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Beasty 2025!

Where to start?!

Rather than right at the beginning, I want to start with the huge amount of love that we saw on the day – from smiles, to taking care of each other, the love to marshals and for the HUGS! – and for that, I want to say a huge massive THANK YOU, because YOU all make the event what it is! 😉 xx

         The first mega decision this year was WOD, or no WOD?! 😊  Those of you who came last year would know that for the first time ever we included the “Wall of Death” as a 10^th Year Anniversary of the full Beast race. The WOD is a savage “hill” (used lightly), another way up to the top of Foel Cwmcerwyn and instead of the normal last climb on the classic Beast races. After some thoughts and responses from others, we thought we’d save this (and save your legs!) for special events only!! Having decided on the classic route and the resurrection of the UltrabeasT, planning went ahead.

         Before we go on to talk more about the day, this year it seems we have allowed time to reflect more than other years. With what seemed like lots of support this year (thank you!), we shared memories with newcomers about the race and how it was brought to fruition. Having time to remember dear friends Wynn and Steve who helped/supported to get the Preseli Beast going and people we have said goodbye to along the way – it’s these moments that for me, make this event so much more than any running race. It’s a running family.

Ok, here goes!

          It would not be possible for this event to go ahead without mentioning a huge thank you to local companies and organisations that support the races, from sponsoring t-shirts, trophies, race markers, to sandwiches! And what about the CAKE???? What an amazing tableful of cake we had! THANK YOU! 😉

           Sponsors this year in no order included – ETTS Electrical, Tru Fit Wales, FIR Club, Stopio café, Shop Sarah, Running Free, Golden Road Gin, Llaeth Preseli, The Globe Inn, adeiladwyr Phyl Williams, Danclawdd Holiday cottage, FIR club, Afryn Dairies, Nestle/Princes Gate Water, Valero, Gethin Cyder, & Jim Kelly. We would also like to thank Pembrokeshire National Parks, and local landowners for permission to run the race over the local land – without their support the show would not go on!!

 The fab finish line coasters and trophies were made locally by Owen Davies – OED woodturning, he did a great job don’t you think?! A new trophy this year was the UltraBeazo Award; a timed section from Carn Alw to Foel Drygarn on the UltraBeast in memory of Mark Beasley (Our legend Beazo). Having this support from the community before the event really is everything in allowing the races to happen on the day – Thank you all so much/ Diolch yn fawr iawn I chi gyd!

      With prep underway, the race really would not happen on the day without all of the amazingly fabulous marshals! We had over 75 marshals helping this year!! The biggest of thank yous for giving up your time and energy in the lead up to the event and on the day to make runners smile and feel welcome. I always get such great feedback from runners saying that you guys are the highlight each year, from fancy dress to positive smiles and vibes – this year was no different! From Lobsters, inflatable sharks, to inflatable dragons to name just a few of the amazing array of fancy dress! You peeps sure go the extra mile! 😉 I also love seeing some of the young uns getting involved too, although I’m pretty certain they only do it so they can feed themselves sweets! Lol.

      A huge thanks to James Greenhalgh this year too – as he has now retired and is nursing an injury he had some new found time on his hands – this guy is another IT legend and created spreadsheets and marshal lists that we in the past had to create year after year – James’s help was greatly appreciated and he saw the gaps and filled them for us without us having to ask – he even buttered the fruit loafs! I do say!! Haha cheers James.

       We changed things up a little this year and had sandwiches instead of Cawl (we normally have loads of cawl leftover!). We had an array of fillings (despite forgetting to add pickle – who wouldn’t want a cheese and pickle sandwich!!) and catered for vegans and those G free, it was a big task – thank you to Hafwen, Leia and the army of sandwich makers/ the “bread and butter” team that stayed for hours to make sandwiches for runners that crossed the finish line and for marshals – we are so grateful! Although, I can’t believe they had never heard of a PButter AND jam sandwich?! 😛

         Another new addition this year (and a rather late decision) was the new Beasty t-shirt design creatively designed by the lovely Wifey Rachel. Safe to say you all loved them!! Thanks to Running Imp for getting them printed as they were a bit of a last-minute decision! Whist they were a huge hit, they sold out rather quickly and many of you missed out – we are hoping to get some more ordered for you to purchase on the website.

       A huge kudos to George C and Domi for volunteering to sweep the Beast and B Bach this year – not only do they spend hours out on the course but they also pick up all the route flags and signs! Thanks so much guys!

       Timing – Huge massive thanks to Tim Plumb of Realtimeracing for letting us use your great timing system again this year. It allows registration to be more streamlined and keeps endless amounts of paperwork to a minimum! As well as keeping you all safe on the hills! We don’t know how he finds the time, but Tim actually invented all the dib boxes himself! 😛 His time, patience, and IT expertise is very much appreciated, thanks so much Tim!!

        Despite all of the love and support, we did contemplate pausing the event this year – a few friends who are more like vital jigsaw puzzle pieces were not going to be able to come. Firstly, Mr and Mrs Roberts from Lancaster had double booked themselves, and their help and support from the first ever Beast has been amazing. Then Little Dave had announced that his carer had broken her foot, and therefore cancelling their Pembs trip. Who was going to wear the pink tutu now? Ok I thought, I’m not partial to some fancy dress but suppose I will……!! Then last minute, I was told that our amazing resident top of town drummer lady Shelley was cancelling her gig!!! Nooooooo! In all fairness, I hadn’t even checked in with her, as she’s 99% a solid given. But, the show must go on!!

I have to say a huge THANK YOU to my amazing family too. Rachel, for the amazing Tshirt design and all the thorough admin stuff and number crunching. Carolyn and Rhyds (and boys), for all the running around, flapjack making, course marking, admin, getting all the support point stuff, and more general stuff! 😉

Ok, without further ado, lets get on to the actual day!

