Mark Griffith
Mark Griffith came from Washington to participate in the 2022 Montane Dragon’s Back Race® and ended up completing the shorter ‘Hatchling’ course.
The Course
The course is brutal - take some of the toughest traverses in Washington, remove the ice and snow and replace it with rocks, bog and grass. Massive landscapes with big mountains, steep, technical ascents, technical ridge crossing and technical descents. Probably the worst were the steep, grassy descents, where there was no path, and the easiest way down was to slide on your butt. There were large tracts of open grass land, with chest high bracken ferns, tufts of grass hillocks under foot, sheep paths and bogs where moss, grass, mud and water waited ahead, and it was unclear if your foot would sink 2 inches or 2 feet until you stepped in it.
Finishing
I did not finish, but I also did not not finish. The race is 6 days long; each day is a point to point continuation of the race, from camp to camp. Each day has two cut off times; none of the days are easy, except maybe the last day. The entire race is a war of attrition of your body: can you cover the course with enough time to rest and recover and to do it again. I made it through day one in 14 hours and 45 minutes, about an hour and 15 minutes before the 10pm cut off. On day 2, I mistakenly thought I had time, and by midday I was chasing the cut offs - though I made it with 10 minutes to spare - I burnt all my matches, and didn’t have enough energy in the tank to get over the Rhinogydd and to camp before the 10 pm cut off, and so I after a couple of miles, I turned back to the support check point and rode back to camp. From there I did the half day course. So while I didn't “finish”, I didn’t fail, and I didn't quit or withdraw. I had a great time and saw a lot of the Welsh countryside and mountains. What I experienced and took away from the event is forever mine - regardless of what trophy or status I have on the results page. And best of all was all the people I met along the way.
People
One of the best parts of doing these events is meeting everyone, from the support staff to the other runners. I love how friendly, welcoming and easy going everyone is in the trail community. Chris Cope, who led the first three days was especially engaging. We chatted about his diabetes while bathing in the creek on day 3. He got a special message from my diabetic grandson cheering him on. Despite all the people along the way, you spend about 90% of the race on your own; you and your pace are your own and it’s not super often that you mesh with someone for too long. But I did enjoy the times when I got a chance to get in the groove with someone else and to chat with them. The fact that everyone’s first names are on the bibs on the back of everyone’s pack helped.
Mark at the finish line in Cardiff ©No Limits Photography
Race logistics
Camp was a consistent routine of :
Run through the gate, dip in at the finish to end your day, dip in to get your splits for the day between checkpoints.
Someone would hand you your support bag and tell you your tent number. I was in the same tent each day as I bunked with 2 guys that made it all 6 days.
Wander to your tent, where your overnight bag was waiting inside. Each tent was a large tent with 2 pods on each end that could hold 2 people with a large central area for gear and changing. Tents were big, never felt cramped, tall enough to stand up in and nice and dry. Each day the tents were packed up and moved to the next camp.
Depending on how late it was; how tired you were and how hungry you were :
Change out of your wet clothing and leave your wet shoes outside the tent. I was always wet - either from the rain or sweat. Shoes were never dry. I had a dry bag that I just stuffed my wet clothes into. And I had a set of clean clothes for camp. Grab your day camp bag (I had a Cotapaxi bag that I hauled stuff around in).
Maybe find the river and sponge off or sit and wash off. I only managed to get down to the river 3 times - always nice and refreshing and cool.
Change into your dry camp clothes and put on your camp shoes - mine were my fav pair of green crocs.
Go to the food tent - get your chips - always always always chips (fries), maybe get some soup, maybe get the main course: the food was vegetarian and vegan.
Go the main tent - to sit in tables, comfy lay back chairs or beanbags to eat your food. Usually go back for more chips; get your DragonMail, ask questions about the next day
Wash your dishes, brush your teeth, maybe drop off some wet things at the drying tent.
Maybe go to medical tent - I only went twice, once on day 1 due to chafing developing - and once on day 4 to get the chafing taped over.
Go back to your tent - maybe organize your gear - I tended to just throw my stuff in a pile and organize in the morning.
Get out your pad, your sleeping bag and pillow, and crawl into bed and fall asleep.
