3 years ago I moved to Amlwch, our house is in fact at the finish line of day one of the Ring of Fire Anglesey Coastal Path Ultra and now also the Firelighter 1 day Ultra. I became fascinated by the race watching runners of all abilities and states of discomfort making their way towards the finish line. In 2017 I took the day off work and decided to follow the race from Penrhos Nature Reserve to Llanddeusant and Church Bay then on to Cemlyn and finally at our doorstep and said to the wife - im doing that next year!! So in April i hung up the football boots after 27 years of week in week out football football football and embraced the running shoes. With a challenge set to myself of zero to ultra in 4 months, along the way i would run a 10k, a half marathon and a marathon as i gradually increased my distance. I decided to run in aid of Bowel Cancer UK. 4 weeks before the race i ran the Cybi Coastal Marathon, it was tough but completing it reassured me that I was capable of running the Firelighter. Living on the doorstep of the coastal path i did a couple of rekkies and identified where i might struggle etc - id identified Cemlyn Bay as a personal aid station for the family as in past ive run this bay and had blisters off the shifting pebble beach, the other was the killer vertical hills between Llanbadrig Church and Borthwen Brickworks, these would no doubt be walked. The run from the Breakwater Park to The Valley Cob was probably my least enjoyable part of the course. The beginning of the race is a little daft - you run for 150m then its single file through a kissing gate, run another 100m before another bloody kissing gate, its then passed Soldiers points and a road race then along Newry and through Holyhead towards Peibio and Penrhos. The water station at Valley Cob was more a less a run through with marshalls trying to take note of your number and the water butts being a secondary thought. It was then along the beach behind the Gorad and then footpath on towards the Llanfachraeth bridge, this part was pretty cool as id never run it before and i found myself in a group of 5, one of which was running for the 3rd time and ive become friends with Robin Mitton and one of the others was the eventual winner of the 3 day event. As you run from here towards and through the caravan parks at sandy beach a couple of runners diverted off the coastal path, it wasnt clearly marked with signs but the path was clear, remoteness of the race makes marshalling very difficult. As we popped over the headland you could make out the 13 mile checkpoint and aid station at Church Bay - here there was plenty of welcome treats where our group of runners took advantage of - well all but one (the eventual winner), who just stormed on through without a second glance at the delights. From Church Bay it was a section which ive enjoyed running and walking in my spare time, i found myself with a runner from New Zealand or maybe South Africa (after 14 miles all accents are the same to me). He was complaining a lot about the heat and a few niggles he had, this gave me the insentive to scurry on and catch up with Rob Mitton again. We almost worked in unison for the remainder of the race taking turns leading the other almost like a goose formation, for a spell we were joined by the 'Shuffling Swiss' a runner with very little English or Welsh. We made it to Cemlyn where i stocked up on water at my make shift aid station avoiding the run on the pebbles, Rob pushed on, however I caught up with him again near the Wylfa Power Station. Im local to Anglesey and support the new Wylfa B development, but the diversions on the coastal path and what future changes that will take place here are both frustrating and worrying. The aid station here was the best of the lot, pastries, coca-cola, sweets, fruit, i didnt want to leave! On from Wylfa Head it was along the granite coast to Cemaes Bay and along the promenade, members of the public bathing and enjoying the beach didnt have a clue who or what we were shuffling through as we made our way towards Llanbadrig. Here we could have done with signage or a marshal. Myself and Rob Mitton went one way along the coastal path and the Swiss Shuffler went the other, we then appeared at Llanbadrig Church with the poor Swiss nowhere to be seen (he did catch up with us at a later point). From Llanbadrig Church its a 3 mile stretch of vertical up down dogies passed the honesty book and beyond Borthwen. Here it was run the downs brisk walk the ups for unforgivable quad burn! Passing the beautiful Borthwen I was approaching familiar ground as we worked towards Bull Bay. Rob was running the 3 day event and was more than happy with our pace, the Swiss Shuffler im not sure but i think he was also a 3 dayer therefore wasnt going to push on. My target for the 36 miles was 6.30 but i now had a sub 6hrs in sight. As we turned the headland at Bull Bay i knew there were any difficult hills between here and the finish and opened out, apparently I was closing in on 2nd but that wasnt a target... running into Amlwch passed the old Octel site to the 2nd honesty book there wasnt a spectator in sight which was and is a little disappointing, up through town towards home and the sports centre to a small welcoming crowd and the shock of 3rd place and a 5hrs 53 min finish. A welcome bottle of the sponsors purple moose ale was down in a few gulps! The slate trophy with is one to keep and so was the cool tech t-shirt. This is a real cool race, making use of the coastal path for the route - marshals are needed in points, specifically at port as a few managed to short cut from here straight to Penrhos rather than running the coastal path up Turkey Shore Road and Peibio fields. Another area is between Borthwen (Llanddeusant) and Church Bay, a couple skipped the fields here and again and this is the main one, at Cemlyn, rather than running the headland round into Cemlyn many run passed the little church and through the farm yard of Tyn Llan - this is a big time saver for many. The aid stations are brilliant and the volunteers at them are great, they honestly cant be faulted. Next year id like to try my luck at the 3 day event but cant really justify the £175, therefore it could be the Firelighter again for me which is very reasonably priced. Organizers perhaps could try and get more local businesses and the local authority on board to show case this amazing event more as there are very few spectators along the route, unless your in it or related to someone who is then you dont tend to know of or follow it. Probably one of my best personal achievements and a race that means a lot to me now ive done it. Thank you to all the organisers and everyone that sponsored me!

Stunning route around the coastal path in Anglesey. 

This is a well supported and well run ultra - super route and more challenging than it seems. There is a ten hour cut-off. It took me much longer than I expected. 

Registration and logistics were all good. Race started on time.

Route requires some navigation especially for slower runners like me who will finish after dark.

Three checkpoints on the way all stocked well.

The elevation isn’t too severe in total but where there is elevation it’s often quite severe. Lots of different terrain to run on - some slow going over pebble beaches etc. It’s a really good challenge and really glad I did it.

Super T-shirt and medal - wonderful marshals and all made to feel really welcome through and everyone was so helpful at the finish. Recommended.