Another beautiful sunny morning – we’ve been so lucky with the weather each year (and I promise I don’t know any of the weather gods), it was set to be a warm one!

Runners came from far and wide and before we knew it, the Preseli Beast and UltraB were due to start at 10am. Kit check went smoothly (thanks to those on kit check) and some eager legs were eagerly awaiting to get going on the start line. Despite my speech going on a bit, I missed the 30sec moment of reflection! 3 hugs each, a count down and they were off – hooted off by Sarah’s buggy up the village! Whilst we knew some top names, with the heat rising throughout the day it can be anyone’s race! –

So I hadn’t really looked at who’d entered until the night before! I’d seen on the nblrs group chat that there was a lot of banter from speedy locals, Dave RYAN and Olly WIlliams on who was going to ‘smash’ each other up, but the two at the front by Rosebush weren’t either of them! So who were the leading two? Tbh, I wasn’t sure until some photos from marshals started coming through, and we worked out that it was Jack Jones and Thomas Holliday. These two had pushed hard from the start, and there was only 2mins between them by the time they’d reached Newport. 1hr 28m and 1hr 30m exactly! From there, Jack continued to push hard, and easily took the Carn Ingli timed section in 15mins.38s!!! Astonishing figures really, considering he’d run to Newport beforehand! 😛

        Sarah and her buggy(including her sirens! 😛 ) is invaluable, as she always leads the male and female runners of each distance back from the top of the village. This allows us to know that the leaders are approaching.

       And after 3hrs 10mins, we could hear her siren coming down, with leader Jack rapidly approaching. Jack crossed the line in 3hrs 13m 23s. No record, but a really fast time considering how warm it was. Well done. First thing he did after crossing, was pour water of himself! 2^nd placed Thomas crossed 20mins later, with local Dave Ryan only 3mins behind him. Dave was 10mins behind Tom at Feddau, but took 7mins out of the deficit by the finish line. Oof. 😉 Dave took the Mv40 win, whilst other notable wins were; Spittal superman Darren Thomas MV50 4hr 32m; Simon Darke MV60 4hrs 47m. 

        The ladies race was much more one sided. Swansea lass Caryl Edwards was 19mins clear of next female Lucie Ratcliffe by Newport. By Cnwc it was 18mins. However, by the time they’d reached Feddau, Lucie had reduced it to 13mins. Could she claw it back further? She did, but only to 12mins! Caryl took the win in 4hrs 32m. Again no record, but the weather was hotting up too! A confusion by myself at prize giving gave the FV50 trophy to the wrong lady! Instead the trophy should have gone to Local Pip Welton, who finished in  5hrs 11m. Pembs harriers Christine Roberts took the FV40 in 5hrs 44m. We had no FV60 finishers.

       The UltrabeasT made it’s re-appearance this year, and I was hunching by bets there was going to be some good battles. Again I hadn’t really looked at the whole entrants list, but I already  knew some names who’d entered. Local Mike George had been training hard, and also reccieing those keys lines on the eastern side which isn’t marked. Some of that area is quite different from what the PB does, and if you end up in tough terrain, it can be the stuff of nightmares!  😛 MDC runner Josh Tremblay took an early lead, and by Newport, had 3mins over Mike. He extended his lead to 7mins at Carn Ingli. That gap stayed the same to Cnwc, but by Carn Alw, it was down to 2mins!!! Mike had seen Josh take a direct line from here, so he gambled by trying to go longer and staying higher. The gamble paid off, and reached Drygarn 2mins ahead! Game on! 😛 With the extra pressure of staying in front, he pushed. Apparently he kept glancing back, and could still see runners behind him making him push even harder. Luckily for Mike, he’d tried to look ‘fashionable’ by wearing a bucket hat like I do, and he used this wisely to be able to dunk it in water courses to help him stay, ‘cool’! 😜 By Feddau, he was 7mins ahead, and this didn’t change much by the time he took the win at 5hrs 22mins! What a result for the birthday boy! 😉 It was lush seeing Balazs Pinter return, and took the MV50 win in 6hrs 26m and 6^th overall! 1^st MV40 was Colin Johnstone in 6hrs 57m.

          I sort of knew who was going to win the ladies race. In fact I knew she’d push most of the men! Local Sanna Duthie had recently tried to beat her own 186 mile coastal path record, but called it a day at ‘just’ 135miles!!! She was way out in front, and finished 4^th overall in 5hrs 56mins. Sonia Valla was next female taking the FV40 win in 6hrs 41mins and 7^th overall, and It was lovely seeing Aber AC runner Louise Barker take the FV50 win in 7hrs 16m in 15^th overall.

        The Beast Bach  draws the biggest of crowds – from the speed merchants who barely have time to smile to the smile’iest of fun runners who stop and take heaps of photos. It’s lush. There’s such a variety of runners, which is what makes this special.

             I often say to people that what makes me the proudest about this race, isn’t how far the furthest has travelled, or about the speed merchants that turn up. It’s about the people who weren’t runners before, who have seen, maybe volunteered, and then given them the willingness to get their daps on, and get out there and try it! Many of those people have now fallen in love with running and gone on to do bigger challenges! That’s what I love.

            There were 249 starters, and the same finishers on this amazing turn out! 😛 More kit check, another speech (They do go on a bit but I forgot the hugging for the Beast Bach race!!) and off they went – it  was quite a sight seeing you all run off up through the village, and pretty emotional!  Rowan Saxton had already done pretty well on previous BBach’s, and he was a very well deserved winner 5mins clear of 2^nd in 1hr 27m. However, the biggest win has to go to the amazing Cardigan runner David Warren. Not only is he a MV60, he was 3^rd overall in 1hr 33m!!! He recently ran London marathon in 3hr 6mins!!! What a man. 😉

            Tenby man Conrad Rees won MV50 in 1hr 38m, whilst seconds behind him was MV40 winner Richard Thomas. Clarby road ‘big’ guy Malcolm Clash was 1^st MV70 male in 1hr 59m. 😉

             Recent local Johanna Eklund ran her first Beastly race, and took the overall female win in 1hr 37m, and 4^th overall.  Fishguard’s Emma Dark ran a great race to take 1^st FV50 in 1hr, 54m, and was 3mins ahead of FV40 winner Anna Strezelecki. Emlyn flyer Hazel Davies is literally still flying around, even though she’s a FV70, and she easily took home that trophy in 2hrs 9m! 😛 It was great seeing Suzanna Bevan back again too, and she took the FV60 win in 2hrs 13m.  

