This race is in Cwmafan, about 3-4 miles north of Port Talbot. Fairly straightforward to get to and the postcode was spot on.

I’d registered online which was nice and easy and there were frequent emails with updates which was great. Parking on the day was fine since I got there an hour and a half before the start of the race but any later and it would have been a challenge.

I had to queue for about 10 mins to get my number, but despite my name being on the registration form my number couldn’t be found. I was given a new number fairly quickly and a really nice race day T-shirt as well. The race itself had to be delayed by half an hour because the queues for registration were so long and I’m sure this will be sorted next year. Considering it was really cold and I’d already put bags away in anticipation of the expected start time it wasn’t great. There were plenty of toilets for men in the clubhouse but there were some big queues for the ladies toilets.

The race itself is mainly on road until the final few km. It starts just outside the community centre and heads down the valley before turning back up after 500 m on a slight incline on an adjacent road to the start. From here it turns left on a climb into an estate before a set of really steep climbs up the side of the valley. It didn’t ease off for long before another climb, followed by a very steep downhill section back onto the main valley road.

After a km or so we passed under two viaducts, the second of which breaks your heart as you see the elite runners running across its top. To get up onto the viaduct there’s a steep hill, followed by a short stretch which doubles back on itself on which there’s a water station (at about 6-7km Mark).

The run across the viaduct is beautiful and gives you an amazing view of the area. Once you’re off it you go through a few small streets before a steady descent for the next 3 km. There’s an opportunity for a great sprint finish here and the crowd support throughout was really amazing (even the spectators handing out lager at the top of the first few climbs!). Once across the finish we got a Welshcake and a slate coaster with Richard Burton’s face and some text on it, which is different (but nice) and a bottle of water.

All in all a great race hampered a bit by the registration problems but should definitely be on everyone’s to do list. I’ll be back next year for sure