Race Director’s Report – 2023 Dragon’s Back Race®
Introduction
This year it is straightforward to reflect on the Montane Dragon’s Back Race® and decide what to mention first in my Race Director’s report…. The Hatchling. There is absolutely no doubt that the Hatchling is a game changer… a roaring success even, with an overall completion rate jumping from 44% (average between 2012 to 2022 finishers) to 79%. There was a distinct and tangible change in the sense of inclusivity, community and atmosphere amongst the participants and team throughout the event. I am bowled over and delighted with this outcome. Strangely, the exact same overall percentage of finishers was seen at our sister event the Cape Wrath Ultra® this year, which has a similar ‘Explorer’ course option.
So here is a neat summary of the statistics from the 2023 edition and how they compare to previous events:
2023 – Starters 298, Dragon Finishers 87 (29%), Hatchling Finishers, 147 (49%) Dragon and Hatchling 234 (79%)
2022 – Starters 263, Finishers 102 – Finishing rate: 38%
2021 – Starters 367, Finishers 90 – Finishing rate: 24%
2019 - Starters 402, Finishers 251 – Finishing rate: 62%
2017 - Starters 223, Finishers 127 – Finishing rate: 56%
2015 - Starters 142, Finishers 65 – Finishing rate: 45%
2012 - Starters 82, Finishers 32 – Finishing rate: 39%
A sunny Crib Goch on Day 1 ©No Limits Photography
You can’t really compare one edition to another at the Dragon’s Back Race® because the course evolves subtly each year. However, when we had another heatwave in 2021, the finish rate was 24% and this year it was 29%. There, I’ve said it… Heatwave. More on this later.
It is always hard to know what to say first in my Race Director’s Report. The experience of the event is quite overwhelming and emotional for me too. After each event I have a heady mix of elation and tiredness to contend with, and as many of you know, we head straight from the Montane Dragon’s Back Race® to Salomon Skyline Scotland®, which means pausing all this, stopping thinking about the Dragon and focusing on a different set of challenges immediately after the event. However, the lasting impression is always the friendships and camaraderie of the entire collective – participants and event team.
I’d like to sincerely thank the truly awesome Event Team for their invaluable contribution to the success of the event. They sweated and toiled throughout the heat of the day, inflating tents, cooking meals, serving drinks, driving vehicles and a million other jobs during our week in Wales. Their dedication, hard work and esprit de corps are phenomenal. The Event Team really is the heart and soul of the event and whilst everyone made a big contribution, there were a few standout people who really stepped up and made an extraordinary commitment to supporting me at the event, and quite simply, helped keep the show on the road at times. You know who you are.
And then of course there are the participants that balance the other side of the equation. I promised you a life-changing and affirming adventure in Wales, and I truly hope that is what we delivered for you. As I said at the briefing, I believe that adventure only happens when there is some jeopardy and uncertainty, and you all dealt with the trial of the Dragon with an indomitable spirit, which was inspiring and humbling to witness. I can only hope that I would have the same strength of character if I were on the start line. Congratulations to you all.
It was a phenomenal week ©No Limits Photography
Personal Highlights
Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to spend a few days running the Dragon’s Back Race® route with Robyn Cassidy, Trish Patterson and Zoe Murphy.
A recce weekend with Trish, Zoe and Robyn ©Trish Patterson
Trish’s Dragon’s Back Race® plans unravelled as the sole peeled off her new shoe midway through day two, but she showed her determination to finish the event 7th despite several more unexpected setbacks – we can all learn from her grit. You might be surprised to learn that the event social media output came from just one person. Zoe – who finished 4th in 2021 – took charge of our social media channels throughout the event and did an outstanding job communicating the event to our followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
I knew from this weekend just how strong Robyn was in the mountains and how meticulously she was preparing for the race, and was left feeling confident she’d do well. I was asked for an off the record prediction of the podium on the eve of the race, and whilst I wasn’t as knowledgeable about the men, I did predict she’d make the overall podium. She now joins the A-list group of female endurance runners to break into the top five, including Helene Whittaker (1st in 1992 and 4th in 2021), Jasmin Paris (2nd in 2015), and Lisa Watson (4th in 2021). A truly remarkable and inspiring achievement… although her gate vaulting skills need some refining.