              That’s all very well giving praise to the ones who won their respective classes, but, you are all winners in your own right. Some of you have your own battles, and having you run here certainly makes it even more special.

T-Shirts! We completely ran out of them on the day, even the ones on the hangers! So, we’ve opened the shop back up just for you to order some more online! The shop will only be open until May28th, then we’ll be closing the shop before ordering the right quantity and sizes. They tend to fit a bit snug, so maybe order a size bigger if you’re not sure. Link- https://preselibeast.com/product/preseli-beast-t-shirt/

Fun facts: Youngest runner – Mr Hari Watkins – my own grandson was the youngest on the start line this year and made it round the BBach with his Dad in 3hours 11mins with an emotional finish! Huge kudos young Padawan!

Oldest runner was 81yrs old, and finished the BBach in 2hrs 50mins! I mean, WAW!

It was little Tom and Daddy Sean’s 9^th Beast Bach! Son-in-law Rhydian’s 10^th!

My beard is actually fake…. Ha ha, nah, just kidding!

3 generations of runners from one family took part- a Grandmother, a son and daughter in law, and 2 granddaughters!

Copious amount of home made cake!!!

Many beers drunk in the Globe!!! Never again!

We had lobsters, dragons, 70’s dress, bees, pirates and inflatable sharks as just a few of the amazing volunteers!

          Lastly – this event would 100% not be possible without the love from you all; community, runners, marshals, family members – this year more than ever, the day felt like a huge hug!! All monies raised this year goes to local causes and charities which will be announced in due course, so thank you ever so much for coming to support and make this such a magical and special event. Diolch/Thanks.

           Lastly lastly, please check yourselves for ticks! These wee beasties might be smaller than the Preseli Beast itself, but they sure are mightily itchy!!

Next up in the Beastly calendar – lower key races:

21-22^nd June – Preseli Dibdab  – a two day // 4hours a day orienteering score event – you have 4hours to collect as many points as possible – using a map! We are really excited for this one! 😉  You enter as a solo, but you can run in pairs, or threes, or more if you want. You can be competitive, or just come and have some fun. Start and finish is the same for the two days. 😉 Please get your entry in soon.

Link- The Preseli Dip-Dab 2 day 4hr score event.😊 – The Preseli Beast

Carn Ingli Killer – 18^th July. Entry on night

Ras Beca- 16^th August. Entry will be open online soon, but also on the day.. Similarly below.

Ras Y Cerrig Glas – 17^th August. So yes, back to back races over the same weekend! 😉  

Next years Beast- Sat 9^th May! 😉

So that’s my write up for this year, but now over to you guys! Let us know what you loved, disliked, or what we could improve on for next year!

It’s race de-brief and clear up week here at Preseli Beast HQ and Caz the Hat and Carz the Plait (our daughter and amazing runner in her own right) are getting busy with the post race write-up while I (Admin Ninja and Art Director) Rachel am popping in here to write a post to say we have taken a unique step of ordering more 2025 t-shirts as we know that many of you were left disappointed and not able to get one.

So we are getting a few more made and have pre-orders set up where you can choose your size and have it sent to you when they arrive with us….! There will be limited stock so when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Please order here: Preseli Beast T-Shirt – The Preseli Beast

Ok folks. Entries are close to the limit, so I’m not pushing you to enter, but!!! You have been warned! I can’t say when entries will close, as it could fill up in a day or two, or not fill at all!

Ok, we’ve decided to make T-shirts in the end, and my amazingly talented wife Rachel has come up with an amazing design. 😉 These Tshirts will be available to buy on the day only(no pre-orders).

We’ve had an amazing response to local businesses wanting to sponsor category prizes. 😉 I’ll put these sponsors on the website soon.

Please read the Race day info page for mostly everything else, inc required kit! 😉

Well, I hope you are all well.

Where has the time gone??? I was hoping to have finalised everything and entries open before Christmas! However, better late than ever I suppose!

So, what’s news. OK, first and foremost, the Beast. I was fairly sure that the WoD was going to remain in the route. However, after much pondering and asking a few friends, I am going to make the WoD a 5 yearly ‘celebration’ with the next WoD edition hopefully being in 2029.

So, the normal threesome of 11m Beast Bach, 24m Preseli Beast, and……….32m UltrabeasT, is back on for Sat 10th May 2025. 😉 This is different to what is currently in the WFRA calendar booklet version, but will probably change on the website version!

So, you want some more exciting news you say? Ok, the usual 1 day Preseli DipDab is having a makeover. It is going to be a 2 day’er, on Sat 21st and Sun 22nd June! 😜 The start/finish of both days will be the same venue(revealed much closer to the day), meaning you won’t have to carry overnight gear. Camping will be an option, and I’m working on being able to provide some nice post run ‘refreshments’, so you won’t have to travel home on the Sat night. 😉

And, if that’s not enough news? The usual Ras Beca, and Cerrig Glas races, will also be back to back! 😜 Being on Sat 16th, & Sun 17th respectively. This is mainly for personal family reasons. Same format as usual for both races. £5 entry online, or £7 on the day.

The Carn Ingli killer is currently on Thurs 17th July. However, that might change due to the Poppit race series which is curently unconfirmed.

