The Breconing
Day one.
We left south-east London at 5:30am on Friday morning and headed west arriving in Brecon four hours later. The contrast is striking. Gone were the rows of terraced houses, high rises, descending planes and nose to tail traffic. Instead they were replaced with rolling green fields, mountain peaks and birdsong.
A wooden camping pod just to the north of Brecon was to be our base, but before setting up camp there were trails to be run. Within ten minutes of arriving we were beginning our ascent of Pen-y-Fan - the highest mountain in southern Britain 886m.
The stone pitched path is divided by culverts with running water flowing down the mountain side. There were few people around and we made good progress to Bwlch Duwynt (windy pass in Welsh). We ran behind Corn Du along Arthur's Seat and up to the summit of Pen-y-Fan. When the cloud parted the views along the Neuadd Valley were incredible. There was snow on the mountain side and it was bitterly cold. The wind was also ferocious.
I spotted some animals in the valley below believing them to be horses. Turns out they were sheep which from then on were known as Welsh horses. The word Araf was our attempt at the local language. This word adorns the roads in Wales and translates as slow. We gave it numerous other meanings from hello to thank you.
Having traversed a ridge taking in Craig-Cwm-Oergwm and Craig-Cwareli we doubled back on ourselves before heading down the spur from Fan-y-Big, a descent of 500m. Matt managed another spectacularly graceful fall when both legs went from under him and he landed on his back. Thankfully he was unhurt although shaken.
The final metres of this were hands and feet and we pulled ourselves up the steep rocks. I embarrassed myself when exclaiming 'Super!' as I made it to the top. It was now time for some food and then back down Cribyn the way we had ascended at the start of the day before once again climbing Pen-y-Fan.
This time we also summited Corn Du 873m, the slightly lower summit the other side of the saddle of Arthur's seat.
One final descent back to the car and we were done for day one. 5h 43m moving time, 17.5 miles and over 6000ft of elevation. Not a bad start.
We changed at the car and watched the very tame chaffinches and great tits that hopped around our feet in search of crumbs.
A short drive and we were at the pod where a massive, bright rainbow framed the mountains we had just been running in. There was just time for a home cooked Spag Bol and a beer before lights out.
Day two.
We woke early after a disturbed nights sleep due to unfamiliar surroundings. After scrambled eggs and coffee we headed to the start of our second, longer trail - Talybont on Usk.
By 7:30 we were already running along a rising path beside Talybont reservoir which led us up to 430m. The sight and sounds of waterfalls were everywhere, carrying the rain and frost down through layers of forest and moss to the rivers and reservoirs in the valley.
A bridge led us across Taf Fecan river and then we hauled ourselves up to 630m within less than half a mile. It was hands on knees time.
At the top the wind nearly blew us back down. A howling gale was right in our faces as we fought to keep moving forward along the ridge past the peaks of Cefn Cul, Rhiw Yr Ysgyfarnog and Craig-Gwaun-Taf now at 820m. It was slow progress.
We were now just below Corn Du and descended the path we had started our weekend with on arrival. I started feeling dizzy and weak. Matt later told me I was as white as a sheet. Thankfully we reached the car park and the food van where we stuffed out faces and I felt much better. I was happy to carry on.
Now down at 210m we traversed the underside of Pan-y-Fan along the river. A nice flat stretch which enabled us to do some 'proper' running. Soon we were at the base of Pen-y-Fan again, but this time from the other direction. We would ascend the spur adjacent to our ascent of Cribyn the day before when the hail storm had hit.
Thankfully the weather was much improved on day two with the clouds having burnt off and blue skies and sunshine throughout the day. It remained cold however, and the wind was still strong on the peaks.
What followed was the highlight of the weekend for me, a long steep ascent culminating in a hands and feet scramble to the top while kites circled overhead. As we emerged over the ledge hordes of walkers were queueing to take photos at the Cairn. We quickly moved on, descending and finding a quieter spot to shelter from the wind and have a pasty.
Ten minutes later we were off again skirting around Cribyn and Fan-y-Big up to the ridge we had doubled back on the day before with Craig-Cwm-Oergwm and Craig-Cwareli. A family pointed out a small pool full of frog spawn. We also filled up our water bottles from a fresh stream that was gurgling down the hillside. We continued on and descended past Bryn 558m towards the village of Pencelli.
From here it was a few miles of flat running along the canal back to the car. Another quick change and we were soon ensconced in The White Hart with a pint of Guinness apiece and a hearty meal which was demolished in minutes.
Back at the pod there was just time for a quick shower before an early night ready for the last day. 7h 30m moving time, 33.2 miles and over 7600ft elevation.
Day three.
The final day. After a leisurely start packing up and having coffee in a Brecon café we made our way to the Black Mountains and the French sounding village of Fellindre. We had decided to have an easier run after two hard days and wanting to head back by 2pm. Sadly, conditions didn't allow for such a luxury.
No sooner had we climbed into the forest, we were ankle deep in thick, squelchy, clay/mud. Matt was soon falling again, this time into thorn bushes in an attempt to avoid face planting into the mire.
The gradual rise soon became a steep, and then vertiginous climb. We had run/walked up to 410m but were faced with a decision; to take a longer gradual route to the top of the ridge, or head straight up. We chose the latter. A lung bursting, grasping, leg burning 300m ascent covering just 750m in distance followed. At one point I found myself almost parallel to the mountain side and simply lowered myself into the soft moss and could have easily drifted off to sleep.
Once at the top we crossed the ridge once more into gale force head winds until we reached Twmpa 684m. From there it was a fast descent on technical trail to Gospel Pass. We struck left and continued a winding path down the valley across fields and eventually onto a road that led us back to the car.
2h 41m moving time. 11.3 miles and over 3000ft elevation. This brought up the 100km (62 miles) distance for the weekend and a total elevation of over 16 600 feet elevation (5000m).
Here are some of Matt's shots:
