BATTLING David Roy, of Farnham Runners, has completed the demanding Snowdon Ultra 50-miler.

Here, he gives an insight into how the day unfolded tackling the ultra marathon in north Wales:

“After a 4.15am alarm and a breakfast of porridge, banana and three pains au chocolat, I joined a long snake of head torches lighting up the path ahead toward Capel Curig.

“After checkpoint one, the route traversed Tryfan to climb over the shoulder of Glyder Fach to the bottom of Snowdon, then up the Pyg track to the top and back down via the Miners track.

“After seven-and-a-half hours on the move my legs were starting to complain and it was a relief when the summit of Glyder Fach was reached with its otherworldly spikey rocks. Over the plateau and descending from Glyder Fawr, I realised I was too far east and descending the wrong gully!

“Having regained the route I managed to reach checkpoint five, a much-needed refuelling stop after 30 miles, before the last big climb of the day up Pen yr Ole Wen. This was the slowest and hardest two kilometres of the day with an hour of unrelenting climb on steep ground. Halfway up the sun came out and we were treated to a lovely view back toward the Glyders, though it was difficult to appreciate fully at the time.

“At the summit we were told the route was being changed as the threat of bad weather was growing for the evening. Descending back into the valley I enjoyed a few miles of flatter terrain that allowed my pace to increase back to Capel Curig. This only left 13 miles to the finish, and as my legs still had some life in them I was starting to think about pushing to try to gain a few places. After the final checkpoint however I, along with four others, managed to lose the path in the darkness. After half an hour hacking through head-high bracken and brambles we eventually found the path again and it was head down to knock out the final eight miles into the finish.

“A well-deserved cup of soup and a couple of flapjacks went down very well at the finish and I was pleased with my final time at 14 hours 48 minutes, which was a little faster than anticipated.

“This was a tough course but I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves the hills as the route covers some stunning terrain and is very well supported by the GB Ultras team.”