So, when are Beast/DipDab entries open? Well, they actually opened about 30mins ago, and I’ve already had an entry even before announcing it!!! 😉😜 Beca and Cerrig Glas entries will open later in 2025.

Ras Beca 2024. Waw, what can I say. Firstly again, a huge mahoosive thank you to all the helpers and marshals who help make this race happen. Without them, the race wouldn’t go ahead. 😉xx 

So, as I marked the course out first thing on race day morning, I was questioning why I was even organising this race. I mean the route is pretty harsh in places, with thigh deep watery bog, and the harsh tussocky slog along the near-to-the-end bit is pretty grim!!! 😋 And that was after trying to work out the best lines for everyone. If I’m honest, I probably wouldn’t organise a race on that route, but the route itself is in the history books. And it wouldn’t be the same Ras Beca if I made significant changes. More about that later.

The weather gods were certainly on our side again, as it has been all year for our races tbh. With the weather that’s been of late, it could have been a lot worse! Obviously the rain we’ve had of late certainly made the conditions underfoot ‘challenging’ to say the least, and the state of some of the runners crossing the line certainly didn’t have to say that some of the runners had come a cropper in the tussocks!

There was a great turn out of junior runners from far and wide, and even though the junior route was far from ideal, everyone made it round un-scathed and home! The last section of the route was pretty knee deep for me, let alone those shorter than I!!! 😋 In the 0.5miler, Tomos Sandbrook won the u/11s in , whilst Lydia Evans wasn’t far behind him in third overall taking the female u/11s in . Even though Samuel McLevenna was racing in the u’8s cat, he was second overall in, whilst Bethany Harries was  1^st u/8s female and 4th overall.

In the u/16s Dafydd Evans pipped Iestyn Colnet into 1st overall, in 4m 07s . There were no female u/16s. In the u/14s category Nia Rees was 1^st female , whilst Ollie Plumb was 1^st male. 

Ok, and so onto the adults race. My daughter Carz was slightly injured, and so I’d asked her if she wouldn’t mind being R/o whilst I took her marshalling duties on the hill. I mean it’s bound to happen at some point! 😋 So a huge thanks to her and Rhyds for overseeing this. 

It was pretty hotly contested amongst many of the categories today, with 52 runners starting out. Local lad Owen Lewis was sharing the lead by the time they’d reached CP1/Carn Pica(This is where I was at) with Carmarthen Harrier runner Steffan Davies. They were still together at the 2^nd CP, which is where they started the long descent down. It was at this stage Owen had better descending legs and left Steffan behind. Owen finished approx 2mins ahead by the end to finish in 40m 52s. Local lad James G continues his winning streak in the M50 class this year, and came home in 5^th overall. When James arrived at CP1, he was with an unknown runner to me. This turned out to be Stuart Penny who was 1^st M60 runner, and finished 7^th overall! 😉 Steve Noyce won the M40 class again, and finished in 11^th overall. 

In the womens race, Ailinor Evans continues her winning streak, by not only winning the F50 category, but also coming 1^st female overall. 😉 Kat Green was then the 2^nd female overall, taking the F40 win. It was great to see Corissa Smith take the OF win, even though she’d had a few stumbles in the boggy tussocks! 😋 And last but certainly not least, the F60 category. This was a close one. The Wasdale womble that is Lindsey Buck was ahead by the time she got to me at Carn Pica. However Lon Morgan closed in on her by the time they’d reached CP2, and was still just in the lead on the start of the descent. However, Lindsey must have pinned her ears back and past her between there and the finish as there was only 17 seconds between the two at the finishing line! 😋 Great running.

There was also a competitive family outing here too. The Birkett family had three runners, with John beating Thomas, who then beat Jacob. Nothing quite like a bit of family competitiveness! 😋 

In fact, everyone did amazingly well. As I’d started to say earlier, it’s no easy course. I was questioning myself earlier in the day as to why? However, after seeing so many of you turn up, run, stumble, fall, talk about how tough it was, seeing you eat lots of cake, trying to wash those filthy legs of yours in the stream, seeing all the juniors there, and just having a good day, then it was all worth it. However, I might still alter the route a little bit, as that section from the bottom of the hill towards the finish is definitely getting worse each year, so I might change the route slightly to make it easier! I must be getting soft! We’ll see. 😋 

A huge well done to one of the runners today. I didn’t get his name sadly, but today was his 15^th running of this event! His first being in early 90s! 😉 Obviously all this boggy tussocks hasn’t put him off! 😋 I believe this race started in 1979, making it one of Wales’s oldest fell running races! 

Two things I forgot? The gate at the end that the first runner smashes down! And a picture of everyone together!!! Doh! 😉 Maybe next year! 

Huge thanks to my wife Rachel who has supported me throughout my organising of races. She had to dash off at the end as she was on Radio 2, Rylan’s game show! She did really well, getting 9 out of 10 questions right. However, the defending champion got 10 out of 10! Next time eh. 😉 

Well, that’s it for the time being folks. Thanks all for running in our races in the past few months. The next event isn’t until between Christmas and December. The Brussel Buster! 😋 A 2hr night time orienteering event that myself and the Nobbler team organise. What could possibly go wrong! No exact date yet, but we’ll let you know in due course I’m sure. 😉 

Diolch pawb/Thanks all.

