Race The Train

Saturday 16th August saw the Westgates at Tywyn in Wales for the Race The Train event. In the morning there were the Quarry (10K), Dolgoch (5mile) and Tyllwynhen (3mile) challenges, and at 2pm the 14 mile Rotary Challenge.

We took a four day break so we could enjoy the wonderful Welsh countryside before and after. It seemed our trip might be jinxed when we pulled into the drive of our first B&B, a place we had stayed at 2 years ago. A strange face greeted us at the door and we found the owners had sold up and moved to Swansea more than a year ago! Lesley had made a booking on the net but where had it gone? Fortunately we managed to find another B&B at short notice.

On to Aberdovey near Tywyn for the second B&B. Before we left Somerset we realised that of two B&Bs in Aberdovey that we had contacted we couldn’t remember which we had booked with, so we phoned one and were told yes they had our booking. We arrived, started unpacking, and the landlady realised we were not booked there after all, seems her husband had heard the letter “G” or “gate” in our name and confused us with someone else. Eventually we got to the right place a mile up the road! It’s a good job that Race the Train is a bit more organised than us, although the printers did put “24th” on the running numbers on their 25th celebration year, and road diversion instructions led us into a small cul-de-sac.

This year the Race HQ, Marquee etc had been moved on to the school grounds in the town centre. We found a good parking place 30 seconds from the female showers and one minute from the finish. Weather was perfect – not too warm with a fresh breeze. Having been injured and missed training I was a bit worried about this 14 mile mainly off-road race. At about 2pm the steam train blew its whistle and set off. This was the signal for us to push forward and onto the timing mats. The target for some is some is to get back to Tywyn before the train, which is packed with cheering supporters. The target for others is to enjoy the race and take in the countryside. Although this race does have some hillwork and a really good boggy bit it is nowhere near as tough as the Stagger. Parts of the race are fairly level following the contours and I set off at a very easy 7.5 min/mile pace for the first two miles. This year the ploughed field wasn’t ploughed and the sun came out for a while. Ahead it looked black and we had rain for about 30 minutes. Even though it has been very wet this year the running conditions were good. I carried on at more or less conversation pace to about 7 miles and then upped the pace a little. The boggy bit nearly sucked off one of my shoes, and the cambered tracks caused a bit of pain. Parts of the return section had a good tail wind. On the last mile I felt quite good and went past 5 runners. I finished in 1:56:39, a few minutes faster than 2006, but this year’s course was a bit shorter. 201 runners bettered the 1:48 time to beat the train. Considering the size of the event in a small community the organisation was 1st class; drinks stations were frequent with a choice of drinks.

In the evening we returned to the marquee for drinks and the presentations. Maybe we don’t get out enough, so we were surprised at the noise and rowdy nature of people enjoying themselves. The winner’s time was 1:18:15 – his fourth consecutive title. One man has done all 25 “Race the Trains” but failed to turn up for his special memento! On Sunday Lesley took us on a forced route march to the actual source of the River Severn. It was sunny and warm and Wales was the place to be.

Lin and Martin might be interested in the Severn Way, the longest riverside walk in Britain at 210 miles, or perhaps the adjoining Wye Valley Walk at 136 miles.