The Dragon’s Back Race and it’s sister event, the Cape Wrath Ultra, are both tough but spectacular multi-stage ultrarunning expedition races that will take you on incredible mountain journeys here in the UK. Alan Li has completed both races and here gives us the lowdown on his experiences and what to expect from each event…

Tell us about your running background

I first got into running in the mid 2000s, starting with 5kms and gradually working my way up the distances. A familiar route amongst most runners. It wasn’t until 2013 I entered my first multi-stage adventure running event, a 5-day race in the Himalaya.

Synonymous amongst the ultra, trail and fell community, I entered the Cape Wrath Ultra in 2018 and came back for the Dragon’s Back Race the following year. I first heard of these races through their reputation as being “the toughest”. If things were easy, everyone would be doing it.

You completed the 2018 Cape Wrath Ultra, how was your experience?

I came into the race with zero running for a month as I had torn my calf muscle leading up to the event. Even at the SILVA Great Lakeland 3Day event, I was only able to hike and couldn’t run at all. So, a stressful three weeks leading up to the start line.

With no running or race momentum built up, the first three days of the Cape Wrath Ultra was a cramp fest. Calves, hamstrings, every muscle seized up during the early stages of the race.

Cape Wrath Ultra had a very mixed level of toughness. There were short days mixed in with the harder, longer days. As the week went by, injuries and niggles started to accumulate, and you just had to dig deeper to deal with the fatigue and physical damages to drag yourself over the stage finish line. When things got tough, I used the mantra “...just make it to the finish line and make sure you’re on the start line in the morning”.

Cuts-off times were very generous. At no time in the race did I feel I needed to look over my shoulder for cut-offs. Out of the 8 days we only had one day of bad weather. Even to this day I still feel we were fortunate that the weather held up as it would have been a different race altogether if not. Still thinking how treacherous the bogs, river crossings, technical hill descents could have been.

Alan running through Scotland in the 2018 Cape Wrath Ultra ©Jimmy Hyland

What made you come back for more and sign up for the Dragon's Back Race in 2019?

The biggest reason for coming back was because of the camaraderie experienced at the Cape Wrath Ultra. We’re all fighting the same fight, suffering together and having those bonds was a massive moral boost for getting up 6am each morning to go again. Lots of friendships for life were forged, I still keep in touch and often see past participants at other race events locally and abroad.

Doing just Cape Wrath Ultra would feel like there was some unfinished business if I didn’t follow up with the Dragon’s Back Race. Also, it was part of my ‘Double Dragon’ slaying year. The 9 Dragons in Hong Kong followed by the Dragon’s Back Race in Wales.

How did your preparations vary? Were any useful lessons learnt from the Cape Wrath Ultra that helped on the Dragon's Back Race?

As the Dragon’s Back Race course was less remote and much more accessible, this allowed for test runs or recces on the event route. Being London based, it was harder to access the Cape Wrath Ultra route to get a feel of the terrain.

I managed to reuse a lot of the kit that was used in the Cape Wrath Ultra. The mandatory kit list is pretty much identical, so I didn’t have to spend too much financially. One of the biggest lessons I took away from the Cape Wrath Ultra was to be super-efficient when back in camp. Have bags labelled to avoid a ‘kit explosion’, make sure everything is in order and ready to go. For instance, my feed bag - cutlery, snacks, recovery shakes - would be the first bag that I would take with me immediately to the food tent even before I whipped off my shoes. Other bags included: wash bag, first aid, pyjamas, hill food, bedding, clean running clothes. This gave me more time after having done the essential admin.

How does the landscape and terrain travelled through differ between the two races?

The Dragon’s back Race is definitely more mountainous with technical climbing and scrambling which makes some days less runnable. During the first three days, you get to climb just under 10,000 meters. That’s like summiting Kilimanjaro twice in 3 days.

While with the Cape Wrath Ultra, you run a lot of it on trackless, remote ground. Distances vary day by day and there is less climbing. The boggy sections were the most unforgiving. I remember my leg falling into a gully, my first thought was to let it go and don’t fight it. That way you lessen the chance of causing any breakage. There was also a lot more river wading than expected. We got an email a few months before the event instructing us how to cross rivers when the water was at different heights.

In your opinion which race is the tougher challenge? And why?

Each race has its unique difficulty, you have 8 days vs. 5 long days. Distances on all days vary but there are always longer days with less time for recovery and admin.

For me, I really struggled with recovery after the Dragon’s Back Race, I would say that was the tougher of the two events. Even though my body wasn’t as badly broken as after the Cape Wrath Ultra, I had an insatiable appetite for a month. My body just craved everything, it ended up being a non-stop eating spree trying to replenish the nutrients and recover from the high level of stress.

Alan in Torridon on the 2018 Cape Wrath Ultra ©Jimmy Hyland

What would you say to someone trying to decide which race to enter?

People who know me will already know my answer: “They both have stunning scenery, do them both!!”. It’s quite a tough choice as they both provide a high level of challenge; this is backed up by the high dropout rate.

I guess my first question would be how are you with mountains? Do you like heights, hiking or bad weather? The Dragon’s Back Race is predominantly a mountain race therefore you need to be good with being able to handle yourself in the mountains. A lot of people entered the race ignoring the tag line of “The toughest 5-day mountain race in the world” and as a result didn’t make it pass Day 1, through failing cut-offs, injuries etc.

The Cape Wrath Ultra is a faster course and allows more camp time to chill, feed, wash, do admin and recover. During the earlier stages of the race, we were mostly back into camp before 4pm.

Which race would you do again? And why?

If finances and ‘life’ didn’t get in the way, I would most likely choose to do the Dragon’s Back Race over the Cape Wrath Ultra again. I had a better ‘journey’ building up to the race as one of the highlights of the race was meeting past and present Dragons to go on long weekend route recces. Seeing so many familiar faces on the start line quashes any anxieties or nerves.

I had a very bad day on Day 1 suffering from stomach issues as well as a very angry piriformis which restricted mobility on climbs. If I was to go again, my main goal would be to improve on performance in the race. I still plan to do the recces with the upcoming intake of Dragon Slayers. One final tip from me, buy the previous race map when you enter as these are like gold dust and tend to sell out.

Alan in Machynlleth - the mid way point of the Dragon's Back Race ©No Limits Photography

Alan Li - Dragon’s Back Race vs. Cape Wrath Ultra

Sophie Littlefair

Conquering the Dragon by Matt Harmon