The 34 runners that turned up for this edition were blessed with good weather for this 7 mile fell race, which is probably one of my favourite routes taking in some lovely eastern Preseli hill tops. 😉 It was slightly disappointing to have only 6 junior runners turn up(2 in the longer 1.25mile race, and four in the 0.5miler), but I’m hoping it’ll spur them on to doing more running in the future. All the juniors were fighting for a big bag of sweets as age category prizes, so it was pretty hotly contested! 😉 Tali Wright took the overall win in the older kids race, whilst Hari-Jac Watkins was right behind her on the final decsent. I marshalled on their highset point, and could hardly keep up with them on the final descent!  Hari’s younger brother Deian took the overall win in the shorter u11’s race, whilst Elsa Watkinson took the female win, and her younger brother Billy took the u8’s win. Anwen Harris was the other junior runner taking part, but than also went straight back up with her dad to marshall CP4. 😉

In the adults race, we had a newbie local runner in the form of a certain Dave Ryan. Word had already got out that he has some form, and was in the end a clear overall winner being the only runner to go sub hour, in 57m 11s. 😉 Dave had spoilt the show for Kitty Robinson, who not only was first female, but was also second overall in just over the hour in 1hr 0m and 17s! Just three seconds over the overall female record! 😋 Jack Turner was followed by Mike Munro to make the top three OM categories. The M50 category has been very hotly contested in my recent races, and it was great to see James Greenhalgh back in winning form coming home in 5^th overall, whilst Mark Aston was 2^nd M50 in 8^th overall. Steve Noice was 1^st M40 and 7^th overall, whilst 2^nd M40 was Dan Swift in 12^th overall. The amazing dragon tamer that is Lenny the Lion Hughes was 14^th overall taking home the M60 win. Carolyn Watkins was 2^nd OF in 10^th overall. Ailinor Evans is on form this year as she took home the F50 win in 15^th overall, whilst Rachel Holland was 2^nd F50 in 21^st overall. Local ‘goatie’ Rachel Jones who ran with her pooch for the first time took home the F40 win in 26^th overall, whilst Rachel Mathews took the F60 win. 

Huge Thanks to everyone who came along to run, but as always the biggest thanks has to go to all the helpers and marshals who give up their time and energy to make this happen. Big thanks to those that made and brought amazing cake too. It was nearly all gone by the time I got to the cake stall!!!

Next and last race for a while is the classic Ras Beca race on Saturday 17^th Aug at 2pm. It’s a 5.5miler, with kids races beforehand at 1.30pm. Full details here.

The weather couldn’t have been better for the 44 runners who took part in Thursday nights Carn Ingli killer race. It’s also nice to have the good weather for organising it, and especially for the marshals! 😉 

Huge thanks to the marshals, who the race couldn’t happen without them. 😉 

The race started in 2016 if my mempory serves me correctly, and we’ve had a steady increase in numbers over the years. We’ve had as low as 13! 😋 

Ok, for the race itself. It’s a 5km off-road race in the glorious National park. So a ‘Park run’! 😋 The first mile is all up hill! About 1,000ft in fact! There’s a mixture of terrain from road, track, trod, rocky stuff, and even more rocky stuff until it’s nearly scrambling! From the top there’s a little bit of rocky descent, until a small steady climb back up to the cairn at Carn Briw. Now the views expand a bit more over Newport bay. The route steadily descends for a while, before turning right down a rough rocky chute! Yee-ha! 😋  There’s lots of twists and turns, before descending onto the last bit of road, and one final slight incline to the finish.

From pretty much the start, and first to cross the line, was M40 Pembs harriers runner, Roscoe Powell, in 30m 05s! Oof! 😉 Local lad, and a great regular supporter of the race was Jonny Sable, who was 2^nd overall/1^st OM, in 31m 45s. Jonny has always finished in the top 5, but I think he’s narrowly missed out on winning overall. One day I’m sure.

The M50 cat was very strongly contested, with 4 of them(7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th!) being only 28 seconds of each other! Maenclochog lad James Greenhalgh was leading off the last top, picking out all the good lines on the rough stuff. However, he was passed by two others on the final road descent, with Wiltshire based David Mackie taking the M50 win. 😋 His wife Susan ended up helping on top of Carn Ingli, and cleared the flags back down! 😉 

Recovery lad, Lenny the Lion Hughes, took the M60 win in 39m exactly and 13^th overall. 😉 

Just behind him was first Open Female, Bethan Williams, in 39m 19s, whilst Fishguard lass Emma Dark was 1^st F50, and 17^th overall. The amazing Hazel Davis was first F70 in 24^th overal, 1^st F40 was Kimberly Evans, who was 30^th overall in 46m 02s, whilst Lon Morgan took the F60 win in 49m 17s. 😉 

Post race tea and cake was served from our converted camper, with nearly all the cake being devoured. 

Huge thanks again for coming, and spreading the good word about the race. It’s much appreciated. 😉 

Next race is the 7mile Cerrig Glas race, which is on Sunday 4^th Aug. It also has junior races being approx 1mile for over 11s, and 0.5m for the under 11s. 

Then on Sat 17th Aug, is the 5mile historic Ras Beca race. 

For all race details then please look through the website on – https://preselibeast.com/races/

The weather was certainly kind for the 4^th running of the DipDab race on Sat 22^nd June. The event has changed slightly since it began, and this year saw the first use of the proper electronic dibbers that the amazing Tim Plumb of realtimeracing designed and built himself. 😉 How he does it, I don’t know. He also did the online techy stuff, online registration and the online results tool which automatically calculated the points for each competitor! In the past we’ve had to manually count all those pieces of paper!!! Oh, how things changed. 😉 

A few weeks before the race, I was contemplating why I was even bothering spending so much time and energy into planning and organising this event. It’s a lot of work prepping, scoping out where to place controls, contacting and speaking to landowners, designing the map, and organising ‘stuff’, but on the day we had 39 runners turn up. 😉 So I was happy with that.

