THE prestigious Snowdon International Race (Râs yr Wyddfa), first held in 1976, once again attracted a world-class field of international mountain runners this year, with two Aberystwyth Athletics Club athletes rising to the challenge.

Leading the club home was Owain Rowlands, who produced an excellent performance to finish 62nd overall from a field of 449 runners, crossing the line in 1:23. Also representing Aberystwyth AC was Richard Anthony, who completed the demanding course in 1:42, placing sixth in the men’s over-50 category.

Conditions on Snowdon were kinder than the Ceredigion heatwave. Runners were also treated to a spectacular cloud inversion, emerging above the clouds into glorious sunshine on the summit. Highlights of the race were broadcast on S4C on Sunday 26 and are now available to watch on S4C Clic.

The Run Walk Crawl team held the Dragon Coastal Races event over the weekend of July 18-19. It had three categories with 100, 50, and 30 miles to run and seasoned ultra runner for Aberystwyth AC Balasz Pinter signed up to complete the 100-mile route, which started at the Worms Head, Rhossili.

Balasz Pinter at the Dragon Coastal 100 mile Race
“I was concerned about the time and the run was harder than I expected. I had to walk a lot, but I enjoyed spending two days and one night in a beautiful place” – Balasz Pinter (Aberystwyth AC)

103 runners signed up for the run which utilised the Wales Coast Path and Afan Forest; with only 52 finishing; Balasz finished more than three hours before the cut-off time in 31:09:02.

On Wednesday, July 16, two Aber AC runners travelled to Lampeter to compete in the Red Kite Challenge, Ras Longwood. Despite the challenging conditions during the ongoing heatwave, Owain Schiavone claimed victory in a time of 30:51, while Dave Humphreys finished 18th overall in 51:21. A week later, on July 23, the same pair represented Aber AC at the Poppit Sands Race. Owain continued his fine form with a third-place finish in 19:04, while Dave completed the course in 28:15.