Race thoughts: This course feels like it was designed by someone with a wicked sense of humour—it starts off straightforward for the first couple of miles with a long steady climb, then hits you with a punishing whipsawing final three. My recce was in the wet in inappropriate shoes which probably has skewed my perspective (see shoe choice). However, don’t let that deter you! It’s a brutally tough yet fantastic five-mile route that showcases the hardest sections of Conwy Mountain.

Overview of the Route

• Initial Climb: The race begins with a long steady climb up the Conwy Mountain track route before briefly dropping down before a final kick up along the Eastern ridge to the summit of Alltwen. All good so far.

• Descent to the Woods: After reaching Alltwen, you drop steeply down to just above the woods. In wet conditions, I slipped around a lot in my well-worn La Sportiva Mutants, so be mindful of grip here, it can be pretty sloppy on the steep wet grass/mud.

• Climb to Penmaenbach: You then climb back up steeply and traverse some scree before reaching Penmaenbach. This area can be overgrown with heather and gorse, especially in summer, so dress for it if you're doing a recce.

• Penmaenbach Summit: From the scree path leading onto the summit of Penmaenbach, don’t rely on the map’s marked route alone—it funnels you through a heavily overgrown rocky gully that’s slow and painful. Instead, cut up the loose rocks on your right before reaching the gully to reach the summit more quickly.

• Across to Conwy Mountain and down to the holiday park: The next stretch down from Penmaenbach and up to Conwy Mountain offers decent running without anything too steep or technical, though it can still be overgrown. If it’s not marshalled on race day, be sure to recce the left turn as you descend the Conwy Mountain ridge; it’s very easy to miss. This turn however leads to a very steep, grassy descent toward the holiday park—good grip is essential.

• Final Climb and Descent: After dropping down and turning around, you climb back up an even steeper route. It’s brutally steep, almost a scramble near the top. The organizer typically cuts this path specially for the race, so it might be inaccessible for recces most of the year. From there, it’s a shortish non-technical descent along the Conwy Mountain traverse to the finish.

Shoe Choice: The grippiest shoe you have if wet. I'm a bad descender at the best of times but my La Sportiva Mutants were totally inadequate, I ended up going down the hills just as slowly as I was going up them, I was crying out for my inov8 Mudclaws (or whatever their new model is called) as I was just ice-skating down the grassy descents. 

Race website: https://www.facebook.com/Conwy-Fell-Race-973479662785559/ 

Cost: £5

Results: 2025 Results