I was going to give runners a proper head scratcher this year in my course planning. Although there were less controls that before, they were more spread out. The start/finish was sort of in the middle of them all, so deciding which way to go also gave them food for thought. I’d put a number of controls out on the Foel Dyrch area, which I’d never used before for any of my previous races which confused a number of runners as they were going into new territory! 😋 

I have to say a huge thank you to my helpers- Carol, Julian, Rhyds, Meryl, and Carolyn for helping out on the day from registration, kit checking, setting runners off, making refreshments, and tidying up. Diolch o Dalpen. The event couldn’t happen without you giving up your time and energy. 😉 Huge Thanks to Tim Plumb for spending soooo much time helping out behind the scenes too. 😉 My wife Rachel for being so supportive, even though she couldn’t be there herself this time. Thanks to the landowners for being so accommodating, and to Dyfed, Pantithel for allowing us again to use his land where the start/finish is. Diolch 😉 

Ok, now for the race itself. Runners had 4hrs to try navigate their way to different controls to get as many points as possible by using a pre-marked map that they were handed on the start line. The closer, easier-to-get-to controls would be worth less points than those further way! The runners left at approx 1 minute intervals and had to figure out a way of attaining as many points as possible. If runners were over 4hrs, then they’d be penalised 5 points per 5mins. 

The first few runners back were within 4hrs, and at one stage Kev and Lenny were currently leading the overall standings on 240 points, even though they’d missed an easy 50 pointer! 😋. Kitty Robinson then romped in to take the podium seat temporarily with 340 points. However, she’d had a mare of a time trying to find GF on’t other side of Drygarn, and lost a lot of time meaning she had to miss out on trying to get other controls. This then allowed others to take the podium spot. It changed a few more times until local ‘lad’ James Greenhalgh trumped them all, and stayed on top until everyone else was in. 😋 Out of the 470 maximum points on offer, James managed to get 420 points! Boom! He could have got a further 20 points as he finished 12 mins inside the time so would have potentially had time to get another control. However, it was enough for him to get his first ever overall win! Double boom! 😉 James also took the M50 title beating another M50 Eryri orienteer runner Ian Jones who finished second overall! Ian’s son and fellow team mate Marty took the open male win in joint 2^nd overall, whilst Rob Critchlow took the M40 win and 5^th overall with 355 points. Kitty took the Open Female win and 6^th overall, whilst MDC M60 winner Andy STOTT was 7^th overall with 320 points. Tenby Tracey (as we know her) took the F50 win with 250 points. She and Carolyn had paired up, and had a blast by all accounts. 😉 The newly categorised Rachel Mathews has apparently been looking forward to getting to 60 for a number of years, and she was well happy that she’d taken the win in that class. 😉 Amman valley runner Tammy Rees-Davies took the F40 win with 145 points. Huge well done to everyone, you all did amazingly well. Big up to Lon Morgan, who I believe was the oldest competitor at 71, whilst Rebekah Williams was the youngest at 12. She ran it with her parents, but she’d left them standing on the last descent, and came bounding down the hill to the finish. 😉 Brilliant. All the runners then gorged on tea and cake at the end, whilst perusing at their maps seeing where they went right……..and wrong! 😉 Some of the strava routes resembled soft spaghetti! 😋   

Diolch o dalpen/Thanks in heaps again for making it such a success. It’s very much appreciated, so I’ll probably try and do it again next year. 😉  

Big up to James(again), as not only did he run well yesterday, he went out and collected a load of the controls for me today. 😉 

Next up now is the Carn Ingli Killer race. Sounds bad, but it’s only a 5k starting and finishing in Newport Pembs on Thursday 18^th July at 7pm. 😉 😋 Entry on the night, at a whopping £3. 😋  

Caz the Hat. 

Ps- Lenny and Kev then managed to entice me to the Globe afterwards, and it then got rather messy!!!  😋 

Well, what can I say??? Mmm, I’m not sure where to begin… Let’s start with the WoD.

I first discovered part of the WoD a few years ago. I’d come running to the quarry half way up from the Rosebush side a few times and even put that top steep section into the Ras Cwmcerwyn race a few years back. I then found a different way down to what I thought was the bottom, and used to do that……. for training! However, the descent down was initially pretty rough, and far too rough for most peeps. Then I found a better way down to the actual bottom where I used the lumpy tussock as the landmark for the bottom of the WoD.  Oh joy! During covid, I used this new WoD route climb as a way of getting 10,000ft in the shortest amount of distance as possible. 12 reps in one go was all it took!!!!! (My sanity was questioned a few times!)

So, a route had been set. I took a few locals out and showed them the way of the WoD. This then became a bit of a favourite amongst a few of us, especially as there was now a strava segment up it too! Some even took to making the WoD stick, and it also had the odd dance around it! Lol.

So, the 10^th Anniversary Beast. Where have those years gone to eh? It seemed like a different Beast back then; the start was actually ½ mile out of the village and we had 112 runners in the Beast and Beast Bach combined. One of the runners who took part in that inaugural event (Little Dave) said that this race was one of the best he’d done and would go from strength to strength. How right he was.

The question that had been going through my mind for a long time was how could I add the WoD to the Beast, and what would people think of it? As a fell runner, hills like these aren’t ‘abnormal’ and so while some of you might think it’s crazy, there are loads of fell races with bigger climbs! However, the addition of it to the Beast would certainly put some folk out of their comfort zone, especially as it’s towards the end!!! With this being a special year, then why heck not?

So I included the WoD in all races as a present to you all, and myself. I think the Twt route will avoid the WoD in future and go up to Cwmcerwyn the normal route but will continue to be included in both other distances. As promised there will be an online poll to see what the participants think so watch this space…

Ok, that’s probably enough about the WoD for now.

The build up to the Beast starts quite a few months before the event really. What started as the two of us putting on a race has developed into an event that really does take a whole community to make it a success. So I’m going to explain a bit of the various parts and say some thank yous.  Pretty much after one race has finished we have to work out if we’re going to do merchandise, and what designs are we going to do/make for the next one. I’m really fortunate to have a very talented wife so most of that is down to her. Our daughter, Carolyn (Carz the Plait), her hubby Rhyds, and our grandsons also play a part in lots of the planning and designing, so a big huge thanks to them too. This year there were new flags to design and approve, new T-shirts, and new buffs! Another person who has played a big part this year, is Mr Tim Plumb. He’s designed new timing boxes for key locations. This then avoids the route marshals to having to write down runners’ numbers and times. This is particularly helpful when the two routes converge and there are runners coming from different directions! Tim also did the online registration tool, and the results. So thank you Tim. The results also show split times between the sections, which is great if you want to see how you got on.

