SOUTH WALES 50 - Ultra Marathon - Run Walk Crawl
Channel: Trail Running Wales
Date: 08/09/2020

"The SW50 is a 50-mile ultra-trail footrace starting in the Brecon Beacons and finishing in Cardiff, crossing the South Wales Valleys and the Brecon Beacons! 

It is a demanding test of endurance over varied and challenging terrain and is only suitable for experienced ultra-trail runners. The route has approximately 3200 meters of ascent and is over 90% on trails. 

Starting from the Pont ar Dawe Car Park at the foot of Pen y Fan, you will run over the main Brecon Beacons range before running back to Cardiff"

The movie is my race experience at the SW50 in 2019 and months of build-up in my training vlog series "Becoming an Ultra Runner.

Route Info

You will cross the stunning Brecon Beacons mountain range of Pen y Fan, Cribyn and Fan y Big before the long descent to Talybont reservoir.  
From here the steepest climb of the route is Tor Y Foel -  the crux of the route (named Mount Doom), after this it is (nearly) all downhill!  

Heading South via the green and rolling hills through Tredegar, you'll reach the Rhymney Valle, the mountain peaks of Rhymney Hill, Mynydd Bedwellte, Cefn y Brithdir and then Caerphilly Castle - another highlight of the route. 

Skirting around Caerphilly Castle a final push over Caerphilly Mountain and Crag yr Alt brings you back Cardiff.