For sleep - I took 2 melatonin gummies every night, and I would either sleep like a rock, or I’d wake up by the ache in my legs. One night I woke every hour with my glutes throbbing - that was from the day we had a lot of road running.
Next morning - wake up early - sort gear, pack your bag, change into a dry set of running gear, lube feet and body, put on a dry pair of socks, wet shoes and haul all your bags to the common tent and eat food.
Breakfast always had hashbrown triangles which I ate every morning. There was also porridge with golden sauce or jam or compote - I never got the rolls or the waffles. They also had breakfast cereal. I generally had hashbrowns and porridge.
Then finish packing the last stuff in your overnight bag, take your packs and your overnight bag and support bag to bag drop off and gear check - here they would always ask for a different set of 3 of your required gear - bivvy support bag, synthetic 300 gram outer puffy layer, compass, or mobile or map or headlamp or wet gear etc.
If you were still in the race, start as early as you needed to finish (6 am) - if you were an elite you’d start around 8:30 am, because you’d run so fast you’d risk finishing before the evening camp was set up and ready for you.
Day by day reports
Day 1
The excitement of the race starting! Lining up in the castle and listening to the Welsh choir sing songs in Welsh. The start and you're off, along the castle walls, up the city streets of Conwy and across a field to gain the ridge to the first checkpoint. I’d run this section of the course before and knew what to expect. I felt good but noticed how everyone else was slightly faster than me, including Mike Dougherty who I’d signed up with. We hadn’t talked explicitly about sticking together, but we’d kept an eye on each other. Mike glanced back and gave me a nod and he slowly pulled ahead of me.
I loved the big open hills as we made our way toward the first checkpoint. The descent down to the support point was steep and rocky and technical, and required a bit of scrambling.
At the checkpoint, I got some water and ate my PB&J, and then started up the VERY steep technical ascent up Tryfan - some scrambling, lots of stepping up rocks, and I passed a bunch of people who were less comfortable. The descent down Tryfan to Pen y Pass wasn’t as bad as the descent to the checkpoint. I was 100% surprised to see Mike Dougherty along the trail near the bottom as I thought he was long gone. He said that he’d thrown up and was feeling weak with no energy. I bought him and myself an ice cream bar at the cafe at Pen y Pass, and we started up the Pyg trail toward Crib Goch. I’d done this entire ridge before from Crib Goch and around, so this was familiar territory.
As we started up Crib Goch, I took the same dumb side trail to the left that overlooked the lakes - the main trail was to the right. Mike went right and I just scrambled straight up to the top of the visible ridge, where I knew I’d re-join the trail. As I ascended and actually got on the Crib Goch ridge, I kept looking back for Mike, but I didn’t see him - he’d disappeared. I carried on. I loved the section climbing through the ridge and over to Garnedd Ugain; it was fun traversing through big pinnacles on the ridge, scrambling through the rocks that were like the scales on a dragon’s back. Then down to gain the trail to Yr Wyddfa (Snowden). It wasn't long before we were at Wales’s highest point. It was then down and around to the ridge to the top of Y Lliwedd, and then steep descents along the ridge to the last checkpoint, and the rain started to fall. A rain jacket was necessary to stay a dry and warm.
I ran into Adam, and I followed him as he led the way; the light of the day started to fade, and we had a very steep descent to camp. This was all grass and mud that had been wetted by an hour of rain. There was no real trail, and what there was was slick mud. In between was grass, but this grassy slope was so steep that it was one of the worst descents of my life. We either fell or slid, and when you fell the best thing to do was use your poles to slow yourself in a glissade and make sure you avoided any rocks. I must have fallen over a dozen times. Eventually the light was gone and I pulled my headlamp out of my pocket where I had stashed it earlier, anticipating this moment. The light lit up the last few 100 feet of descent well enough that I could find my feet. A bit of road and we crossed into camp at around 8:45 pm. I was exhausted and went into evening camp routine. I was 100% sure that MIke was going to time out and felt awful for him. I was surprised 30 minutes later when I ran into him in the communal tent and he said that he’d made it in about 20 minutes after me.