Valero kindly sponsored the Beast for its inaugural event, and now the Beast was 10, it ideally needed some more kit. So thank you for sponsoring new flags (which were really helpful to see where the top of the WoD was!!!!!!), and new tables. Diolch. We decided to do Tshirts this year, and to aid promotion, we’d asked some local businesses if they’d like the opportunity to have their names on the back of the Tshirts. Thank you muchly to(in no particular order) Caffi’r Sgawr, Pretty Platters, The Globe, Young Bros, Running Free, Rock & Dough, Valero, and Etts electrical. Etts also sponsored the race numbers, which they have done now for many years. Thank you all. 😉

Trophies were sponsored by Stopio; Fir club; Hains & Lewis; Golden Road gin; Clive & Sian Rees; and Danclawdd cottage. Diolch yn fawr I chi gyd.

Trophies and coaster were all made locally by Owed Davies(OED woodturning). 😉

Thank you to Siop Sarah, for many things, including driving her Beastly buggy like a crazy fool up and down the village; and to Arfryn dairies for donating the milk for hot wets. 😉

The locally made Gethin’s cider was donated as extra prizes by Gethin from the village. 😉   

The cake makers! Huge thanks to everyone who made and brought the humongous amount of cake. You’re all absolute diamonds. The cake table was again groaning under it’s weight of cake. 😉

Thanks to the hard working cawl crew at Caffi’r Sgwar who supplied the runners and also kept many supporters fed and watered. Thanks too to The Globe, Pretty Platters, and Llaeth Preseli for supplying their various forms of goodiness. 😉

Now for The Beastly volunteers! What can I really say about the humongous army of volunteers that hasn’t been said by many of you runners before. They are totally amazing and brilliant, and the whole event could not go ahead without them! They usually amaze me most years, but this year they’ve blown me away by everything they did. There were some amazing costumes, brilliant bit of thinking on the spot, the top of town band were there as usual…immense, the cracking registration and finishing team, tea and coffee crew, fantastic marshals out on the course, and most of them did some really long stints! I love them all. And as for this brilliant village? Waw, what can I say??? I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to feel and see what the villagers were doing, but some of the videos I’ve seen are superb. Diolch o dalpen pawb. Xx

Mr and Mrs Roberts from the north are notable persons I also have to mention. They travel down from Lancaster specifically to help. They arrive on the Thurs, get stuck in straight away, and don’t stop until they leave on Monday morning. Mrs Roberts also makes a small mountain of cake too! Diolch both.

And lastly, but certainly not least, (mainly as they were sweeping at the back anyway), Sam and Rich. For those who don’t know, the ‘sweeper’ is a runner who follows the back of the running pack and ensures that we know all the runners have come in off the course.They also doing a sterling job of collecting all the markers and signs! They had entered into the Beast a while ago, and because they have entered into a 100miler in June, they’d decided to run a back-to-back Beast! They had planned on running a Beast on the Friday, and on race day! On Friday they’d also agreed to mark the Newport sections of the route, with Mr Tim Plumb, and I’d agreed to meet them at Sychpant, and Newport to give them some sustenance, and the markers. Whilst at Newport Sam said that he might sweep for me on Beast day, but I’d turned round and said that I already had a sweeper. However, just after they’d left, I had a message to say that my original sweeper wasn’t well enough to sweep. No worries I thought, Sam and Rich have just volunteered themselves!!! So when they finally  finished back in the shire, I asked them, and they kindly agreed. 😉 Thanks both.  

And now for the actual races. Not a lot to say really!!! Joking. Firstly, weren’t we lucky with the weather???? A really wet winter was starting to worry me somewhat. What if the wet weather was going to last until Beasty day???? I’d asked all my volunteers to keep their fingers and toes crossed for the week before and on the day, and so it did! It makes a huge difference to the event, and the Green looked like a small carnival!

Ok, back on to the race. Thank you to the WFRA Welsh and South Wales Race Championships selectors for nominating the Preseli Beast into their champs counters. It made for a very fast and interesting race. The 24miler went off just after 10am, where everyone kindly held a few moments of silence with me for much missed friend and fellow runner Mark Beasley ( Beaso), and local farmer Dilwyn Vaughan (Beast route runs through their farm) who had passed away recently. It was a touching moment just before both races started. Thank you. xx

Daniel Donnelly left the crowd right from the start, and was pulling away by the time he’d reached the top of the village. I hadn’t really clocked his name on the entry list, so it was anyone’s race I thought. He finished in 3hrs 37mins. Another surprise and shocker of an entry was realising until near to the end that UK Skyrunner, Holly Page, had entered and was running! Quite a lot of the team had no idea of who she was, but I’ve read about many of her successes in the UK as well as overseas! She’d been running a sensible race until Newport where she was 6^th overall, and then started using the men in front of her who had sprinted off to pull back through the field as the race went on. When I heard she was second overall at the bottom of the WoD, I was blown away that she was even here!!! She flew up the WoD, and back to the finish to keep hold of second overall in 3:53:22. I believe that’s the highest ranked female finisher in the Beast ever! Awesome! 😉 I quizzed her afterwards on what she thought of the race/event, and she said it was utterly awesome. 😉 Overall winner Daniel was pretty stoked about the race/ route/event too, and was really chuffed with his win. Alistair Burleigh had a great run and took MV40 win and third overall in 4:01:59, whilst 1st local home was Nblr Ollie Minton, 6th overall in 4:12:14. Jez Brown(who has came 2^nd overall previously) also ran a fantastic race to take the MV50 trophy and 7^th overall in 4:12:59.

