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Writer's pictureJames Bezant

Dragons Back Race Day 1

Updated: Sep 21, 2023




Conwy Castle to Nant Gwynant


Day 1

34.58 mile/55 km

13232 feet /4033 metres


0600 am start

Time on feet 10h 9m









The day was finally here, I think I can speak for most people in this event when I say that we just wanted it to start.

I personally had that feeling for a few weeks.

I think most of us were concerned with the heat. I imagine this was a very similar feeling to that of the runners from the 2021 edition, where a lot of the field got wiped out within the first couple of days.


Unfortunately the same happened at this event.


Anyway, back to the start; I get near the front to avoid the faff, definitely not to be competitive - have you seen my splits? There’s a few minutes before the start, this is where my mind was questioning everything; have I trained enough? Do I deserve to be here? Am I fit enough? How’s my shin going to be? etc. All the common doubts you have when you take the risk on a goal you might not achieve.

One of my strategies through this week was to always push a bit in the mornings, the sun was down and on most of the days the first section tended to be the easier part of the day. Doing this would enable me to have more time over the worse ground in the afternoons.

The ten second countdown begins, and we’re off! We started moving quite slowly around the castle, then onto a road that has a gradual incline until you start getting onto the better ground.. The ground you want to see. It starts kicking in at this point that you are actually in the race.

The lovely views start, but we’re also in the sun straight away. Heading towards Carnedd Dafyydd I was feeling good and well on time.

I made it to the first support point in roughly 5 hours. Being ahead of time, I decided to jump into Llyn Ogwen reservoir to bring my core temperature down. I don’t know if this was a good idea or not, because Tryfan was rough regardless. Another strategy I had was not to faff in the support points. I would set a timer for 10 minutes max, check my feet, eat and get TF out.

I definitely wished I had spent more time in this support point. As soon as you roll out of this one you’re heading up Tryfan, after basically running 20 miles in the insane heat and humidity.


I had to take a lot of two minute breaks on this climb. I felt kind of weird and this feeling turned out to be the worst I would feel all week while on course. The inner dialogue started again. What have I let myself in for? Should I just head back to the support point? Nope, just keep taking breaks when you need to, you’ll eventually get to the top.’

People kept passing and asking if I’m okay. My classic reply was ‘just cooling off’. A mate of mine (Steve) then caught up, he was going slow too and advised me that it might be nausea that I was feeling; a feeling I’ve never experienced before.


Steve has done some rough endurance events before and was prepared for this feeling. He was carrying lumps of ginger and offered me one. He could have offered me anything at that point and I would have taken it to be honest.


I don’t know whether it worked or if it was the weird taste that changed my mood for the better, it was probably having his company that made things seem easier, but we carried on taking breaks when needed and eventually made it to the top. The breaks were definitely a great idea as I spoke to other competitors who didn’t slow down on Tryfan and ended up vomiting etc, so it paid off for me.


The relief of reaching the top soon disappears as now it was time for the descent. If you have ever descended Tryfan toward the Glyders, you will know it’s one of those mountains where you don’t have a clue which is the best line. Stay left as best as possible is my advice.


Before you know it it’s the Glyders climb. To be honest this was a much nicer climb and if you stuck to the left you were shaded which massively helped. After hitting the checkpoint at Glyder Fawr, there was a descent into Pen Y Pass. This checkpoint had a cut off but fortunately we had loads of time there. I took my time and brought a couple of lucazades from the shop and washed my face in the sink. Steve and I didn’t want to leave the sinks.

When filling up my water at this check-point, I was careful not to add as much salt mix to it as I had previously. Over the course of the day I found my guts to be hurting a bit; a sensation I have felt before from actually having too many salts in my fluids! It’s a weird feeling, you want to drink but you can’t and you also can’t pee. This reduction of salt turned out to be a good idea and before I knew it I could pee again and the weird gut feeling passed.

Next it was time to leave Pen Y Pass. If you have ever ascended Crib Goch in the heat then you’ll know that the walk up to it can be very hot and humid. Pen Y Pass sits in a valley, yet again Steve and I were in the shade which helped.


We start climbing towards Crib Goch, there’s actually a cheeky climb before you even hit the ridge and a bit of scrambling. This bit was in the sun too. Fortunately there was a group in front of of us which naturally slowed us down; a blessing in disguise. Unlike Tryfan which was a shit climb through and through.

So now we were on the ridge. I’ve been on Crib Goch a few times before so I’m quite confident and familiar with this ridge line. We also had the best weather for it, there was a lovely breeze and it was really nice and clear. I’ve also done this ridge line in bad weather it can be really dodgy.

Classic me, I nearly fell off of Crib Goch! I was stood waiting for some people then when I went to walk on I tripped. Luckily I grabbed the rocks below to save myself. Sorry for scaring you Sanna!

Finally we were at snowdon. They have a cut off here too. Steve and I still had loads of time to get back to camp but that section really dragged. It felt like that most days.

All of a sudden I heard a bloody bell noise. Guess who it is? Sam skinner comes up to say hello! He’s a guy who’s completed dragons back twice and a friend I’ve spent time training with. We had a little moving chat then out of the corner of our eyes we saw the camp! Morale was lifted. He quickly reminded me that the descent which followed is terrible. It was the ultimate quad basher. This turned out to be a running theme for most of the days to be honest.

I finally arrived into camp at a good time and was buzzing that it was still daylight. I got to the tent just happy to have survived day one in that heat. I jumped into the stream for a full body wash (things like this were little morale boosters - I took them where I could). It was good admin after all


. After that, I headed straight to the canteen to eat. This was a bit of a struggle but I knew I had to eat. I had to try my best to get those calories back in.

After eating I sorted my kit out for the next day. I always had the intention of the 6am starts. I figured it would be the best option to have as much time on the course that I possibly could.

One of the biggest nightmares I had on this first day was actually off of the course - Getting to sleep! I stupidly took some painkillers that had caffeine in them (DUHHH), so the first night consisted of no sleep with twitchy legs and my feet saying ‘what the fuck have you done to us?!’

Learning points from day 1.

- Kids factor 50 is a lifesaver, so is a hat.

- Don’t have too much salt in your drinks.

- Finish all the fluids you have before the support points.

- I made a good choice with the gels. Even when I wasn’t hungry I could always bosh one of them.

- Push in the mornings on the cooler easier sections.

- Don’t take painkillers with caffeine in them before bed.

- Don’t take painkillers with caffeine in them before bed.

- Don’t take painkillers with caffeine in them before bed

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