Have you ever wanted to run some of the wonderful trails in the beautiful Brecon Beacons National Park? Well this is your opportunity to experience a weekend running around the Beacons, with other runners of all abilities, taking in as many or as few miles as you like, without having to worry about any of the logistics of where to stay, where to run, how to get dropped off and picked up etc.
Rough Agenda
Friday - afternoon or evening arrival at accommodation (see options below). There will be a 6 mile route along the canal from Talybont-on-Usk, departure time around 6.30pm. Depending upon the time of year this may require head torches (see kit list below)
Saturday - a well marked route will be finalised based upon the runners needs/speeds etc. Ideally we want to keep to one group and run at a leisurely pace, covering 20-30 miles during the course of the day. The idea here is to enjoy the mountains and spend time on your feet, not to run this as fast as you can.
Sunday - a short recovery run, varying between 4-8 miles or thereabouts depending upon runners travel schedules. In most cases we'll be completed by lunchtime so people can make return journeys home.
Running Speed
The concept for this weekend is for people to discover some new running routes as well as to spend time on their feet, it is not a race, so therefore we will travel at an easy pace. The faster runners can choose to move ahead and we'll have regular stopping points to regroup.
Kit List
As this isn't a race there is no mandatory kit, just a list of recommendations, they are:
- Backpack or similar
- Bladder and/or Bottles
- Waterproof Jacket
- Hat/Buff
- Gloves
- Compass
- Whistle
- Head Torch
- Space Blanket
- Phone (although signal will be rubbish)
- Money (with limited spending opportunities in the mountains of course)
- Food/Gels
- Electrolytes
- Trail shoes
- Plus all your normal running gear of course
During the long run on Saturday, we'll be self sufficient for the day so it's important you have the capability to carry enough food & water with you. There are streams but they aren't guaranteed to be clean or even flowing with water.
Travel Options
The nearest train station is Abergavenny, which is around 18 miles from Brecon and about 14 miles from Talybont-on-Usk. People travelling by train can either get a taxi or bus from here to their accommodation. If we get enough takers, I'm happy to do a pick up on Friday and drop off Sunday in my vehicle but it will depend upon the majority of peoples arrival times.
There are some bus services from Cardiff and probably other locations too. These will probably be quite time consuming, so if you aren't able to drive or get a lift, I would highly recommend getting the train. From Cardiff it's about 35 minutes to Abergavenny and about 20 minutes from Newport stations.
Accommodation Options
Ideally we'd like to try and get everybody booked in to accommodation in Talybont-on-Usk. There are lots of options for people and it has some of the best pubs on offer and it keeps everybody together in one small village (not that Brecon is much bigger). Rather than me getting involved in booking things for people, I've just listed some different options that are available, hopefully suiting everybody's budgets. If you do end up staying somewhere else, please let me know, so that we can figure out meeting times for the runs, which are almost all going to be leaving from the middle of Talybont village.
- The Malthouse - £60-90 for 2 for B&B - http://www.malthousetalybont.co.uk/
- Youth Hostel - from £15-20 for a bed - http://www.yha.org.uk/hostel/danywenallt-national-park-study-centre
- The Bunkhouse - £25 for B&B - http://www.breconbunkhouse.co.uk/bunkhouse.php
- The Travellers - £80 for 2 for B&B - http://www.travellersrestinn.com/cmsms/index.php?page=accommodation
Booking
To book your place on the next event which is scheduled to take place from Friday 21st February to Sunday 23rd February please send an email to millsy@24fifty.com with the following information:
- Full name
- Phone number
- Which accommodation you've booked
- Expected Arrival/Departure times
- If you are interested or not in a joint meal together on Saturday night
- Pickup/dropoff @ Abergavenny Station required
- A little bit about your running history, pace, races completed etc.
If you have any questions feel free to email them over and I'll do my best to reply as quickly as possible.