Mark conquering Crib Goch ©Bib Number Photography
Day 2
I slept like the dead, very soundly; the ear plugs helped. I woke up feeling ok at 4:30 am when my phone alarm went off. I needed the 90 minutes to make sure I could get all my gear sorted and get ready to leave by 6am. We started off flat on a road and then through the forest which reminded me a lot of Seattle. I didn't try to run that much, and just made sure that I was moving most of the time at a very fast and efficient walk.
I made the first cut off at 11:15 am - I was an hour and five minutes ahead of the 12:20 cut off. I asked how far to the next cut off, and he said a couple of hours. I didn't look exactly at the time, but it was 9.3 miles with 1500 vertical gain. So again, I didn't run, but walked very efficiently. Gradually, as we passed 1 pm and we weren't yet close, I started looking at my map to see how far off checkpoint 7 was. I still wasn't close, and started to worry about making the cut off. I started hustling with a bit more haste, running the downs and flats, hiking the ups. I fell in with several other runners and we began pushing harder to make the 2:45 deadline.
At around 2pm, we were on the top of a large fern hill and had a way to go. We descended through the dense ferns where the path under foot could not be seen, and occasionally large rocks or holes waited to swallow your step. 2:30 pm and we could see the checkpoint in the valley – we had one last hill to descend. With all the focus on cut off, I likely got behind on nutrition. Not remembering to eat put me behind on energy. On top of the physical effort was the mental and emotional stress that also drained me. As we hit the road, they yelled "10 minutes" . We ran into the camp ground, and they handed me my support bag and helped me fill up my water. I had 10 minutes to "dip" out of the gate to make the cut off. I decided to change my socks and shoes, grabbed my PB&J sandwich, Trish urged me on through the gate and I was so emotional I almost started crying. Once through the gate the pressure was off; we'd made it. I started up the Roman steps and the rain began. The rain became more persistent and the wind began to blow - the rain was biting my face. I was not moving fast; I had burnt all my matches making cut off, and my energy and speed was low.
Scott said : "My watch is telling me that we are not going to make it to camp by 10 pm". I said, "Go ahead then, this is the pace that I have got." There was one other runner, Fuiyama, who followed me as we started our ascent on the ridge above the valley. As we climbed we ran into "Tall Paul", who was coming back down. He explained that he'd recce'd the route, that the Rhinogydd were tough mountains with a steep rocky descent, and he knew that he couldn't make it to camp by 10pm. I decided then that I would follow his lead and turn around. Paul insisted that I not do so because of him, and I reassured him that I was making an independent decision. I felt at peace with my decision; if this was the last day, I'd have pushed on, but the fact that I'd have more days ahead of me meant that I decided to conserve my energy.
Fuiyama decided to carry on and off he went into the rain. Paul, who had been in the military as an Apache Helicopter engineer, and I talked as we walked back down the path to the support point. When we arrived, the rain stopped and the sun came out, and we sat on chairs in the sunshine. Soon Fuiyama returned and then so did Kev, who had passed me earlier in the afternoon. He was 67 and attempting to be the oldest finisher, but had the bad luck descending Tryfan the day before to fall face first, smash his lip and knock out a tooth. He'd had to go to the emergency room for stitches and taken a cab back to camp Monday night at midnight. He was a tough dude who had carried on and was moving faster earlier, but had also run out of gas to get over the Rhinogydd.
We got back to camp before dark; changed and ate and signed up for 1/2 day the next day from the support point to camp for Day 3. I would carry on. I was at peace with that and I crawled into bed to go to sleep.
Day 3
Things were much more relaxed with a 6 am wake-up and a 8:30 am departure. I was able to join the others doing the half day - we loaded up in the vans and drove to the town of Machynlleth. Several of us walked to a cafe where I ate a second breakfast of 4 eggs, 2 bacons and 2 pieces of toast.
We departed at 12:30 and set off up an extremely steep slate road. Then we crossed country through the grass and ferns and bog. A storm blew in on the late afternoon, and I put on my rain coat and both sets of gloves, the outer layer being water proof. I was comfortable motoring along. and eventually the sun came out and we climbed a big hill and descended in some amazing afternoon light into a beautiful valley next to a farm and a stream. At camp, I went down to the stream to wash off for the first time. I met the race leader, Chris Cope, who was also bathing and I noticed he had a CGM dexi-com device on his arm, and I asked him if he was a diabetic. I got choked up - telling him that my grandson Neville was a diabetic and how hard it had been for his mother Kiah. We had a good chat, and then I got some food and settled into bed.
