Adam in Runderland

The day after I returned from the Eryri Marathon was Halloween. My hamstrings were painful and tight so I went out for an early morning recovery run. As I made my way through the streets near my home I noticed various Halloween decorations outside houses. Spider webs, pumpkins, body parts and skeletons covered various houses in the neighbourhood. Here are a selection of the more creative displays:   The local park has a vegetable garden, and within that is a pumpkin patch. A spider had added its own ornate decoration.

A few weeks ago, I saw a post from someone who was unable to run the Snowdonia Eryri Marathon this year. They were offering to transfer their place to another runner. As I had nothing planned that weekend I said I would take it. To my surprise I was the first to respond. The race coincided with half term, and as my daughter was away for the week, I decided to enjoy a few days in North Wales culminating in the marathon. I heard about the race years ago. Many of the runners I knew in Northampton would travel to take part, and I would listen to their stories of steep hills and slippery, muddy descents. They would return full of praise for the event, and proudly show off the slate coaster that all finishers received.  It took me the whole of Wednesday to travel from London via Crewe, Chester, and Bangor to Llanberis. This left me two days before the marathon on the Saturday. I was staying in a YHA hostel at Pen-y-Pass. This had excellent access to the surrounding mountain trails as wel...