to the lower slopes I made up good time,descending back to T2/T3 in a time of 1 hour 18 minutes and 45 seconds.

Back on the bike and glad of a few miles gentle down hill before hitting the undulating coastal road back to Abersoch, really having to dig deep for the tough return journey into a slight headwind, reaching Abersoch and T4 in 1 hour 58 minutes and 34 seconds.

A quick change back in to another set of running gear  for the final 1km run along Abersoch beach in a time of 7 minutes and 1 second to the finish to complete in a total time (including transitions) of 8 hours 13 minutes and 56 seconds!

This is a fantastic event and one I'd definitely recommend for it's unique twist on your standard Triathlon in some of the best scenery the UK has to offer! Da Iawn to the organisers! :-)

It also wrapped up my Welsh Triple Challenge for the RNLI in 2019, raising a very pleasing £655 from very kind supporters donations... Thank you very much all! / Diolch yn fawr iawn pawb!

RNLI Porthdinllaen Family 5km Fun Run - £1,800 raised for the Porthdinlllaen Lifeboat

Registration

As with all the best ideas, this too came from a night out in the pub with our good friends Mali and Robat from the Porthdinllaen RNLI lifeboat. Whilst having a lovely dinner we hatched a plan for a Summer Family Fun Run and the rest, as they say, is history!

A small event team of Mali, Owain (the Coxswain), Karen, Ken and myself  organised the event with many of the crew member volunteers and the help of Nefyn Golf Club, the local Coastguard, Stu and the team at the world famous Ty Coch pub and the National Trust who gave us kind permission to hold the run across their land, we plotted a 5km and a 2km cicular loop from Nefyn Golf club, along Morfa

Nefyn beach to the Ty Coch before venturing up over the Golf course for another stunning loop.

In the run up to the event we had just under 100 people registered and in the days before, with strong winds and rain forecast the event was in jeopardy of even being able to safely continue!

But then on the morning of the event, the rain didn't materialise, the sun started to break through and the wind subsided. We suddenly had a huge rush on at the Golf club registration eventually having a
start line of 292 runners, with a very balanced mix of local and holiday making families.

A very competitive front end of the run from both children and adults to a fabulous finish line at the Ty Coch!

We were really taken aback at the support and a whopping £1,800 raised on the day which surpassed all our hopes and expectations!

A full RNLI press release here and hoping this too will become an annual event! :-)

https://rnli.org/news-and-media/2019/august/13/porthdinllaen-rnli-family-fun-run-raises-over-1800?fbclid=IwAR1PC8q3-HQyHHIgg6uz9tfDXkIFDr383N89sdiafPlyOHlhWIGJFvXLm6k

The Beautifully Brutal Pen Llyn 50m Summer Ultra Marathon ~ Leg 2 of Dave's Welsh Triple Challenge

Since completing the Weymouth Ironman back in 2016 and getting a message from Chas one of the lifeboat crew who rescued me back in 2007, an ultra runner himself, suggesting I try an Ultra Marathon, this has been on my bucket list!

A 50 mile trail run looping the beautiful Llyn Peninsular.

A very early but spectacular start at Aberech Beach with AC/DC blasting from sound systems and flares lit along the beach made for a fab start!

Running clockwise around the peninsular along the beach, around Pwllheli Marina and onwards along the coastal path towards Llanbedrog and the first real climb of the day to reach the Tin

Man monument at the summit of Llanbedrog head. It was here I met that very same Chas from the Abersoch crew who rescued me all those years ago! Just time for a quick selfie before he bounded off.

It's funny how you fall in to a pace with other runners and strike up conversations and friendships.

Around Pwllheli I met Helen. Helen was taking on the 75m event
but we ran together for the first 12 miles until separating at Abersoch Land and Sea, by which time we'd pretty much exchanged lief stories and cleared the seemingly never ending stretch of Warren Beach! A really nice portion of the race for me :-)

From Abersoch it was another significant climb up to the heights of Mynytho to the first pit stop. Here the route took us further inland and up hill with spectacular views out to Aberdaron.

I mainly ran this stretch on my own, passing paths occasionally with runners and chatting along the
way. Lots of good motivation going on, picking up the 'honesty book' pages on route to prove you've not taken a short cut, through to the next well stocked pit stop.

As we reached the highest point of the run over Garn Fadryn, a thick sea mist enveloped us obscuring the path across the moorland. Having to rely pretty much on my Garmin Sat Nav to follow the route I ended up running from here on in with Clemmie and Beth. This was Clemmie's first marathon and Beth's 350th!?!! A lovely pair!

Undoubtedly the camaraderie between us worked well to pull each other along (well Beth pulling Clemmie and I
along! ;-). Eventually we reached the North coast of the Llyn Peninsular and a very welcome pit stop at the world famous Ty Coch pub, which also happens to be my local where my daughter Lucie works!

It was difficult getting going again but once running along Morfa Nefyn Beach and up on to the coastal path around Nefyn I soon got in to my stride again on what felt very much like home turf, being a stretch I regularly run.

