Having survived the night and my first experience in a youth hostel I ventured down to breakfast and was greeted by a number of other runners tucking into their porridge.
I started off with a couple of weetabix but the smell of bacon cooking was just too good and so I followed this up with a full english.
The race didn't start until 10:30 so I figured that I had a few hours to digest that bad boy and besides I did a similar thing when I did 6 marathons in 6 days and had no real after affects.
The talk of storms and torrential rain, thankfully, had been just that and although it was very windy it was dry, the only dilemma was how many layers to wear. I decided I would wait until I got down to the start to make my final choice.
I waved goodbye to the hostel and drove down to the start.
As you can image with 1,500 plus runners taking part there was a lot of hustle and bustle in and around Llanberis.
Parking was pretty straight forward and we were greeted by this beautiful view.
After my usual 4/5 pit stops I started to head towards the start line which was about a 15 minute walk from the centre of Llanberis.
With the clock ticking down to 10:30 the excitement was building among the runners. Following a short briefing the hooter sounded and we were off.
Having ran a couple of events before I knew not to get too carried away in the early stages and to run my own race. This was tough especially when you have a stream of runners going past up but I knew that there was a good chance I would see some of them again later in the race.
After only a couple of miles we reached the first major climb. This went on for a couple of miles where we climbed up to around 1,100 ft.
It was great to get to the summit where we were greeted by a water station, after a quick gulp of water it was down hill. Now the thought of going downhill would be pleasing to some people but it is tough going on the legs particularly the impact on the knees.
The route then changed from tarmac to trail which was again tough going particularly as it was quite wet and uneven.
I was feeling pretty good at the halfway point and I then started to increase my pace slightly. This was when I started to see a few familiar faces from the start of the race as it was now me passing them.
This continued as I gradually ticked off the miles with the growing anticipation of the final and toughest climb.
As I reached the 22 mile mark the gradient started to change and there were a lot more people walking in front of me. I continued up to the point where it made no difference if I was running or walking as the pace was the same.
This was a very steep climb for 2 miles where the wind blew a gale across us. It was a great feeling to get to summit knowing that the remaining 2 miles were all down hill.
What I didn't know was that about a mile and half of it was actually cross country. Despite that and the risk of twisting my ankle or blowing my knee I hit the last section pretty hard and as we entered into Llanberis again I knew there was only a few hundred metres to go.
With the finish line in site I managed to do a sprint finish and thanks to the cool race numbers that had our names on it, it was a great buzz to hear people shouting your name on the finish straight.
I crossed the line in 4 hours 12 minutes which considering the hills, and the fact I walked some of the last one, was very pleasing as my PB for a marathon is 3 hours 54 minutes.
After getting my commemorative coaster and being wrapped in a foil blanket I headed to the baggage hall for a well earned brew!
I managed to grab a shower before getting back into the car for a 3 hour drive where I was finally able to enjoy a refreshing pint or 2!
Some of the official photos are available to have a look at click here
As you know this is all in aid of Springboard Opportunity Group who do fantastic work with disabled children and provide valuable support to families. To donate please visit my sponsorship page here
So then there were two...that's right only two more challenges to go.
The next one is the Centurion running Winter 100 in five weeks time, to have a look at what lies ahead of me click Winter 100
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