Robyn had a spectacular race ©No Limits Photography
This is just one little example that touched me of how the Dragon’s Back Race® reaches out far beyond the week of the event, bringing people together, forging new friendships and contributing some glue to the wider trail running community. I am certain that everyone who took part could share similar stories of their preparations.
A highlight for me is always presenting the final finisher trophy. This goes to the person who has spent the most time overall out on the course. While the frontrunners have ample time to recover in camp, the people at the back of the pack have a much tougher journey. Day in day out, these are the people who are making it into camp late, long after night fall, only to have to get up at the crack of dawn absolutely deserve this recognition.
It was brilliant to see such an international field taking on the Dragon’s Back Race® this year. It’s great. What’s more, it was encouraging to see the international participants doing so well, with the podium being made up 50% international participants. I was particularly impressed by Jakub Wolski (2nd in the men’s race) who had never been to Wales before. While Hugh Chatfield (first in the men’s race by a long way) had a home advantage , having recce’d the route in advance, for Jakub the whole route was new territory. His second place finish shows that you don’t have to be native to the United Kingdom to excel at this race. It is my hope that in the coming years we will see an increase in the number of international participants coming to take on this iconic race and explore the wonderful country of Wales.
2022 participants return! ©No Limits Photography
Another touching moment for me, was witnessing 2023 participants returning to the event and being able to complete day six in full and experience the impressive Cardiff Castle finish first-hand. These finishers and also members of the 2023 Event Team who had been taking part in 2022 were all invited on stage as we celebrated the 2023 finishers at the evening presentation ceremony.
However, the standout moment was the visit by Ian Waddell, the original 1992 Dragon’s Back Race® organiser to the finish at Cardiff Castle. It was Ian’s inspired idea to create this event and I am personally, as we are all as a community, indebted to him.
It was an honour to have Ian Waddell come to the finish in Cardiff ©No Limits Photography
The Heatwave
In 2021, the first two days of the Dragon’s Back Race® were extremely hot, and I would not have readily predicted another edition with similar temperatures anytime soon.
However, the world is changing, and the climate emergency is creating real impacts like these unseasonably periods of sustained extremes of weather. This year, all six days were continuously hot, with temperatures just below 30°C each day. This makes for extremely arduous and challenging running conditions and there were a number of course collapses due to the heat dealt with by our Response Team throughout the week. Our risk assessment demands that we mitigate against the increased risk to the participants in these warm conditions, but I also didn’t want to fundamentally change the nature of the event for example, ending the course at the Support Point. Initially, we opted to provide a single 30-minute time-out to allow participants to cool down and rehydrate in the shade. We then added a second 30-minute time-out later in the week, as it become clear there was going to be no respite to the heat. Both helped to break up the day and take some of the intensity out of the event. We also handed out a couple of thousand ice lollies and ice creams!
The heat made things even more challenging than usual ©No Limits Photography
The Hatchling
Undoubtedly, the Hatchling was a success, but it did also cause some logistical and operational headaches for us. Broadly speaking, the number of participants staying with the event on the Hatchling, compared to leaving the event in previous years flipped. Numerically, this meant around 150 people staying with the event rather than leaving, compared to approximately 60 people based on stats from previous editions.
With more time in camp, the Hatchlings were eating more food: as an example, the consumption of chips increased by 30% and averaged over 100kg per day, and we needed to resupply on day four to keep up with demand… running out of chips is a ‘never’ event.
We have a large number of MPVs to transport the participants and crew. In all our previous events, we have never run out of space in the MPVs, but this year we completely overwhelmed our capacity to move participants and event team members between camps and support points. On day four, we inserted 154 participants into the course at two different locations without the assistance of any external transport, despite our best efforts to get some additional coach support during the week. I am extremely grateful to Neil Davies at Ourea Events for managing this complex logistical challenge so capably; our MPV drivers that did shuttle run after shuttle run throughout the day; and to the Camp Team who were short-handed but still got the camp established without fuss in the heat of the day. What an amazing team effort!