Mynydd Du lass Rhian Probert is having a good season and took 1^st FV50 and 16^th overall in 4:30:15, whilst John Langton was just behind her taking the MV60 trophy in 4:34:51. Claire Prosser took the FV40 trophy in 4:54:00 and 28^th overall. Local ‘Clochog lad James Greenhalgh ran a great race to be 2^nd MV50 in a time of 4:43:34. Not bad considering he’s had a new hip! Aber AC runner Karen Kenish took home the FV60 trophy in a 5:54:33, and was 74^th overall.

I know I should never name favourite people, but I just have to mention the ‘Big guy’, Little Dave. There’s only one Beast he’s missed, and always puts in his all. The weekend before the Beast he’d run the GL3D’s(3 days of running in the Lakes!) ‘Adventure’ class, and was one of only two runners who had managed to get around to visiting ‘all’ the checkpoints out on the course!!! He ran the Beast nursing a poorly ankle, and still finished a very credible 27^th overall in 4:53:58!!! Boom!

Ok, now for the Beast Bach. This was hotly contested between local lad Ed Clements and Jacob Tasker, with Ogmore Phoenix runner Jacob taking the win in 1:27:23. Very good going considering they also had the WoD to do! Ed finished in 1:29:35. The remarkable Cardigan RC runner David Warren ran a stormer of a race in 1:42:35 to finish 4^th overall…..and take the MV60 trophy!!! Boom! Well done young man. Current King of the WoD strava segment is Ed Morris, who finished 5^th. Pembs harriers Roscoe Howell won the MV40 trophy in 1:47:02 and was 6^th overall. Brynberian lad Chris Welton was 14^th and took the MV50 trophy in 2:01:10, whilst Rowan Saxton was right behind him and took the u23 win in 2:01:31. First female overall in 17th position was Catrin Donnelly in 2:02:40. Local lass Lottie Chant ran a great race to come 25^th and take the FV40 title in 2:08:33, whilst Sarn Helen runner Delyth Crimes was 38^th in 2:17:59 to take the FV50 win. The remarkable Neil Owen was 45^th in a time of 2:22:14, and took home the MV70 trophy! The legendary Wasdale wombler Lindsay Buck had made a special trip to the Preselis and scurried away away with the FV60 trophy in 2:25:28 and 52^nd overall. She was closely followed by 2^nd FV60 Flora Gunner in 2:26:52 and 57^th. Another notable person I have to mention, is MV60 legend, Lenny the lion. He’d had a massive heart attack a few weeks ago, had 4 stents fitted, and here he was running the Beast Bach in 2:27:48!!! Eryri Harrier Maggie Oliver ran a great race considering she’s in her 70s, and was 213^th in 3:33:17. Out of the 255 starters, 244 finished the race correctly! Unfortunately some runners again did not carry the mandatory kit, even though there was a kit check at the start. So some of those who did run and finished were DQ’d!. If you want to complain, then please contact the WFRA, as it is under their rules and guidance that this race is insured under. Some of you may probably run in the hills with no kit, but please consider what would happen to you should you injure yourself severely that you’re unable to move for several hours!!!! This was mentioned several times on my website, emails, and kit check!

Ok, what’s more to say, apart from a huge thank you to each and every one of you. For taking the time to enter, travel, and make this event what it is. Diolch.

Some fun facts. There was probably more cake made and consumed here than at most cake fayres! I’m pretty confident in saying that there were more fancy dressed marshals here than on any other fell races. Where else would you find a lobster, and the Carn Ingli pirate to name a few.

Where else would you find 34 quirky fun signs out on the course of a fell race?

Where else would you get to hug three others on a start line?

There were 67 marshals on the whats app group, and not everyone was on there!

It was the most finishers to date.

Is the WoD the biggest climb in the Preselis? No, but it’s probably the hardest…..as most of you have found out! Lol Will be in again???

Furthest travelled? The Dutch contingent from Holland I believe! Thank you.

So that’s about it. As for the rest of the year??? Next up is the DipDab on Sat 22^nd June. This is a 4hr orienteering type event, where you have up to 4hrs to try and collect as many points as possible by using the map that you get given on the start line.

Then there’s the Carn Ingli Killer on Thursday 18^th July. A 5k run in the(Pembs National) park. Not your average ‘park’ run! Enter on the night for 3 whole pounds!

Ras Y Cerrig Glas is on Sun 4^th Aug. A 7miler on a beautiful course. Includes a 0.5, and 1mile route for kids.

The legendary historic Ras Beca race in Sat 17^th Aug, again with kids races.

And then finally to the Brussel Buster. This is a fun 2hr score orienteering event at night usually held between Christmas and the New year. Date to be confirmed. These races can be found under races on the Preseli Beast website. Just don’t expect it to be the same as the Beast!

I will add a link here soon for a print out of results.

Should have mentioned it before now, but PLEASE CHECK YOUR BODY FOR TICKS!!!

Diolch o dalpen/Thanks in heaps, and huge hugs to you all. xx 

Ps- Thanks for taking the time to write such lovely comments on social media, and in the Beastly book. 😉😉😉 xx

Pps- If I’ve missed you out from this write up, then I’m really sorry! xx

So, Beast Bach entries have closed, and you only have till Tuesday evening to enter the 24mile Preseli Beast!

For those entered, please read through the race day info page asap. There will be a declaration to read, and then a form for you to sign to say that you’re happy to run in the event.

It’s a go, go, go at Beast HQ from now on, so apologies if I don’t get to reply to emails etc.

For those entered the Preseli Beast, and want to drop down to do the Beast Bach(or Twt), then just turn up on the day for the relevant registrstion time, and explain to the registration team. There is no need to email me before!

Whatever you do, BRING KIT, and a bowl, mug, and spoon!