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Snowdon Ultra ® 50 & 100 Mile

18-Sep-2021 Betws-y-coed, Wales, UK (Wales)

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Mountains Race Race Terrain

80KM / 50Miles
1 Day - 250 Runners

Alternate Distances: 163KM/100M

DIFFICULTY Race Difficulty Advanced

Entry From £79 GBP

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Snowdon Ultra® 50

GB Ultras welcome ultra-runners to the remarkable Snowdonia National Park and the beautiful village of Betws-y-Coed (translated as ‘Prayer in the woods’ in Welsh) for the 3rd Edition of Snowdon Ultra®!

Runners follow the Snowdonia Slate Trail past Swallow Falls to the foot of the Snowdonia mountains where the legendary Dragons await!

With 3700m of ascent, mountain trails lead to Heather Terrace on Tryfan, Snowdon Summit, Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr, Devil’s Kitchen, Llyn Idwal and Pen yr Ole Wen before taking in the fantastic trails beside Llyn Crafnant and Llyn Geirionydd!

With live online GPS tracking from GB Race Tracker & brilliant support at checkpoints along the journey, it’s a race you’ll always remember! With UTMB Qualifying Points being processed, the race is a stunning challenge and a Navigation event.

Top 100 finishers earn a Gold Snowdon Ultra Medal, 101-200 finishers earn a Silver Snowdon Ultra Medal and 201+ finishers earn the Bronze Snowdon Ultra Medal.

There are additional Bespoke GB Ultras Trophies for the Top 3 Male and Top 3 Female finishers and for the 1st 3 Teams (based on the accumulated times of their first 3 runners).

Snowdon Ultra® 100

The Return of the Incredible Snowdon Ultra® 100 Mile Race! With 10 Checkpoints & 7700m of Ascent over 100 stunning miles spanning some of the beautiful mountains of the Snowdonia Eryri National Park! This is GB Ultras support at its very best throughout.

The 100 Mile route leaves Betws-y-Coed (finish line for the 50 mile event) and heads to Beddgelert via the Snowdonia Slate Trail leaving the trail for ascents of Cnicht (689m) and Moel Hebog (783m) before heading through Nant Gwynant Valley passing Sygun Copper Mine, Llyn Dinas and Llyn Gwynant. Runners then finish the race with the ascent of Moel Siabod.

Live online GPS tracking (via GB Race Tracker) follows the runners along the course and 2020 UTMB Qualifying Points are being processed. The race is classed as a Navigation Event.

Top 50 finishers earn a Gold Snowdon Ultra BUCKLE, 51-100 finishers earn a Silver Snowdon Ultra BUCKLE and 101+ finishers earn the Bronze Snowdon Ultra BUCKLE.

There are additional Bespoke GB Ultras Trophies for the Top 3 Male and Top 3 Female finishers!

Event Organiser
Wayne Drinkwater

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Beginner

Elevation: Very little change < 500 metres. Benign running terrain, not technical.

Suitable for: First ultra runners completing a marathon or doing regular long distance running in the last six months.

Intermediate

Elevation: Increase of up to 1000 metres

Suitable for: Runners who have completed at least one ultra distance race (or similar event) or are doing long distance running (>26 miles) regularly, with elevation shown.

Advanced

Elevation: Increase of up to 1500 metres

Suitable for: Runners who have completed several ultra distances or similar events, or are doing long distance running regularly, with elevation shown.

Expert

Elevation: Increase of up to 2000 metres with some challenging climatic conditions (e.g. ice, snow, humidity or heat) and or technical terrain

Suitable for: Experienced runners who have completed at least regular ultra distances in last 12 months, or are doing regular long distance running (>50 miles) with elevation and conditions shown (where possible). Admission to these races may be subject to evidence of recent qualifying race participation and recent medical examination certificate. Check with the race organiser regarding entry requirements.

Brutal

Elevation: Increase of up to 2000 metres with very challenging climatic conditions (e.g. ice, snow, humidity, heat or at high altitude) and or technical terrain.

