2022 participant, Justin Tracey, had an incredible run at the Montane Dragon’s Back Race. He wrote this piece ‘Choosing Your Dragon’ about his experience.

I kind of knew that this would be a once in a lifetime ride, a ride that would bring together my journey of fifty years on this wonderfully strange planet. This journey would mean a lot. It would give me time to remember mountain adventures of old shared with family and friends, loved and lost.

First of all, I had to choose the Dragon that I wanted to ride down the wilds of Wales. To complete the journey, my Dragon would have to be wise and have learnt from its previous mistakes. It would have a good understanding of what it was about to take on. I found a field full of dragons! Some strong, some weak, some old, some young. Some with shiny new armour, some with little armour at all. I found a Dragon, hiding away at the back, a bit older than most, with some scars to his hide, but he had a wry grin on his face and a glint in his eye. He was the one! The one that would take me on my greatest journey yet.

I spent some time getting to know my Dragon before we set off. We became friends and he told me of adventures past, mistakes made and how he, like me, still had something to give in this world. He had a nest with his young in back home, he wanted them to look up to him, he wanted them to be proud of him.

He told me how he had played in the hills as a child, being guided by his father. As a young Dragon, he had not understood the power of this time in his childhood and the effects it would have on him later in life.

As he grew up, the dragon picked up more skills and training in the mountains of Mid and North Wales, spending his days climbing the sharp rocks and descending the boulder-choked gullies of Snowdon, the Glyders and Tyfan. In the mountains of the Rhinogs, he learnt to navigate in poor conditions and to know when to eat and drink, even when the rains made you wrap your wings around you as tight as possible to keep dry. He told me how he had learnt to guide others in the mountains, some less fortunate than himself, giving back what had been given to him by his mentors and a young Dragon. This was my dragon!

Then the day came. The race was to begin in Conwy. My Dragon and all the other Dragons perched upon the Castle walls ready to fly. As we set off on our journey, I pulled on the reins, controlling his eagerness. I would feed him well before any hill and his thirsts I would quench at the top of all the big climbs. For this was day one, and we would use it wisely to find our pace for the rest of the adventure.

I respected his pace but and did not let him get guided by the other dragons around him, we were not slowed by the moans of other Dragons around us instead we smiled and flew on. We both noted that smiles added easy miles to someone else day as well as our own. At times when needed, we would stop and help others, like on Crib Goch, where we met an anxious Dragon, worried about the path ahead. We guided them across the sharp stones. We could see the weight lift off their shoulders as she conquered their fears. My Dragon and I knew at that moment that this other Dragon had a strong soul and she too would make the Journey to Cardiff.

We knew what we needed to make it to our nest every night in decent time. When we got there, we did not waste time: we ate, we prepped and we slept, for this is what was needed to reach the castle walls of Cardiff. We did the same every day. We got the earliest of starts with a belly full of food, strong wings again from a good night's sleep and a hearty tea. Days past without problems, and we soon found ourselves landing on the top of Pen-y-fan.

Here I gave my Dragon time, time to reflect and to look over his hometown as a child. I could see a tear in his eyes as he remembered the past with his Dad and his brothers, his time growing up and being a young Dragon, building his strength. He remembered friends and mentors he had lost on his journey to become what he was today. The Dragon took this time to remind himself why he had taken this journey in the first place.

With a beat of his wings, we took off and flew down to the walls of the castle in Cardiff. We lay on the grass and our journey was over. We both knew it would never happen again. As I walked away looking back to see my Dragon with a wry grin on his face, I expected him to roar flames in the air. He just smiled, beat his huge wings and was gone forever. I know now, that I did not choose that Dragon, but the dragon chose me…