I entered the Rat Race Trinity Series in 2020 at some point during one of the Covid lockdowns making the most of the ‘early bird rate’.  The series comprises of 3 events: Man vs Coast, Lakes and Mountain, with the idea being you collect a segment of medal at each event.  Little did I know it would take 2 years to finally collect the 3 medal segments, after a knee injury and a Covid related postponement saw the Man vs Mountain edition pushed back a year.

After a bright and early start from our campsite in Llanberis, Malcolm and I headed to the event village to get the bus with our fellow Rat Racers to the race start at Caernarfon Castle.  Heading off in wave 3, we were ready to tackle the 22miles of trails and 5055ft that lay ahead.

The route winds it’s way through Caernarfon before heading out into the North Wales countryside, providing us with our first opportunity to glimpse Mt Snowdon and the surrounding peaks in the distance. Despite being shrouded in cloud at this point, we could still get to see how far we had to go and the slightly daunting task that lay ahead.

Following the mostly uphill, well marked route, Malc pushed on ahead, leaving me to implement my plan for the day; Drink every 20mins, eat very 40, and walk the hills to protect my knee, saving my quads to ensure I survived the descent off the mountain some 15miles later.

I love being in the mountains, and thoroughly enjoyed the mountain path over the first hill, ensuring to take in the view and remembering to look back to the coast to where we had come from.  After a 5minute break at check point 1 to refill my water and grab a jaffa cake or 2, I text Malc to let him know where I was up to and then set off, hiking poles at the ready, to begin the ascent of Mt Snowdon.

Having rewarded myself with a short sit down to enjoy my half marathon distance snickers bar, reaching the summit felt like a great achievement. The cloud had lifted and the views were stunning.  I was really glad I had chosen to use my poles, and so with my legs feeling good, I was able to run large portions of the descent, following the main tourist path back into Llanberis, ready to tackle the first Rat Race challenge of the day… The Vertical Kilometre.

Rat Race are renowned for incorporating additional challenges into their events, and while not exactly vertical, the next km was steep! And with 20miles of mountain trails in the legs, it was certainly physically and mentally challenging. Rewarded with yet more stunning views, you head back down into Llanberis for a few water based activities and the part I had been most scared of all day. The plank jump.

At around 15ft above the crystal clear slate quarry water, the plank projects from a scaffold platform, where a safety guy on a paddleboard below calls up to let you know it’s “safe to jump, just do it”. Errrmmm no, you’re alright. (Malc ensures me that yes, it was rather high!)  And so after trying my best to jump I bottled out and headed to the next lake for a quick kayak – much better idea – before returning to the shore, grabbing my bag and crossing the finish line, some 7hrs and 7minutes later.

Overall, a great day out, and one that I would highly recommend if you enjoy your trail running and mountain adventures.  2023 will be the last year Rat Race run this event though, so if you are keen, don’t miss it.

Malcolm’s report: Long mountainous run, finishing with a dip – what’s not to like!