For me one of my favourite bits of the run here along some stunning coastal path over to Nant Gwrtheyrn before the very brutal climb up towards Yr Eifl (The Rivals). Truly leg sapping but with the reward of a five mile downhill stretch after tipping over teh peak.

The rest of the rune was undoubtedly the toughest part of the run, really having to dig deep on very tired legs along high topped single tack country lanes with only very occasional glimpses of the sea. It was on this stretch that Clemmie really was on a mission to keep us all running! :-)

The final meanderings around the back of Pwllheli and Aberech through back on to Aberech beach
and the final punishing mile across a shingle beach to the finish line! Without doubt one of the loveliest routes I've ever done and deserving it's Beautifully Brutal title!

The fourth annual RNLI #ThreeShires Cycle Sportive - £8,900 raised for the RNLI

 I'm immensely proud of how this event has evolved over the past few years, maintaining a steady participation of around 550 riders a year and generating around £9,000 for the RNLI. It's not only one of their biggest sporting fundraising events but it also helps put Sandbach firmly on the map as the jewel in Cheshire's crown.


The Crewe, Nantwich and South Cheshire fundraising guild of

volunteers are supported by an array of volunteers from the local area including our hosts Sandbach Rugby Club, the Alsager RNLI fundraising guild who host the pitstop there and also the volunteers of the RNLI Audlem Lass who operate the pit stop at Overwater Marina. Also a huge shout out to the
ladies of Crewe Golf Club who bolster our Marshalls on the day. A fantastic team effort which makes for a great day out.

2019 also saw  new milestone, with our first Wheelchair rider.
We've always striven to make this an inclusive event for all ages and abilities and we'd love to see more wheelchair riders at future events!

The weather didn't let us down and again it was a day of blue skies and sunshine :-).

Always the best part of the event for me after the frenetic first few hours of registration and start line organisation to get the riders out on the roads is the rider return.

Folk return full of pride at their own personal achievements. Happy,
smiling and celebrating with a crowd of similarly happy folk in the Rugby Club outside bar area! I really love the fantastic community feel of the event and it's low key fundraising element for the RNLI without the usual sponsorship pressures that sometimes come with such events...

Long may it continue! :-)

Marathon Ras Y Brenin Enlli (The king of Bardsey Island Marathon) ~ Leg 1 of Dave's RNLI Welsh Triple

This is possibly one of the best and most quirky events I've ever done! Marathon Ras Y Brenin Enlli (The king of Bardsey Island Marathon) is limited to ten participants a year due to restrictions on the number of people the boat can carry from the mainland to Bardsey Island.

Organised by Huw Williams who operates the Beautifully Brutal Pen Llyn Ultra's, you have to apply for a place with a reason to run.

This was to be leg one of an RNLI Welsh Triple Challenge I took on in 2019 to raise funds once again for the RNLI.

The run is a largely self supported circuit of six laps hugging the coastline around Bardsey Island with a corresponding number of ascents of Bardsey mountain, giving a total ascent greater than that of Snowdon! With a time limit of six and a half hours to make sure of cathing the boat back it really is unique!

The run started at 10am and the ten runners quickly spread out around the course. The run is all trail and sheep paths and traverses fields full of cows which has helped cure my fear of them!

With the majority of the Island shielded from the mainland by Bardsey mountain, it's gloriously isolated without mobile phone signal.

Good camaraderie with the other runners really helped what was a truly Beautifully Brutal run!

By the end of lap five, I'd already covered 21 miles and was running tight on time to finish the last loop but Huw already had a plan B in this event of running to the lighthouse and back to complete the distance.

It was a great feeling crossing that finishing line and receiving not only my finishers medal but also a cold bottle of Cwrw Llyn Porth Neigwl Pal Ale! Honestly a beer has never tasted so good!

Bardsey Island really is a truly unspolit and beautiful place. I'd definitely like to go back and have a more leisurely hike around the island and picnic with the family.

I'd also recommend the event if you're lucky enough to be given a place! Truly a one off! I also made some very good running friends!

Anglezarke Amble 2019

 The second time I've done the Anglezarke amble and due to the time of year, another cold, wet and boggy run!

I set off with Dave McDonald but having not done a lot of running soon got dropped.

Ascended to the top of Rivington Pike without issue and over Winter Hill and the long descent down amidst other runners.

As we crossed the road at the bottom of Winter Hill I missed the turn for a styl
e and ended up running a mile in the wrong direction. By the time I'd realised and back tracked I was on my own :-(

I decided to drop down to the shorter 18 mile route and along this section bumped in to Harold just as we got to a food station.

Harold struggled a bit catching his breath on a bit of a climb to the aid station but seemed fine once there.

I carried on over Great Hill to the four point wind break at the summit and then onwards to the finish for a well earned Pie and Peas meal!

I really like the Anglezarke, very well organised!

Sadly, not long after this event, Harold passed away... You'll be sadly missed H! :-(