Merthyr Mawr Xmas Pudding Race

Today was the Merthyr Mawr Xmas Pudding Race, a 6 mile multi-terrain race that is one of the toughest on the race calendar, the official description from the race website states:

Steve Ovett and JPR Williams are just a few of the legendary athletes who have used the sand dunes at Merthyr Mawr, Bridgend as a base for their training and especially the highest dune, the mother of all sand dunes, the highest in Europe, known to one and all as “The Big Dipper”. Running up it is a harsh challenge just in itself, but the fun continues with an eventual second long climb, off road rough moorland, and several streams towards the finish! Welcome to the Pudding Race, an annual Christmas tradition that draws runners from far and wide to compete in a truly memorable race, guaranteed to test every muscle and sinew in your body!

As you can see from the photo on the right, the race starts straight up "The Big Dipper", the biggest natural sand dune in Europe! It doesn't get any easier with more dunes, long hills, waterlogged fields, stream & river crossings and more sand running just to finish you off!

It's a tough, tough race but having done this race last year I knew what to expect. And as I knew the course I knew I could take a few people right at the finish if I was within touching distance. At about 400m to go and 3 guys about 50m ahead of me, I gave my last push and as they were pussy-footing through one of the stream crossings, I sprinted straight through to take 2 of them. With another 100m to go I got onto the shoulder of the 3rd guy and just managed to pass him with a few metres to spare.

I came 12th overall (the race was a sell out, 600 participants) and finished in a time of 40:15, which was about 4 minutes quicker than last year (I was 28th last year). I'm very happy with that result! A great race and one I will definitely do again. Train smart all!