Jake Mowat had to contend with some serious climbs in the 51km Brecon Beacons Trail event
A hugely challenging 51km route with over 2,000m of elevation was the daunting prospect ahead of Jake Mowat at the Brecon Beacons Trails. It was one that was sure to be a test of strength, endurance and character as well. In an ultra of that sort of distance, it’s sometimes necessary to dig deep and find the resolve to continue when times get tough.
Registering a 6th place finished at the Bournemouth Bay Run 10k in March, Jake gave a glimpse of what he’s capable of, getting round in a time of 38:13. That was before he joined the Bournemouth AC ranks.
He went on to put in a good debut for the club at the May 5, finishing as fourth scorer for the team in the Dorset Road Race League and coming 20th in the standings with a time of 28:42. That was a strong PB for him. Then in June he clocked a parkrun PB of 17:23, showing signs that he was well and truly on top of his game.
Jake (1001) listens to the instructions before getting his race underway
Training well over the summer, Jake had been putting in the hard yards, getting some good long runs in and spending some time out on the trails as well to help prepare for the forthcoming ultra.
Having not really done much long distance running before it was all new to Jake and he was going out and putting in training runs of 15 miles at a pretty strong pace throughout June and July. He went on to produce a superb sub time of 16:57 at the club track handicap 5k, confirming that he was in tremendous shape.
Then on his last long run before the ultra, he sustained a knee injury, which was a real worry with the event just one week away. Luckily his knee recovered okay in the week leading up to the ultra and he was able to put in a couple of training runs and test out his energy chews to help him get through the task ahead.
Jake had trained well over the summer and was in peak shape
The course started in the village of Talybont-on-Usk, heading out past Talybont Reservoir before heading up the sumptuous slope of Pen Fan. It’s then onto a scenic trail around Talybont Forest up to Bwich Y Ddwyallt and Waun Rydd. Dropping down onto the Monmouthshire Canal, the path then leads back to the finish line at the event village.
It was an early start for Jake as the 51k runners were set off at 7:45am to allow them plenty of time to get through the enormously testing journey they had ahead of them.
The climbing started from the outset and it was pretty much all uphill for the first 12 miles. The gradient wasn’t super steep though until the 10th mile when it suddenly shot up to an almost vertical angle.
Jake was feeling great over the first half of the race
Feeling great for the first half of the race, Jake was knocking out splits of 7:30 to 8:30 minutes per mile despite the incline he was facing. It wasn’t till that 10th mile that his pace was considerably reduced as he scaled the first really difficult climb.
There was a chance for a bit of respite on the downhill section from mile 12 to 13.5. Then at 14 miles it was time to head up the next hill. That led up to 15.6 miles before there was another long downhill stretch.
It was smooth sailing for Jake in the early stages of the race
Battling up the hill well, Jake the got back on pace on the long downhill stretch which took him up to 18.5 miles. It had gone well for Jake up till that point but there was still a long way to go and the next part of the race was always liable to be the most challenging.
The next climb was long and steep, heading up to the 22 mile point. It was on that slope where the going got tough for Jake and he hit a wall. Literally and figuratively as the 21st mile contained 1,000ft of elevation. It was brutal and Jake was struggling.
To his credit though, he didn’t throw the towel in and he dug deep into his reserves to find the resolve to carry on. There was a bit of respite after reaching the top of that hill but there was still a bit more uphill to contend with. That was before the long downhill section that led to the flat, two-mile run into the finish.
With about 20k to go it got really tough for Jake
It was a really tough last 20k of the race for Jake but he managed to push on through and showed an extraordinary amount of grit and character to make it to the end.
Completing the course in a time of 6 hours 37 minutes and 51 seconds, Jake finished 41st out of 255 athletes who successfully made it to the end. By the end of the race he’d racked up a massive 7,000ft of ascent.
The race was won by Sean Wylie in a time of 4 hours 44 minutes, with Joshua Beaumont taking 2nd place in 4:53:07. Sam Harper was the last man in in under five hours, crossing the line in 4:56:58 which put him 3rd.
Chloe Elliott was first female and she came 18th overall in a time of 6:07:49, with Melissa Venables finishing as 2nd female in 6:10:49. That put her in 22nd place.
Jenny Fox and Rebecca Cannon were closely matched on chip time for the final podium place but Jenny shaded it by six seconds in the end, crossing the line in 6:34:04. They were 36th and 37th.
It had taken Jake everything he had to get to the finish that day but considering he hadn’t really done much long distance running before tackling such a demanding race, he’d done amazingly well. He’ll no doubt have plenty of learnings to take away with him as well which will prove invaluable of he attempts another event of that type.