Alan Roberts was one of several British runners who made the most of home advantage to compete in the World Masters Mountain Running Championships in North Wales. Held over a stunning course starting and finishing in the village of Betws-y-Coed, almost 500 athletes from 27 countries competed, with heavy rain producing challenging conditions for competitors.
Alan’s race was over 10.6km which included 500m of elevation. The race started with a 3km climb followed by a steep decent just after halfway. Another climb followed towards the end of the race with the final 2km a steep decent to the finish. There were just 51 starters in the over 50 race which started at 12 noon, and Alan finished 43rd in 63.11.
He reports: “This was just the beginning of my days’ racing as it was then a drive back to Milton Keynes to run in the Willen 6 (a 6pm start!) which was the final race of the Tour of Milton Keynes. The tour comprises of six races in six days over mixed terrain of both short and long distances. The races are the Tattenhoe Park 11km, Potterspury Cross-Country (5miles), Stantonbury Track Mile Race, Campbell Park ‘five’, Brickhill Woods Hill Race (2 miles) and the Willen Lake ‘6’. Having won the first 4 races in my age category, I led the over 50 category by 3 minutes after day 4. A 3rd place finish in the penultimate race with one eye on the next days’ World Championships and a tired 3rd place in the final race I still managed to secure the series win with a 55 second margin.”