Brecon Fans Races Blog

Just back from the race – another classic. Pete Ryder and Harry Matthews led the way in a battle from start to finish. Harry took a flyer on the descent, injuring significant proportions of himself and eating quite a bit of mud, but bravely kept it together and even took the lead for while until the final sprint finish. We couldn’t separate them at the tape, so it was 1st prize shared, with a time of 1:16 or so. Conditions were very heavy underfoot so times were generally down. I hobbled ... read more

I’ve already published this set here http://www.breconfans.org.uk/photos but here they are again in slightly larger versions on my SkyDrive. Pen y Fan Race 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL read more

It’s race morning, gentle drizzle, low cloud, but no wind. Here’s the view of Pen y Fan from our front garden… If you are coming to the Pen y Fan Race today (and why wouldn't you?!) please be aware of the following... Parking Due to the recent rains, the field on the right of the track is out of bounds for parking, at the farmer's request. Combined with the fact that we are a championship race this year, this means there will be some pressure on parking space. Please share transport where ... read more

Lots of people ask us for advice about what kit is acceptable and/or good for the races. We've put together some kit tips here, and welcome your feedback!

As most fellrunners will know, Brian Belfield of Staffs Moorlands died in the Buttermere Sailbeck race on 29th April. He was found at 9:45 the next morning, off the course on steep ground, and although I've not heard officially, my guess is he died of hypothermia as conditions were horrible in the night. The alarm was only raised after 8pm, meaning there was little chance of finding him in failing light with a 10 mile route to cover. The organisers had thought that all runners were home and... read more

I've just spotted this interesting article about the fastest ascents and descents in fell and mountain running (in the world!). The author Anthony Kay says... "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,... read more

I couldn't run Cribyn this year (yet another injury) so got the chance to take some snaps while Naomi joined the fray. I didn't catch everyone, and a few are a bit rubbish, but there's a few classics in here (Dave Austin!?). Cribyn Race 2012 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL read more

Demonstrating my mastery of displacement activity, I've created a Facebook page for the Brecon Fans Race Weekend http://www.facebook.com/BreconFansRaceWeekend

and embedded a panel for it into the home page of this site. I expect a turnout of at least 5000 after this sophisticated marketing campaign.

Please all "like" it a lot, then go for a run in the hills...

We’re please to say that John Chidlow will be helping with the time-keeping this year. John has seen (and timed) it all, officiating at over 50 races every year, and he has at least two fancy stopwatches. He will be a welcome addition to the finish line team, which normally consists of me + one or two of the kids trying to take times and read numbers as people hurtle down the straight.

Maybe one year I’ll be able to run the race…

Reading the latest Fellrunner magazine, I find that the age limits fror races are decided by the competitor's age on 1st January, and not race day as I had previously thought. I have corrected the relevant details for the Pen y Fan Race (16 or over), Pen y Fan Junior Race (under 16), and the Fan y Big Race (over 18).