At least this is an easy problem to sort, and you can be almost certain that the next edition of the Dragon’s Back Race® will be supported by a fleet of mini-buses to ensure smoother logistics, less waiting, and a more fluid event experience for the Hatchlings.
The Hatchling course was a resounding success ©No Limits Photography
Wrath Dragon Finishers
The challenge of completing both the Cape Wrath Ultra® and the Dragon’s Back Race® in one year is yet to be accomplished by anyone. This year, Andrew Lardner (retired day 1), Ieuan Belshaw (completed days 1-4 before retiring), Nic Baldwin (completed days 1 and 2 before retiring), and Kevin Nairn (completed the Hatchling) all made the attempt. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone will be able to achieve this remarkable feat in 2024.
Donations to Mountain Rescue in Wales
When participants entered this year's Montane Dragon’s Back Race®, we asked if they’d like to make a voluntary donation to Mountain Rescue. We are delighted to have raised £2,031.50. We will share this equally amongst the eight Mountain Rescue teams whose areas the race route passes through. This includes:
Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Team
Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team
Aberglaswyn Mountain Rescue Team
South Snowdonia Search and Rescue Team
Aberdyfi Search and Rescue Team
Western Beacons Mountain Rescue Team
Brecon Mountain Rescue Team
Central Beacons Mountain Rescue Team
Ourea Events has rounded up the donations from the participants so that we can present each team with a cheque for £400. This is a total donation to Mountain Rescue in Wales of £3,200.00.
Our own Response Team deployed to around dozen course incidents during the six days of the event and on four occasions were assisted by local Mountain Rescue Teams and Coastguard search and rescue helicopters.
We were delighted to support several Mountain Rescue Teams ©No Limits Photography
Results
A full list of the finalised results, include split times and age category results is now available here:
The overall podium at Cardiff Castle ©No Limits Photography
Tracking
You can relive your journey down the length of Wales with the replay function on the GPS Tracking page.
Thank you to the Event Team
The Event Team is made up of the core permanent staff at Ourea Events, the regular freelance team, various professional contractors, and many volunteers; they are all awesome and they all make a special and unique contribution to the success event. I really love the circular economy of runners volunteering, then participating, volunteering some more, and then returning for another event. There is so much knowledge and experience in this collective team and it is hard to imagine how we’d manage without all these brilliant and enthusiastic people. I’d like to express a very sincere and heartfelt thanks to the Event Team from me personally and on behalf of the participants.
Medical Team
Ally Middleton
Catherine Slater
Felicity Hughes
Kelly-Anne Speight
Laura Jones
Lia Evans
Morag Bowie
Neil Middleton
Rich Griffiths
Tom Chandy
The wonderful medical team ©Bib Number Photography
Response Team
Dan Romberg
Dave Howarth (and Fern)
Hayley Jones
Simon Verspeak
Stuart Smith
Sue Jones
The Response team head out on a mission with search dog Fern ©No Limits Photography
Mountain Safety Team
Jade Phillips
Jenny Dart
Jethro Kiernan
Mike Raine
Nick Read
Rob Laing
Rusty Bale
Stuart Lade
Zac Poulton
The Mountain Safety Team were on hand on Tryfan ©No Limits Photography
Race Control Team
Abbi Forsyth
Natalya Kennedy
Nikki Sommers
Marquee Team
Alastair Baillie
Alex Moreman
Antony Fleming-Williams
George Hodgson
Jessica Byrne
Jim O'Reilly
Jonathan Lees
Kieran O'Sullivan
Morgan Stace
Patrick O’Reilly
Seb Oliver
Suzy Slaughter
Zakius Benaton
Technical Services Team
Andrew Hales
Barry Hirons
David Ward
Paul Beeson
Phil Sturgeon
Tom Rouse
Media Team
Chris Lines
Christiaan Le Roux
