UTS 2019: Race Director's Review
Wow, just WOW! A week after the second UTS, it’s fair to say that this year’s event was a resounding success. From a rather grass-root inauguration last year, this year’s event was on another level, firmly cementing the race on the UK ultra-trail running calendar as a must-do for those who like their competitive mountain ultrarunning at the more aspirational end of the spectrum. Living up to its acclaim as the UK's first truly alpine-scale ultra, for next year and beyond UTS is set to become one of the most revered races on the UK calendar and will no doubt attract yet more international interest in years to come.
Now the dust has settled and I’m starting to catch up on some sleep, here’s how the event went from the Race Directors perspective!
Race HQ. © Andy Milton Photography
This year the event moved to the Glyn Rhonwy site, a stone’s throw from Llanberis. With space to put a nice marquee up with free fresh coffee on tap, we were able to take over and make the place our own for the weekend, so thanks must go to Gwynedd Council for their permission to use the site for this event. It acted as an idyllic event hub, with spacious parking and camping and away from the hustle and bustle of Llanberis and with one of the most spectacular backdrops I’ve seen at any race, with a sun kissed Snowdon summit dominating the horizon and finish line photos for most of the weekend. With commercial development work due to start imminently on the site however, UTS will be moving to a new venue for 2020 and beyond…
UTS 100 start. © Andy Milton Photography
At 1pm on Friday the second UTS 100 got underway after a brief shower. Fortunately, conditions improved shortly after and remained pretty idyllic for the remainder of the weekend, although the nights were cold, particularly on higher ground, with temperatures well below freezing.
Despite the mandatory race entry requirement of carrying a map and compass and possessing the ability to use both to navigate effectively if needs be, several runners struggled in the foggy night-time conditions that descended upon the featureless, rocky Glyderau range between CP6-7, with visibility apparently down to 10m at times. It is highly advised that next year all runners at least follow a GPX trace of the route on higher ground as it also cannot be guaranteed that course markers will not be tampered with or removed, as they were again on several sections of this years race route.
Defending UTS 100 Champion and early race leader Marcis Gubats descending the Pyg Track off Snowdon. © No Limits Photography
In the men’s race, defending champion Marcis Gubats of Inov8 took an early lead with local Mark Davies. After experiencing relatively little competition during his race winning run of 34 hours last year, Marcis had confided in me that he wished to return to do the race justice this year. For the first half of the race he clearly had a point to prove, pulling away from Mark and storming to the halfway CP8 in just over 14 hours and well on-pace for a sub 30 hour finish.
Soon after though I received a call from him to let CP9 know that he may be retiring due to chest pains. Following medical advice, he DNF’d and was swiftly taken to the local A&E department, then later discharged. It’s believed the cold night air, combined with the level of his exertions had aggravated his breathing muscles. Hopefully we will see him toe the start line for a third time next year!
No doubt suffering from early pace, Mark later dropped out at the halfway CP8, leaving the race open to eventual winner Drew Sheffield of Centurion Running, who led from CP9 to finish in a superb 31:44:28! Jan De Clark from Belgium remained in contention early on during the second half of the race, but eventually would settle for second in a time of 33:27:57, followed by Martin Wilson in 34:14:46.
UTS 100 Champion Drew Sheffield negotiating the Nantlle Ridge en-route to victory. © No Limits Photography
In the women’s race, defending champion Jamie Aarons from America (but living in Glasgow) once again reigned supreme in a staggering time of just 38:13:31. A relative short while later, Stella Petric from the Netherlands arrived home and safe in 42:01:27. The third and final female finisher this year was Becky Wightman of Delamere Spartans, getting her money’s worth in a time of 49:54:40. With this race meaning so much to her and following her DNF last year, she came back this year better prepared and more experienced. Greeting her at the finish was one of many highlights for me during the weekend.
UTS 100 3rd woman Becky Wightman collects her swag. © Andy Milton Photography
In this year’s 100 there were 33 DNF’s out of 63 starters, a much lower rate than last year, no doubt thanks to the earlier start time, more favourable conditions and only slightly less crazy routes!
At 5am sharp on Saturday, the 50-miler kicked off with a much faster start! In the men’s race, pre-race favourite Liam Mills took an early lead, followed closely by Josh Wade and Etienne Pillonel of Switzerland. These three would regroup and lead for the next miles until CP10, after which Josh managed to pull away on the steep and unrelenting climb to the infamous Nantlle Ridge. Once in the lead he never looked back, forging ahead for the rest of the race and recording some of the fastest splits over the remaining segments. Like last year winner, he went on to finish in an outstanding 11:12:00, a time that most international elites would struggle to match on this course! Liam and Etienne would go on to finish 2nd and 3rd in 12:17:48 and 12:23:35 respectively. Soon after, it was a pleasure to see coached client Matthew Johnson finish a highly credible 4th overall and 2nd V40 in 12:34:03.
UTS 50 mens champion Josh Wade storming to victory. © No Limits Photography
In the women’s race Sharon Law and Linn Erixon Sahlstrom took an early lead, followed closely by Belgium Ineke Imbo, often less than 10 minutes behind but always within contention. Event photographers out on course reported that while running together, barely a word was exchanged between the two leaders, such was their conviction to race hard for the win.
The Wally of the Weekend award goes to Sharon however, who took the Pyg Track ascent up Snowdon out of the penultimate CP13 at Pen-y-Pass YHA, before descending the same mountain via the Ranger Path. I managed to speak to her to direct her back to the finish via the Maesgwm path, but she clearly liked the Moel Eilio section so much she decided to go over it again in the dark, before eventually making it home in 18:14:18 for 6th lady and 71st overall! This of course left Linn to run to victory in an outstanding 15:57:36, followed closely by Ineke in 16:06:28 with 3rd going to Claire Shelley in hot pursuit in 16:08:48!
