Welcome Back

 RDS 40 Mile Ultra Marathon 2021

After 21 months of not being able to hold an event for one reason or another. It was so good to welcome back some old and some new faces. Now it would not be a Ras Dewi Sant event if we are not talking about the weather.

But this event is in May, surely that will automatically mean that all will be good!!! Well, if we had held the event on Friday, that would have been awesome, if we had held it tomorrow it would have been good! But no, we held it today, 8^th May.

After almost two years of waiting, with all the setbacks. The thought of having 16hrs of solid rain and 40mph wind made me think, if we must cancel this am I seriously considering throwing the towel in! However as that was not a real option. We worked hard over a 48hr period to change the route. And to get this done.

The next hurdle was, will people turn up to run a 40mile looped course in the rain. When I say rain, I do not think I am doing the downpour we had justice.

But to be fair the runners were as keen to get an event back on as we were, and they all turned up with smiles on their faces (well masks) and willing to take on the challenge.

The alternative challenge to combat the weather was 3 x 13.5 mile loops, with a mixture of trails, climbs and coast path, with a soul destroying 4 mile road run, on a constant incline with a head wind.

The weather did ease by the 3^rd lap and the rain finally stopped, however the real battle in this event was in the runner’s head. At the end of each loop, the runners had to check in at the check point. Our unit, which was dry, warm, out of the wind and with a decent buffet and hot drinks. Not the sort of pit stop that makes you want to go back out and do it again and again.

There were some mighty good performances, and the finishing order is below. But this is genuine, every single runner, had such a positive outlook and were so friendly. I think we have all missed events, and it was good to be back out there.

Finally, its worth mentioning that after 40 plus something miles, And after leading comfortably all day, Swansea’s Robert Kestin, Found himself being hunted down by Haverfordwest’s Sean Rice. The last 5 miles saw Sean Close the gap to just 40 seconds at they crossed the finish line. Both incredible efforts. With Sean pushing hard to close Robert down and Robert doing all he can to hang on to pole position, great to watch. Whilst Solva’s Helen Platel was back to her winning ways with a very impressive sub 8hr run, finish with a big smile on her face.

But finally, finally, once again, well done to all who took part and all the staff that helped.