Debbie McCart
Harriet D'Alessio
Jimmy Hyland
Lowri Morgan
Matt Ward
Reuben Tabner
Ross Brackley
Stephen Ashworth
Zoe Murphy
Debbie was our artist in residence ©No Limits Photography
Main Camp Team
Alun Wood
Andy Geering
Andy Warner
Anne Johnson
Colin Young
Colman Herron
Debs White
Emma Price
Graham Pepper
Helen Cromack
Iain Young
Ian Ogilvie
James Haskey-Jones
Jamie Hancock
Kate Peel
Katherine Brook
Katie Harrower
Lauren Rynsburger
Liz Warner
Marc Ward
Matthew Brushett
Nikki Toomer
Roessa Yorke
Simon Malley
Suzy Whatmough
Tim Marsters
Tim Miller
The Camp team were working hard all week ©No Limits Photography
Start/Finish Team
Anna Ridewood
Dave Moulding
James Forbes
Karen McPoland
Kirstine Oliver
Lucie Risebrow-Wright
Pam Nix
Robert Campbell
Ryan Castle
Sharon Dickson
The start and finish team were there to cheer on our runners ©No Limits Photography
Info Point Team
Colette Webster
Kirsten Isak
Maria Pietila
Sally-Ann McConville
Info Point helped out with Dragon Mail ©No Limits Photography
Support Point Team
Andy Towne
Anna Gocher
Carwyn Phillips
Daren Piper
David Mackie
Ellie Pocock
Gareth Grey
Glenn Shreeves
Ian Cowie - TL
Littledave Cumins
Michelle Creed
Simon Bromham
The Water Point team kept spirits high ©No Limits Photography
Course Operations Team
Colin Harding
Fiona Brannan
Jonathan Naylor
Kate Retallick
Kate Worthington
Kevin Robinson
Mark Caldwell
Michael James
Mike Lemin
Philip Wilkinson
Ritchie Williamson
Tom Withers
Catering Team
Catheryn Lowe
Charlotte Brimer
Chris Taylor
Claudia Marks
Emma Hadley
Fiona Massey
Fiona Murphy
Hilary Malyon
Ilona Bull
Imogen Gray
Justin Pilkington
Laura Smith
Nicola McNally
Nicolas Hinojosa
Paul Hadley
Philippa Symonds
Tammy Ruvino
Tania Whitby
Thao Nguyen
Tim Glasby
Participants were well fed ©No Limits Photography
Timing / Tracking
Chris Mills
James Thurlow
Open Tracking kept things running smoothly ©No Limits Photography
Montane and SCARPA
Charlotte Guinan
Dave Suddes
David Williamson
Fran Wilson
James Maltby
Joanne Overton
Mark Sand
Matthew Hickman
Simon Downie
Ourea Management Team
Charlie Williamson
Eleanor Claringbold-Driscoll
Greg Mickelborough
Jen Edson
Lorna McBride
Lucy Scrase
Neil Davies
Shane Ohly
Sue Dowker
Chatting to first male, Hugh Chatfield ©No Limits Photography
Dragon Mail™
One of the many highlights of the event for me were the brief spells working behind the Info Point desk. Dragon Mail enables supporters to send messages of encouragement to our participants via the Open Tracking webpage. The sheer delight and in some cases, tears of emotion from the participants, as the printer spits out reams of messages from friends, family and loved ones at the end of a hard day in the mountains is very special to witness. As ever, Dragon Mail™ proved incredibly popular, with 16,765 messages sent over the course of the week. This is new record dwarfs the previous high of 11,007 messages sent during the 2022 edition. If you would like to read your messages, they are still available if you head over to the tracking page. If you tap on your name, the messages will appear beneath your photo.
Dragon Mail proved hugely popular ©No Limits Photography
Event Coverage
We trust that your friends, family and colleagues watching from home enjoyed our live coverage and reporting of the event from our brilliant media team, and also watching the participant dots gradually head south on the GPS Tracker page. Dot watching has indeed become a thing and its surprisingly addictive keeping tabs on your mates. There is a whole load of amazing media coverage from the event and we hope you enjoy catching up on it as the autumn nights draw in.
Event blogs
The daily event blogs in the news section of our website give a great insight into how the journey unfolded for all participants – those at the back of the race and also those leading the way. It’s full of quotes from participants, so definitely worth a read to see if you can spot yourself!