Suitable for: Very experienced long distance ultra runners (min 3 years’ experience) or are doing regular long distance running (>50 miles) with elevation and conditions shown (where possible). Admission to these races is often subject to evidence of recent qualifying race participation and recent medical examination certificate. Purchase of specialist kit is often recommended for these races.

Endurance - Multi-activity

Type: An ultra distance race including at least two of the following activities such as running, swimming, cycling, kayaking, skiing and climbing. It may also include different climatic conditions (eg ice, snow, humidity, cold water, mud or heat).

Suitable for: Experienced multi-skilled athletes who have trained for the different activities included in this event. Admission to these races may be subject to receipt of a recent medical examination certificate. Check with the race organiser regarding entry requirements and any specialist equipment required such as a wetsuit, skis or a mountain bike.

Global - Virtual

Type: A virtual race which can be run at any time shown on the dates shown, on any type of terrain in any country.

Suitable for: For runners from beginners to experienced as you choose your own course and challenge based on the guidelines and options set by the virtual race organiser.

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Review Snowdon Ultra ® 50 & 100 Mile

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asutton709

02:16 24-12-19

Oct 2019.

Start with the good points. I enjoyed this race and the route and pleased I did it. It was well organised through out and the aid stations were well stocked and frequent. There was clearly a lot of love for GB ultras crew and other events they had organised as there were a lot of runners helping out and marshalling, which is a good sign. Also I had a real feeling that the guys in charge were really keen to take care of the runners, which meant numerous course changes on the day.
This leads me onto my only negative comment and why I won't run this event again. The course changes annoyed me, particularly because the weather was so mild. After putting in the training, gaining the experienced required and signing up for a mountainous ultra in winter , I knew what I was getting myself into and was well prepared, and I think the level of hand holding went a bit too far.
Cheers.

squidge2406

10:08 25-09-18

Brutal is a fair description of GB Ultras Snowdon race. I ran the 50 mile version (which measured in at 55 miles on my watch) as my first mountain race and whilst I knew it would be the toughest event I'd done, so far, it surpassed even that expectation.

Starting and finishing at Betws-y-Coed the race showcases the best (or worst) of the Snowdonia National Park. You know you are in for a ride when summiting Snowdon is the easiest part of the race. The scenery is breathtaking but there is nothing flat about it, when you are not ascending or descending, you will probably find yourself in a swamp. To call it a run is not really doing it justice, yes there is some running but there is also plenty of bouldering as you climb almost sheer mountain faces and a fair bit of hiking, if, like me, you are a mid-pack plodder, who will be spending some time in the dark. Going into the race I estimated 18hrs to complete it and finished in 19hrs 20 (with the extra 5 miles) and I'm not ashamed to admit that the last 15 miles were walked in with my friend and a few other runners we collected along the way.

This race is tough but GB Ultras have put on a great event and you are well looked after throughout. In the 50 mile version there is a checkpoint every 8 miles or so and the volunteers are all amazing. They can't do enough for you, are friendly and positive and there is plenty of food and drink on offer. In addition the general atmosphere is great, this is an event where you will need to rely on your fellow man from time to time. All the other runners were very supportive, helping with directions and teaming up to get through some of the more difficult moments.

Although the race is not advertised as a self-navigation event this years race was massively hampered by the storms and not all of the course was clearly marked as a result. This is not a criticism of the organisers but if you are thinking of entering then I would suggest either having the gps route downloaded or being confident with a map and compass as you can't guarantee good weather.

I would absolutely recommend the race, however, if you are thinking of entering then my one piece of advice is that you need to train and take this seriously if not it will chew you up and spit you out very quickly. My whole year was built around getting this done and from my home in London I spent several weekends in Yorkshire, Wales and Scotland getting as much experience and vertical gain into my legs as I could and I needed every moment of it to get me to the finish line.

This was the first year GB Ultra have run this event so I'm sure there will be improvements made, they were learning as much as we were and whilst i can safely say I will never do the 50 again, maybe, just maybe, I'll be back to do the 100 one year :)

Richard

Snowdon Ultra ® 50 & 100 Mile

18-Sep-2021 Betws-y-coed, Wales, UK (Wales)