Race Report: The Dragon’s Back

on September 18, 2024

Author: Dave Moir
A tale of Welsh Mountain adversity, monstrous day stages and gastric distress.

As Race Director Shane Ohly once said: “all true adventure has an element of uncertainty”.
Finishing the Dragon’s Back race certainly ticks that box. It’s a 6-day stage race, over some of the most technical/difficult terrain that the country has to offer, covering about 235 miles in total with approximately 17000 meters of elevation. The race runs north to south over the length of Wales, from Conway to Cardiff Castles.

I stayed in Matt Walker’s camper van on Monday. We got up at 4:15am (as we had to every day for the rest of the week), had breakfast and headed to Conway Castle for the start of the race. At 5:45am, the Race Director welcomed us and, rather unusually, handed the microphone onto of the competitors, who proceeded to propose to his girlfriend who was watching the start on the castle walls. Thankfully she said yes, as it could have all been a bit awkward if she hadn’t and might have spoiled his week. I also think she should have added a caveat that he had to finish the race, but she seemed happy not to. We were then entertained by a male voice choir with Welsh classics like ‘Dixie’, which must have been for the benefit of some of our American visitors.

Day 1: Northern Snowdonia – 49k with 3800m ascent

This is not a gentle introduction to the race. Despite a relatively short distance for the day, an elevation of 3800 metres going over two grade one scrambles (Crib Goch and Tryfan) means it is a hard day’s graft. This was the only bit of the course I had reccied previously, having done the 14 peaks race earlier in the year (covers all Welsh 3000+ peaks), which is a similar route, and also having walked the Snowdon horseshoe with my daughter, Hope, a few weeks previously.

This was the worst weather we had all week, which meant a wet Crib Goch was very tricky and the rocky descents were very tough. The advice was stick to the left side of Crib Goch, not because it was a better route but, according to the marshall, it’s easier to recover bodies from that side if anyone falls, so I obliged as I’d hate to inconvenience anyone.

Some of the grassy descents on this day were so steep it was easier just to slide down on your bum, but thanks to numerous rocks littered around the slopes, you had to do that carefully. Another hazard of this method of descending was later shared by a lad who pretty much gave himself a full colonic in the river in the evening to remove about a bale and a half of unwanted grass.

There were plenty of people taking tumbles with a fair amount resulting in just minor (thankfully) injuries. In this early stage of the race, concern was still being shown for fellow competitors, particularly if they were bleeding. This stopped later on as it just became such a regular occurrence.

I struggled massively with the technical side of this stage and, although I got through it, I was a bit disappointed with my time/position. One of the main driving forces for me to finish this race from then on was that the thought of ever having to return to do day one again. This was such an awful thought, I just kept going.

I felt a bit sick in the evening and just put that down to my exertions. The food at these Ourea events is always brilliant, but I had to force myself to eat a plate full in the evening. My usual strategy would be to have at least 2 plates.

Day 2: Southern Snowdonia – 59k with 3,000 meters ascent

There was lots more rock climbing on this day, but I was assured that this was last day of scrambling. We were treated to sightings of some magnificent-looking wild Welsh mountain goats, which apparently smell awful if you get too close to them, and there were plenty of wild ponies as well.

The last 10km was a road (all be it undulating) section. I managed some incredible 10:30 minute miles, which may not sound that great but it did allow me to catch 20-30 runners on the way in, which cheered me up a bit.

I managed to respond, in my usual hilarious manner, to one lady’s encouraging phrase of “come on, balls out lads” by assuring her it was just the way my shorts had rucked up and I was completely innocent, but she just looked at me in that ‘special way’, so I made my way to the day’s finish line leaving her looking confused.

Day 3: 65k with 2,800 meters ascent – Cadair Idris and the Cambrian Mountains

With less climbing and a lot less technical terrain, I was looking forward to this a little more, but I ended up taking more falls on this day for some reason. One spectacular fall was into a 2-foot-deep muddy puddle, which I almost managed to fully submerge in and cut my leg in the process.

On the whole, I felt I ran better than the previous days, finishing at 5:15pm so I had food and was in bed for 9pm. The sleeping arrangements are not ideal in these races for a variety of reasons. Firstly, your legs tend to be battered, you may have bruises, cuts, etc. They may also be sore from running, so it’s very hard to get comfortable. The next issue is that you are sharing with seven others, and some of our tent mates were finishing very close to the cut offs (a very hard game to play in my opinion, as they have a lot less time to turn themselves around for the following day). Although I was in bed early, I did not really sleep and was woken up by some of the tent coming in just before 10pm, even though they tried hard to be quiet. I was still struggling to eat much in the evenings, which was starting to worry me somewhat.

