FRIENDS from Meirionnydd have had to drop out of one of the world’s toughest mountain races.

Ed Bailey from Harlech and Gwion Llwyd of Dyffryn Ardudwy, took on the Montane Dragon’s Back Race in memory of one of Ed's relatives who took her own life.

The race started on Monday and lasts for six days, but the Ed and Gwion were unable to continue yesterday.

“Unfortunately both Gwion and I are out of the competition,” said Ed.

“We managed to get to the end of day two but due to a mixture of heat and cramp we got timed out at one of the cut off points.

“We are both disappointed but join a long list of people this year who also have fallen out of the competition for one reason or another. I think as many as a quarter if not a third have already dropped out.”

He added: “We have no regrets.

“We enjoyed the amazing start within the iconic Conwy Castle and we met some amazing people. In fact we shared a tent with others from Sweden who had never been to Wales before having trained on the only local hill they have - an 80m dry ski slope!

“We had an adventure involving dodging falling boulders on one slope in Snowdonia and being attacked by flying ants and wasps on another whilst desperately trying to keep moving forward all the time with enough water on board to get to the end of the day.

“Family and friends were of great support coming out to cheer us on locally, and whilst running over my own family’s farm, my son William joined us and made us suddenly feel very slow!”

Ed, a volunteer with The Farming Community Network charity (FCN), entered the race in memory of his wife Helen’s cousin Elizabeth Mackenzie, who died in June.

“I kept Elizabeth and her immediate family in my mind the whole way and thought of all those others that have bigger personal challenges than this race, with their own mountains to climb,” Ed added.

“Both Gwion and I are very grateful to FCN for all their support.”

Planning for the challenge started over a year ago. Ed had an operation in June, which left him unable to train for six weeks. During that time, he learned Elizabeth had taken her own life.

“It was a bolt out of the blue. Having seemingly not found a way out of the dark place that Elizabeth had found herself in, a very sad time ensued as the family tried to rally around to support and to heal,” Ed said.

“Elizabeth was a very special lady, somebody that meant so much to so many of us – taken far too soon from an invisible but very real enemy.

For more about the race, visit www.dragonsbackrace.com/. To donate to FCN visit //fcn.org.uk/#support