Sharon Law leading UTS 50 on Nantlle Ridge. © No Limits Photography
Of 144 starters, there were just 16 DNF’s this year, again no doubt thanks to the favourable conditions but also to the generous checkpoint cut-offs, just one of many unique features of this race.
Provisional results are now available to view HERE for UTS 100 and HERE for UTS 50 (click ‘participants’ and/or ‘timing’). If unchallenged, these will be submitted to ITRA for verification late next week and UTMB point accreditation shall follow shortly after.
For the data nerds among us (or those who’s watches simply died!) GPX traces from everybody’s GPS trackers can also be downloaded in a zip folder HERE for UTS 100 and HERE for UTS 50.
UTS 50 2nd male Liam Mills becomes one with the epic landscape. © No Limits Photography
The event overview video from No Limits Photography can now be viewed on YouTube HERE. Check out the Facebook Page feed for more videos from the event. Images from No Limits can also be found on the Facebook Page album, amongst others HERE.
Official event photography of all runners was taken care of by the superb Evan Davies, who’s extensive galleries of competitor images, available for purchase, can be viewed HERE.
Andy Milton Photography was also milling about all weekend, his images can be viewed and downloaded HERE.
I’ve seen a few race blogs from this year’s event already and will link to them all from the event webpage soon. If you were one of the lucky runners at this years UTS and were suitably impressed by the event, please do leave a positive review on the Facebook Page HERE and/or runultra.co.uk HERE.
CP11 Rhyd-Ddu Event Team
If you were following the event on social media during and shortly after last weekend, you will have noticed the reoccurring praise towards the wonderful event team at this years UTS. To pull off an event like this with just 50 volunteers certainly speaks volumes of the team’s commitment! With many working through one night and sometimes more to ensure competitor safety during this staggering 50-hour event, judging by the WhatsApp group feedback, all thoroughly enjoyed their experiences and meeting new likeminded folk! A genuine THANK YOU to all for helping to achieve the second UTS and successfully pull off the vision it set out to achieve during inception. From course markers/sweepers, to those helping at registration and the many checkpoints, to the hardcore mountain team, in no particular order, this year’s event team was as follows:
COURSE MARKING-SWEEPING TEAM
- Ian Brazier
- Kimberley Hallam
- Dan Milton
- Claire Turton
- Max Wainwright
- Darren Welsh
- Alistair Hurst
- Owain Williams
- Rich Stevens
- Daniel Baron
- Luke Vincent
MOUNTAIN TEAM
- Kev Keenan
- Neil Riches
- Nicola Jennings
- Anthony Oram
- Matthew Holland
- James Chappelle
- Steve Chappelle
- Robert Keenan
- Richard Ellis-Williams
- Daniel Baron
- Anthony Oram
- John Chambers
HQ & CHECKPOINT TEAM
- David Harvey
- Hernie Inge
- June Harrison
- Darren Welsh
- Alistair Hurst
- Luke Vincent
- Kirsch Bowker
- Owain Williams
- Wim Schacht
- Max Wainwright
- Daniel Argyle
- Claire Turton
- Dan Milton
- Ian Brazier
- Sam Parry
- Rob Edwards
- Sean Hughes
- Kimberley Hallam
- Darren Welsh
- Kate Powell
- Rich Stevens
- Daniel Baron
- Nicola Jennings
- Anthony Oram
- John Chambers
- Hannah Lodge
- Barry Davies
- Jon Williams
- Laurent Gorce
- Gordon Hughes
- Hannah Jones
- Dean Jones
- Drew Thompson
- Sandra Thompson
- Irene Thompson
- Graham Thompson
- Neil Calloway
- Amanda Calloway
- Lindsay Turner
- Linda Griffiths
- Nicky Hodgson
- Dave Evans
Volunteering opportunities for Septembers Snowdon Skyline as well as UTS 2020 will go live by the end of June, so if you want to be part of the amazing team that make these events so memorable and far greater than the sum of their parts, read more HERE and get signed up soon!
UTS would not be possible without the continued cooperation of the following bodies: Snowdonia National Park Authority, Gwynedd Council, National Trust, National Resources Wales and Barron Hill Estates.
Thanks must also go to Joe Brown Shops and Salomon for their generous prize pool donations, plus the following event suppliers: Poblado Coffi, Torq Fitness, Bragdy Lleu, Wild Trail and Conker Living.
2019 UTS Podium Finishers. © Andy Milton Photography
Entries to UTS 2020 will go live at mid-day on Saturday 1st June and for the first time are predicted to sell out well in advance of the event so be quick if you want to guarantee your entry! There will be some changes to the event moving forwards, including a new race distance. All info shall be revealed within the next week so stay tuned!
If you can’t wait until next year to be a part of UTS but want to experience the superb organisation, creativity and attention to detail that make up an APEX Running event, don’t forget the inaugural Snowdon Skyline & VK is now open for entries! With places limited to just 150 for either event, it takes place on the weekend of 14th/15th September in the quiet valley of Nant Gwynant and promises to be a lively yet intimate affair.
Boasting what I genuinely believe to be the best race routes of this nature in the UK. The figure-of-eight 40km Skyline route with 3500m+ is simply outstanding, taking most of last summer to conceive and a worthy inclusion in the Skyrunner UK & Ireland series. If you like your running filled with technical ridges and breath-taking scenery, it’s a must do! Follow the event page on Facebook HERE for upcoming announcements.
THAT was UTS: Beautiful beyond belief. Savage beyond reason. Thank you to everyone, whether volunteer or athlete, who made this year a reality and I look forward to welcoming you back to Snowdonia again soon!
Ultra-Trail Snowdonia Race Director Michael Jones.
That's a wrap! © Andy Milton Photography