Day 4: 69k with 2,300 meters ascent – Elan Valley

It was at this point I started to realise what the goats probably smell like. River washes in the evening were not really cutting it, particularly as we had been asked not to use soap to avoid polluting the water. I suspect soap would have been more gentle on the environment than what was being washed off me. For the rest of the week, a few people mentioned that, when we were running past ‘normal people’, they actually smelled amazing.

I joined the tea queue at 5:00am with the other folk and then ate as much as I could face for breakfast. I was finally caught short early on in this day but headed off trail into the woods, assuming I could blame the local polar bears (as we were still vaguely in the North).

The local birding hadn’t been particularly brilliant, but I saw loads of red kites and a peregrine during this day. Unfortunately, no one I talked to seemed in the least bit interested. After the first support point, the race had really strung out and I saw very few people for the rest of the day after that. The only other bit of excitement was that I tried a new flavour of Cliff Bloks – cherry with caffeine (hoping for an extra kick). They reminded me so much of the Portaloo chemical cleaning smell, I decided not to bother with that flavour again.

Day 5: 71k with 3,200 meters ascent – Brecon Beacons National Park

I had been warned that this was the hardest day, so I was a little nervous. I had managed to eat a bit more than usual and, judging by the amount of snoring, everyone had slept much better than previously.

This day was absolutely relentless, not rocky at all but the endless climbing really took its toll. It was another very long day, and I was pleased to finish it with the prospect of an easier final day in sight.

Our American tent mates came in late again, and resolved at this point never to return to Wales ever again, particularly, as one of them said, he hadn’t even seen any whales

Day 6: 65k with only 1,300 meters ascent – to Cardiff Castle

Probably not my favourite section of the overall route, but it was relatively flat with some very good paths to run on. Getting caught short a second time with a lot less forest to retreat into (and blame the Brown bears this time as we were in the South) was not ideal either.

There was a very steep uphill road section, and a bloke in a Volvo decided to wind his window down and tell me all he knew about the race as Lowri Morgan had been on the local news that very morning to keep him up to speed with things. My quad decided to give up on me with about 11 miles to go, and despite my efforts to stretch it out at the last support point, I ended up having to walk the final 5 miles into the finish.

This was the hardest race I’ve ever done. Around 340 people started the full race, with plenty dropping down to the half distance option or dropping out completely, leaving only 124 finishers.
I have done Cape Wrath, which is a longer route over eight days with a lot less climbing. And is much easier. The main difference between the two is that Cape Wrath is a great running holiday adventure (still with no certainty that anyone in the field will finish), but it has enough recovery/shorter days to let you have some down time, meet some people and have more of a laugh. Dragon’s back is relentless. Your day starts at 4:15am, you leave at 6am and I ended up running for 11-13 hours each day. You get back, sort your admin, get fed and try to sleep as early as you can. There is no let up from this. People were saying they were sleeping next to complete strangers for the week who they hadn’t actually met due to them finishing at different times. If you are looking for a very hard running challenge, then that is what Dragon’s Back is all about.

Ourea always put great events on. If anyone was thinking of doing a multi-day fell type event, they do the GL3D event that ranges from courses covering a few miles, up to others which will take you all day. The organisation is brilliant and the atmosphere is always welcoming and friendly. I’ve done similar events by other companies and, although they try to replicate, they are never as good as Ourea. The volunteers are usually people who take part in these events themselves and are earning race credits, so when you get to a support point, you get exactly what you need, usually along with the right words you need to hear at the time. The camp staff are the same, some are paid staff, but most are like minded individuals who just want you to do well and will do whatever they can to support you with that. The lads at the water stations were hilarious, always made an effort to dress up (I think they were a little too partial to the dressing up) and gave you a real energy boost. The final water station on day six was a full-on party, which I suspect some participants stayed at a little too long.

I went into this event with Plantar Fasciitis. On day one I took so many knocks and bumps, I refocussed on my forearm that I fell heavily on. Day two was cuts and bruises on my legs, Day 3 a gash on my knee, and by the end of the week, the plantar had disappeared. My feet and lower legs are now very swollen, and hopefully when that goes down, I’ll still have gotten rid of the plantar. I do wonder if I’ve discovered a new cure??

You always meet great people at these events, and end up keeping in contact and meeting up at future events. I can’t recommend them enough, and if you are at all tempted, then do talk to me about the GL3D event which is a very easy introduction to them.

Finally, my stomach really gave up on me on the Saturday night once I had finished. Thankfully some Imodium managed to get me through the bus journey from Cardiff back to Conway and then in Matt’s van back home. I’ve been to the doctors and told its probably gastroenteritis, and I’m suspecting some water I picked up on the course at some point.