Snowdon Ultra 50 mile & 100 mile race review

The Snowdon Ultra 50-mile and 100-mile event are some of the toughest mountain races on offer in the UK. A technical route that takes runners over the stunning mountainous landscapes of Snowdonia Eryri National Park.

A route that favours proficient map readers and compass aficionados, the 50 and the 100-mile event both ask their racers to be self-sufficient, with no markings due to being a ‘no trace’ race, Snowdon Ultra prefers a combination of GPX and good old-fashioned orienteering in leu of leaving any human footprint throughout the National Park.

Runners follow the well-marked Snowdonia Slate Trail to make their way to the incredible Tryfan passing Gwern Gof Isaf (Checkpoint 1) in the Ogwen Valley and then joining the Miners track towards Checkpoint 2 and Pen-y-Pass.  Ultrarunners then take on the ascent of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales before returning to the Glyderau and the return to Betws-y-Coed via Llyn Crafnant.

This year runners lined up for the 100 miles at 6 am for a mass start as they began the battle for a podium finish followed by a mass start for those taking on the 50 miles at 6:15 am! Laura Hutchinson, Assistant Race Director at GB Ultras, stopped by to give us her post-race thoughts …

“This was our first event since lockdown restrictions began to ease that we’re able to have a mass start, which brought back that ‘buzz’ that we don’t always get with the staggard starts. The atmosphere was fantastic on the start line and was a true indication of what was to come at this edition of the Snowdon Ultra!”

To recce or not to recce? 

“I would absolutely recommend a recce or the route if that is at all possible before the event. We had quite a few people during this edition that had completed a practice run of the route, however, most of them had missed out on Snowdon itself and consequently found the big climb a little tricky.