The world’s toughest five-day mountain race got underway this morning in North Wales. At 7:00am, 223 competitors from 24 countries set out on the 2017 Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race from Conwy Castle. Over the next five days, some of the planet’s leading ultra-runners will attempt to complete a course of 315 kilometres, including 15,500 metres of ascent (almost twice the height of Everest).

The Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race is about mountain running, endurance, determination and so much more, but it can of course be reduced to numbers. Time and distance will be constantly in the thoughts of the racers in the days ahead and also of those watching their loved ones on the live online tracking system.

Without going into the full nitty-gritty, which generates many, many long and complex spreadsheets in the planning stages of the race, here are some of the key numbers for the next 5 days.

The first Dragon’s Back Race took place in 1992 and attracted some of the very best mountain and ultra runners in the world. (I’m not sure the name ‘Trail runner' was even in use then.) The 5 stages along the mountain spine of Wales tested them to the limit, and with the backing of an oil company as sponsor the press coverage was extensive, helped by the fact the race was won by a mixed pair, Helene Diamantides and Martin Stone.

The start of the fourth edition of the legendary Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race is imminent.

On Monday 22nd May at 07:00 the toughest five-day mountain race in the world begins at Conwy Castle, North Wales.

We have two amendments to sections of the route, coincidentally within 4km of each other. Please note these amendments now. You also have an option to re-download the Day 4 GPX, however, this amendment will be easy to copy over onto your event map at the event registration and Day 3 overnight - where we will always have a general Event Updates notice board. It is actually reassuring that we have only had this one change to our route - we are pro-actively in touch with many stakeholders on this event.

The start list for the 2017 Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race™ is crammed with talent and experience, and the race south over the mountainous spine of Wales at the end of May is likely to be compelling viewing on social media and the live GPS tracking. One thing is certain, with a gigantic 315km course almost anything can happen and the combination of rough ground, unpredictable weather and extreme distances compound each other to make the event one of the toughest foot races in the world.

We are publishing this information in advance of the 2017 Berghaus Dragon's Back Race™ so that participants may familiarise themselves with the map key in advance of the event. You will already see evidence of most of these symbolisations in the Mandatory Route Sections. The information in the section below is how the details of the route (Checkpoints, Cut-offs, Recommended Route and Mandatory Route) will be displayed:

We understand that many participants have been studying maps, the GPX files of the route and spending many days out in the hills of Wales reccying the route. At this stage we are confirming all the Mandatory Route sections of the event. Please note that if a section of the route is shown as Mandatory then it is essential that it is followed in its entirety from start to finish.

We are now in a position to confirm the Berghaus Dragon's Back Race™ route for 2017. The route will be approximately 315km with 15,500m of height gain.​ You can compare the 2017 route with the 1992, 2012 and 2015 races in the table below: