Midnight Mountain Marathon - Brecon. 3rd Lady. Brutal Events

PRE - EVENT

I signed up to this event as it was the last time Brutal Events were running it and it was close to home so I figured it would be nice to tick off a local event and that as I knew the area well, I might race it.

I hadn't looked at the route so hadn't thought about the long 6.5/7 miles which finish the race...more of that to come.

I also didnt realise why it was called a Midnight Marathon as it started at 1730 hrs, until a friend mentioned it closer to the time, that the cut off was midnight...Duh!

Another thing I hadnt looked at (you can see a theme here) was the kit list...knowing I have everything that could be on a kit list ever...or so I thought until I found out we needed Hi-Viz Jackets...Fran saved my life here and so I ran with a borrowed 'Fire Marshall' jacket tucked into the side of my race pack. Together we had Fire and Electricity covered!

PARKING, KIT CHECK/ REGISTRATION

Parking was easy to find and had a lovely Marshall on hand telling everyone not to park like idiots and if we wanted to sleep in our cars for a few hours after we finished we could.

The walk to kit check/registration was about 10 minutes, and when you consider that you could leave a change bag for the end in the registration building then not really a concern.

Registration went fine, though was a little confusing...there was a kit check but we didn't get told we had to go through it. I went anyway as though I'd changed my mind about racing due to various reasons (short version; hamstring and health), I just wanted to make sure that my waterproof trousers (which weren't on the list) could count as my 'long trousers/leggings' (which were).

Kit check done it was time to sort my feet and change my shoes. I'd been volunteering at another event during the day and had got up at 0330 hrs to leave my house but had put my race kit on (less trail shoes) incase I didn't have a lot of time between events as I was driving straight from a checkpoint in Llantwit Major to Talybont.

There were lots of people to catch up with in registration, and it was nice to see some friendly faces who I've met through both trail running social media and working for Trail Events Co. It gave me a chance to have more of a chat than I normally would at events when I'm working.

START to CP1

The start was a bit of a shambles. I was chatting with Fran and Zac and we hadn't realised we weren't starting on the field where the race arch was but we're starting on the canal path....we weren't the only ones to make this mistake.

Suddenly everyone started walking across the field so we followed and only just squeezed onto the path, with many still behind us on a small track and the field when the race started.

This meant we were behind A LOT of people as the half marathon runners were setting off at the same time.

A slow start and a lot of dodging through and around people and it started to get less manic as we reached the first climb and people started to walk.

I attempted a walk but it was the wrong gradient for it so shuffled back into a steady pace jogging up the ascents. Living in Rhondda Valleys (at weekends, the Army still has me in Plymouth during the week), I was used to inclines like this where even though I slowed my running pace, I still didn't need to walk. I thanked my blessings and tried to remind myself not to go out too hard as we still had the mountain climbs.

We hit CP1 at around 7.5 miles and I ran through, just dropping some trash into the bin from my Voom bar. I'd already decided I wasnt eating as I'd had a weird day of struggling to eat, so had a strategy of something little each hour. I heard a couple of women supporting saying I looked strong and smiled...I really did feel strong at this point.

I'd been counting down from 10 every time I passed another woman, presuming I was at least in the top 10 but thinking it may be close to 5. My counting had got me down to potentially being in 7th but I had no idea.

CP1 to CP2

CP2 was back somewhere right near CP1 so I knew I had about 11 - 12 mountain miles to play with, which when you look at it means you can have no more than 5/6 miles uphill in total.

We started climbing the steps near the Talybont Reservoir carpark and I was listening to other people's stories. I knew this was the longest climb and the hardest section of the route all the way to to Fan Y Big. I also knew it got a hell of a lot easier from there.

I started feeling properly rough, having not been able to eat in the day, I was climbing on fumes. Again. I grabbed some Clif shots from my pack and smiled as they always remind me of my friend Roland.

Roland is an awesome runner from mid-wales and we met years ago on a recce for the Vegan Welsh 3000's, a race that sadly no longer exists. He is also the friend that signed up to run my first 100 miler with me back in 2019 only about a week before as he wanted me to have company, and 3 weeks later he ran 50 miles with me in Snowdonia whilst I carried a medicine ball for charity. When I was feeling rough during the latter race, he fed me Clif Shots and Raspberry Ruffle chocolates! What a man!

Anyway....happy memories about running friends dragged me up and I didn't care that a few people were passing me as we neared the top, I knew I was strong for the rest of the route.

I'll say it again...Fan Y Big has the BEST views.

As soon as we were up we were back down again and I held my own scooting slowly down the grassy sidebanks. Absolutely no need to blow your quads here.

We climbed up Cribyn and I started passing people. As we descended I watched people in front of me deciding whether to go left or right around the Cribyn bog...and laughed as I watched someone attempt through the middle. The answer is never the middle!

We started climbing Pen Y Fan and I knew this was an out and back, I was watching runners and shouting congratulations and also keeping an eye out for any other women so I could see how my count was.

A woman had passed me on the first hills running incredibly well and I watched as she passed me coming back down and then another woman. I didn't see any more but figured I couldn't be in third as there must have been people who had already done the out and back before them.

Before I knew it I was heading back down Pen Y Fan and passing more people as the route flattened out.

I heard some sniffling that sounded very soft and figured another woman was on my shoulders, she came up alongside me and was navigating the tiny rocks much better than I was.

She went on past and I thought it was the woman from the start. I got very confused as to how she had gone off track but carried on.

I soon passed the woman who had been leading and figured that maybe I was actually in second or third now. Not wanting an 11 mile race I kept steady until I got to CP2 at 19 ish miles in.

The woman who had passed me 4 miles ago was at the CP and I had 2 cups of cola and 4 jellybabies as I was HUNGRY by this point and just hoped I could keep the food and drink in my body long enough to finish.

CP2 to FINISH

The other woman ran off and I was shortly behind. Another runner said he thought we were first and second and to stay on her shoulder. I am absolutely SHITE at sprinting so would never sit on anyone's shoulder, I also like my own space a bit. I kindly told him I was just trying to get to the end without s******g myself and I carried on how I was going.

Somehow I ended up with more speed than the woman had an overtook her easily. I then spent the next few miles talking to myself in my head about whether I could be bothered to race the next few miles, whether I would be able to continue without needing the toilet and cursed myself for not looking at the last few miles of the route which are on a road that I HATE running on, and that my Speed Pro's were gradually going to break my body from impact from the hips down.

I slowed a bit as the light started to dim and being short-sighted was one of the first around me to get my head torch out whilst I kept turning it on and off depending on how many trees were overhead.

The woman came running past me with a casual 'I'm back 😊'. Not only was she back but she was running much stronger than me and disappeared into the distance.

The last 2 miles were utterly shit. I slowed right down trying not to trip over tiny pebbles in the dark....and I love running in the dark. I couldn't seem to get the right light on my headtorch in the not-quite-dark, not-light-enough stage of the day. I swore A LOT.

Eventually I got back on the canal path and came running onto the finish field and through the Arch and got my medal over my head from Claire, the RD.

Turns out I had placed 3rd Lady but didn't get a trophy as they'd handed the wrong ones out in the dark and only had second place left. The RD emailed to say it will be on it's way once they've made a new one up so watch this space....

AFTER

There was some lovely tomato soup, bread, and tea and coffee to finish.

I tried to have a shower before waiting for Fran to finish but the showers were ice cold so gave up on that one and just put something less smelly on instead.

Fran came through as 18th lady (Zac had finished 4th overall!!), and it was nice to be able to share an event with other people.

You obviously can't run the event anymore but I'd say if you want to run the route anyway you can easily park close to the start/finish....OR sign up to Trail Events Co Brecon Marathon next year which covers a lot of the same route but without the 7 mile road sections and with slightly more elevation as we tease you with a Pen Y Fan Ascent before you actually make it! We also have ultra, or 10k, or HM distances (https://trailevents.co/ ).

There wasn't any finish line pics and the pics during the event weren't included in the price, I also thought the location of the photographer was a bit lazy so I didn't buy any of them....I'm speaking from experience here as at our events the photographs ARE included and the photographer goes on a big hike with all his kit to try getting a great location.

Overall a great evening, just a couple of things I would change, but we all have room for improvement!

📸 by Olivia

https://www.instagram.com/oliviaphotography163?igsh=aXVoeHNjcmw5cGMz