TWO favourites of the Dragon’s Back Race retired following a gruelling day after setting off from Conwy into the mountains of Snowdonia.
There was a one-two-three of Welsh ultra-runners as 367 competitors from 24 nations set off from Conwy Castle at 7am on Monday, cheered on by family, friends and spectators.
They tackled the 30-mile route, with a climb of 3,800 metres, over the Carneddau, Tryfan, Crib Goch and the Snowdon Horseshoe, as temperatures steadily rose every hour until late in the afternoon.
Almost a third of the runners failing to complete the first day, while those still in the race have more than 200 miles and 17,400m of ascent to complete over the next five days.
Simon Roberts and Russell Bentley ran the whole day together. Roberts crossed the line first in 7:25:14 and has a slender lead of just 13 seconds over Russell (7:25:27), who is also based in the country.
Third man across the line was Matt O’Keefe (8:41:58). Meanwhile, two of the leading contenders fell by the wayside, as previous winner Marcus Scotney and Kim Collinson both pulled out with injuries.
Roberts, who was 23rd in the 2019 Dragon’s Back Race, said: “I went out to be first today. That is what I wanted but it is only one day in. It was good running with Russell and he’s going to be tough to get past. I have set out to win and so we will have to see what happens.”
The first female to finish on day one of the Montane Dragon’s Back Race was British runner Katie Mills in 9:58:06 (14th overall). Elaine Bisson, of England, was second in 10:49:12, with Brit Zoe Murphy third in 11:05:41.
Mills said: “It was very hot but lovely today. I got the worst cramp on all the uphills, so I just tried to go slow and then try to make it up on the downhills. I am really surprised to be the first lady.
“I started pretty much at the back because I wasn’t sure where to line up. I wanted to enjoy the city walls at the beginning, which I did.”
Further back in the field, the heat and terrain took a big toll on the field, with 118 runners dropping out through injury, fatigue or by failing to make the cut-off times. This was a much higher number than the 44 who didn’t complete day one at the last race in 2019.
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