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A night time run on Snowdon

Rob Howard / 23.06.2007

As the fleet made their way towards Bardsey Head the wind speed increased and showers swept down the coast as the forecast wet weather began to arrive. There was a close battle all the way to the headland with White Cloud IX just getting ahead and passing between Bardsley Island and the mainland first.

It was a short live triumph however, as the more experienced yachts behind them stayed closer in shore for a quicker passage, and Vlad in particular was quicker to raise the spinnaker. “We were third but were much quicker raising the spinnaker and shot through into the lead,� said Keith Read when he came ashore.

With Adam Marcinowicz he was the first ashore as Vlad arrived at Caernarfon, still in the lead at 00.07. Read has raced before, and won the King of the Mountains title before, but for Marcinowicz the race is a new experience. “I’m just glad to get running,� he said. “We’ve had months of training and planning for this and I’m really looking forward to it.�

Read just grinned and said, “He’s new – he still thinks he’s going to enjoy himself.� Then he looked up at the huge building site above the marshals caravan and added; “They’ve built that over my short cut!� The pair gave an estimated time of 4 and half hours for the Snowdon run (almost marathon distance ... in the dark ... over the highest mountain in England and Wales). His team are confident they will gain over their rivals on the runs.

Five minutes later Lightning Reflex was in, and only 20 minutes separated the top 4 teams,w ith 5th placed Road Runner not too far behind. The marshals were kept busy as a steady stream of runners jumped ashore while their crews anchored nearby and tried to get some sleep.

The runners had been trying to sleep on the first passage but not always successfully. Maria Leijerstam from Nunatak commented, “We tried to sleep but never got a wink, it was quite rough for a time.� She is one of only 3 women runners taking part, and all are racing up Snowdon on this first leg.

As they stood in the gazebo tent for their kit check the rain bounced off the roof noisily as another torrential shower hit. “I hope this tent makes the weather sound worse than it really is,� said Toby Rider of Swift and Sure. "Probably not!", came the reply from the marshals.

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