So for 2018 the record prizes are equal, set at £100 for F and M alike. Because this is a last minute decision, it does mean there's no "big money" on offer.  Why...? Well, basically we cannot risk any extra financial exposure on the club or the race at short notice. There's no ring-fenced prize fund sitting there with £1200 in it, or obviously we could just say £600 M and F. When we took on this race in 2006 the idea was this fund would be contributed to by sponsors, but in practice that only happened for one year, and after that the promised prize kept going up anyway, without anyone really thinking about how we'd pay it - the record was so unbeatable, it was never going to happen!  I remember telling the club AGM that if necessary I'd cover any shortfall from my own pocket, knowing I was more likely to get hit by an asteroid. But the women's record, while very good and long-standing, is eminently beatable, so the chance of having to pay out is very real. We couldn't cover any payout more than £100 from the race budget, and even £100 would be a stretch. In 2018 we're facing a new unexpected charge of about £100 from National Trust (which is fair enough as we are using their land and they do expensive footpath maintenance etc), and those who love the Pen y Fan Race will know we give people a lot for their very small entry fee (£5 for most runners, of which we get £4.50ish).

Looking to the future, well we have always put any race profits back into the club funds, and we will soon discuss this issue at Mynydd Du club level to set an appropriate prize level for the future. As organizers we'd love to be able to offer a serious prize for breaking the records at this iconic race, but we have to use the race revenues and club funds responsibly in consultation with others.

We look forward to seeing everyone over the weekend, and please do be well hydrated before the races, and take fluids with you.

Crispin's top tip for running in the heat: an hour before the race drench your head and vest in cold water, and keep doing this about every ten minutes. Do it again just before the start. You should feel really cold, but payback comes in the race.

"I have concluded that the fastest sustained descent rate ever recorded in any mountain race is 1.365m/s, achieved by Keith Anderson in the 1990 Pen-y-Fan Race, when he descended the 580 vertical meters (in 2,450 meters horizontally) from the summit of Pen-y-Fan to the finish at Cwm Llwch in 7:05. Just to show that this wasn’t a fluke, he did the same descent just 5 seconds slower in 1992. No one else has come anywhere close to this descent rate in any race in which descent times are recorded, but, of course, faster descents may have been achieved but not recorded at other races."

Anthony goes on to suggest Pen y Fan has the perfect gradient for a fast descent. However anyone who has done the race will know this is divided into a hellish steep first section, then a gentler section across the boggy bit, then a gradient in between, on fairly smooth grass. For me the decider is the ability to get down the upper steep bit fast - the gradient here is too steep for a running action and so technique is everything; many very good runners are reduced to a tentative totter.  Keith Anderson was apparently the ultime descender, and it must have been an almost unique ability to tackle this first section that puts his two descent times more than half a minute faster than anyone else. The next fastest was Colin Donelly; in 1990 he was 36 seconds ahead of Anderson at the summit, but must have been gutted to finish 2 seconds behind with a descent of 7:43.

For the ladies, the only recorded descent under 10 minutes was Tricia Calder, who did 9:15 while setting the 38:15 record in 1990 - it must have been a good year.