Day 4
I started off the day being driven to Elan Valley. We walked down the street to the cafe and I got a cake, Twix and some salt and vinegar potato chips. I chatted with race director Shane for a bit about the race. We started around noon, off up a road, and then started climbing the hills toward the summit of Drygarn Fawr with its huge beehive cairns. The rain fell and wind blew again and I put on my rain jacket. Then we crossed some lovely bog. I ended up knee deep one step, and Julie lost her shoe. We descended to a road that wound through a beautiful valley. As we ascended on road, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and a beautiful rainbow appeared on the hills behind me. I ended the day at camp and went down to the river to bathe. I found Adam and Mike, and we crossed the Rhandirmwyn Bridge to the Towy Bridge Inn; they got a pint, and I got two bottles of sparkling water, another bag of salt and vinegar potato chips and two rolls with sage stuffing and roast pork - they were delicious. Back at camp, I had a plate of chips and then settled in to sleep for the night. This night’s sleep was fitful: every hour I woke up with my glutes or my IT band on my left knee aching.
Day 5
I was excited for Brecon Beacons - the half day was still 20 miles with 6000 vertical feet. We stopped at a cafe before heading to the insertion point. Another second breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast. I was happy to see Charlie who was doing the half day, and we chatted all morning. At the support point, it was windy, cold and raining. We waited until the start time of 12:30; everyone decided to put on their rain pants and their rain jackets. The start was a super steep ascent. And of course as soon as we started, the rain stopped. My headphones died, and I had to stop part way up and peel off my rain pants. As the day went on, and we crossed big open hills with decent grassland trails, the weather kept improving. By the time we descended down to the checkpoint before Pen Y Fan, the weather had cleared and sun was cresting and there were big clouds brewing. I got half of a bacon bap and started up to Jacob’s Ladder. It was super windy on top and I carried on to Pen Y Fan. From there, the sky just opened up and it was one of the most beautiful days I've ever had trail running. Such gorgeous light along the ridge lines with views down in the valleys and across the hills. The descent along a river was a bit slick with mud, but a nice change of scenery after the big expansive grasslands. At camp, I wandered down to the river again to bathe. That night at camp, they had berry smoothies AND ice cream, and apple crumble dessert and wifi. It was great hanging out in the common area for a while, before hitting they hay for one last sleep before the last day.
Day 5 is a magical day on the Montane Dragon’s Back Race® ©No Limits Photography
Day 6
The final day. This perhaps the most "contrived" section of the course, to run mostly on tarmac to Cardiff and end in the Castle. A fitting end to starting in Conwy Castle to end in Cardiff Castle at the other end of Wales. While on our race, the Queen had passed away, and as Cardiff is the capital of Wales and the Castle the main place of remembrance and celebration, the Castle was closed, so we were to finish just outside the castle in the park. This was a fast day, with little elevation. and we started at the support point at around 9:30 am. I once again mostly ran alone to the pub, 10 miles in, where I grabbed a ham and cheese roll. When we finally rolled into the park, I caught up with Pete and we shared the last few miles together, just walking along at a very brisk pace. We finally rounded the corner and ran in the last 100 yards to finish. Stac and Miles were waiting for me; I was so excited to see them. I grabbed my gear bags and an orange, and then we slowly hobbled back to our AirBnb where I took a shower and we went for a nice celebratory meal of pizza!
The highlight
As important and as exciting as the race is, and as beautiful as the course is, the best part is the community made up by the people. Even though I spent 90% of the time on the course alone, there are a lot of people that passed me and a few I passed along the way. And at certain times you mesh with their pace or you see them during camp. And they are invariably all great people. Warm, friendly, encouraging and helpful. At times they looked beat up and worn out; they hobbled around like wounded warriors - but they persisted and were pleasant all the way. I loved meeting everyone out there.
Watch Mark’s video on YouTube