Balazs completes gruelling 100-mile race in 44 hours

The old saying goes, “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid-day sun” – you can add to this Aberystwyth Athletic Club runners as three of them took part in one of the most gruelling series of races and to do so in blazing sunshine.

Billed as a feast of technical trails through mythical landscapes, Ultra Trail Snowdonia is the UK’s only UTMB® World Series event and as you can imagine takes runners through some of Eryri’s most spectacular landscapes. There are three race options to consider, a 50km race, 100km race and the ultimate 100 mile race and Aber AC had representatives in each one.

It’s no surprise to learn that the 100 mile runner was Balazs Pinter who completed the gruelling course in a time of just over 44 hours and finishing 10th in his age category. Dave Powell entered the 100km race and finished in a time of just over 26 hours and 14 minutes, all the more incredible considering he cut his head open as he traversed the terrain in the night-time and required some patching up. Finally Louise Barker took on the 50km race and finished in an excellent time of just over ten hours and 43 minutes, coming ninth in her category.

For Balazs, this was a debut to remember: “I had been gearing up for this for a while, my first 100 mile race. The organisers certainly did not make it easy for us and they kept surprising us with water crossings, deep bogs, steep and slippery downhills, or rocks to climb at night. I started running lunchtime Friday and finished early Sunday morning. The weather was very hot but the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. It was a great feeling to cross that finishing line matched only by being able to lay down and fall asleep.”

As has been proven Aber AC runners like nothing more than a challenge and Maggie Collingborn took on two races in a day. Firstly she competed in the Sarn Helen mini nine mile hill race and was the second female home before jumping off to run in the Welsh Regional Athletic Championships and coming first in her category.

For Maggie it was a test of logistic skill to manage both races: “The Sarn Helen races were in Lampeter and it’s great to support another local well organised event. But once that was over it was straight into the car and down to Carmarthen for the Welsh Championships. At least the weather was good and I’d had a good warm up with the hill race.”

There were other successes in both events with Aber athlete, Janos Vranek defending his 800m crown at the West Wales championships and John Lowe coming second in the 800m race in the under 17 category while Owain Schiavone won the 16.5 mile Sarn Helen hill race.

Finally to Caerphilly and the second event in the 2023 Welsh 10km Road Race Series where three Aber AC athletes secured great results. Edd Land crossed the finishing line in a time of 35.35 with Paul Williams not too far behind in 39.28 and securing 2nd place in his age category. Tracey Breedon finished in 41.53, ensuring 2nd place for her also in her category.

Paul Williams was delighted with his run:“This was a very competitive race with close to 1,500 runners taking part, so not only was I very happy with my time and 2nd position in my category it was quite an achievement for the three Aber runners finishing within the top 10%. The club is most certainly punching above its weight.”