· Excitement ahead as participants gather in Conwy for the 2023 Montane Dragon’s Back Race®
· Strong early leads established on a scorcher of a day
· The women's field shines through as runners tackle Day 2 of the Montane Dragon’s Back Race®
· The competition is hotting up on Day 3 of the Montane Dragon’s Back Race®
· Day 5: Robyn and Hugh are poised to take the win after an emotional penultimate day
Catch up with the action ©No Limits Photography
Photos
No Limits Photography were on the ground every day capturing some amazing shots for the official event photography – you can view some of these on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, on our website, and in the press.
Bib Number Photography were also in attendance, taking some excellent shots of each participant, every day on their journey. These photos are now available to view (and purchase) here!
View photos of your personal journey ©Reuben Tabner | Bib Number Photography
Daily Highlights Films
Presenter Lowri Morgan and the media team of Steve Ashworth, Jimmy Hyland and Ross Brackley were roaming the mountains of Wales and stalking the Overnight Camps and Support Points to record six wonderful daily highlight films. If you haven’t already seen them, they are available on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.
‘If Not Now, When?’ Films
Perhaps you have a friend who is erring on whether to take the plunge and enter the Dragon’s Back Race®? Well with this person in mind, I recorded the following six very short films (ok… we should call them adverts!) with the media team over the course of the week. I hope that they inspire future Dragons and Hatchlings to come to Wales and take on the adventure of a lifetime.
Ongoing health
Whether you completed the full course or the Hatchling, every one of the participants’ bodies has taken a significant battering, and we would highly recommend an extended period of rest and recovery now. Anecdotally, it seems that having 4 weeks rest, followed by around 10 weeks of light exercise works well. All too often, we have seen participants in our expedition length races return to running too early and end up with chronic fatigue and other injury problems. Please take the time to let you bodies heal, and enjoying basking in the glory of your Dragon’s Back Race® experience.
Feedback and Survey
Feedback is very important to us. Whatever you have to say, positive or negative, we are keen to hear your thoughts. Whilst we don’t promise to incorporate every piece of feedback received, we do promise to read and consider it carefully. Participant feedback has helped refine and improve the event from one edition to the next and it has been instrumental in polishing the details and the event is better for it. So, please don’t be shy and send any comments you have using our contact form or email us directly. If you haven’t already completed our short online survey that would be greatly appreciated.
What’s next?
Montane Dragon’s Back Race© 2024 - Entries are open for next year
One edition of the Dragon’s Back Race® isn’t enough for some people and there is growing list of participants that have completed the event many times. Perhaps you want to improve your standing, perhaps you want to fill in the different a section of the Hatchling course. Whatever your motivation, you can be assured another world-class experience and warm welcome in Wales. The 2024 edition will take place 2nd to the 7th September 2024.
Join us for another epic journey ©No Limits Photography
Cape Wrath Ultra®
You've explored Wales – is Scotland next?
Join us from 19th-26th May 2024 for the epic Cape Wrath Ultra™. Experience the complete remoteness of Northwest Scotland on an 400km and 8-day long journey. That will immerse you in the last true wilderness of Great Britain on this incredible life-affirming adventure.
Explore the remote Scottish Highlands ©No Limits Photography
SILVA Northern Traverse™
Stage Race to Non-Stop across England
Now you've completed a stage-race, why not tackle a continuous race next? The SILVA Northern Traverse is a continuous race that follows Wainwrights famous Coast to Coast route from St Bees to Robin Hood's Bay, taking in 300km of glorious trails through the Lakes, Dales and Moors. Join us from 6th-10th April 2024 on Britain's newest National Trail. Learn more
Cross three national parks ©No Limits Photography
SCARPA Great Lakeland 3day™
Three-day weekend of Lakeland mountains and trails.
The GL3D™ as it is known, has become the defacto training event for aspiring Cape Wrath Ultra™ and Dragon’s Back Race® participants. With three days in the Lakeland fells, five different courses (catering for walkers and runners), and an overnight camp with bar, catering, speakers and movies it has a special relaxed and festival atmosphere that has to be experienced, to be believed. Learn more.
Enjoy a weekend of camping, running and cake! ©Steve Ashworth