Bruno Spellanzon
By Bruno Spellanzon
I am not going to go into the details of why I have chosen to do the Dragon’s Back Race, everyone has their own motives, but my short answer would be: uncertainty scares the shit out of me and choosing/having to face it is exhilarating. Of course, I tried my best to decrease the uncertainty to the max of my possibilities. I trained hard, around 10-12hrs a week, with the last 3 months going up to 13-15hrs with a couple of weeks around 20hrs. I focused mainly on elevation (3-5km of elevation), with a lot of hiking (even on the treadmill and stairmaster), and made sure to have a “Bruno’s training camp” 1.5 months before the race where I went to the Black Mountains and the Beacons and just hammered the downhills to avoid DOMS during the Dragon’s Back Race (which proved to be a successful strategy!).
Taking on the Dragon's Back Race! ©No Limits Photography
I did practice my nutrition a fair bit, but I am not going to lie, I am lazy af, so I basically had SIS gels and powder, veloforte and precision hydration chews, tailwind, clif bars (which I basically ate just 2 out of the 10 bars I was planning) and crisps. I do not recommend this. The lack of variety and the sweetness almost made me pay a huge price on the 5th day, when I just didn’t feel like eating, and it took me almost 15 hours to complete the day (I was averaging ~12 hours on the other days). But anyway, into the interesting bit now…
The Dragon’s Back Race, for me, was not a race, it was a surreal, painful, exciting, miserable, incredible, joyful, exhilarating (this might be my new favourite English word) experience. I felt more like in a festival, an incredibly difficult, but just awesome festival. From the moment I woke up I would see my tent buddies and we would hype each other up (not always because most days I would leave ~30-40 minutes after them so that I could avoid the queues for food, coffee and toilet, but still…). Then I would go for breakfast and coffee and the volunteers who had been awake since 3am would just be there, with huge smiles on their faces, giving us more encouragement (for our stomachs and mind!). Then a volunteer would scan my bracelet, I would hug her (Vic!) and go.
Exploring Wales over 6 days ©No Limits Photography
First day
I did recce the first day during a race (14 peaks) and although it is a very hard day, I was feeling comfortable I would de able to finish. A lot of scrambling and yes, I did finish with some time to spare in the river (although just able to sit there for 5 seconds since it was freezing). However, the most frustrating bit of day one was arriving on the last top, seeing the camp and thinking “finally! I will be there in 15min”, while it actually took me something like an hour. The reason being the downhill was so muddy and boggy that it was a bit scary to go fast, but anyway, day one was done and I already started meeting some of the other runners I would be seeing pretty much everyday on the hills and eventually the campsite.
Second day
A lot of people (me included) thought the first day was the hardest given the insane elevation, Crib Goch and Tryfan. However, omfg, what was that? Elevation is less, the hills are lower, but much more technical, with some scrambling but a lot of rocks and no visible paths, therefore, it was mentally exhausting to be paying attention to everything all the time to make sure I did not fall. By the end of the day, I was so mentally drained that it took me more than an hour to eat my dinner. When I was in bed my legs were to sore that I also thought I was not going to be able to walk next day (but I did!).
Third and Fourth days
Both long days, but much easier in elevation and technical terms, but of course, there were bogs, grass and mud (well everyday was like that except the last). I woke up feeling quite recovered, which is interesting since I did not sleep much all nights during the Dragons Back Race. I was getting in bed by 9pm every night (except the 5th), but I would be there lying awake until 12-1am without sleeping, and eventually, I would get some 3-4hrs of sleep, before the alarms in my tent started going off at 4:30, that seemed to be enough to at least finish! Anyway, both days with not many surprises, there were showers throughout the day (it rained every day, but not all the time, so it was quite enjoyable weather-wise! Maybe I am becoming a bit British…).
45 minutes to spare ©No Limits Photography
Fifth day
At the end of day 4 I had a lot of pain in my left tibialis anterior (the muscle that lift the big toe) and went to the medical team (big shout out to them, they were amazing!) for some taping, which helped me to actually walk (once I cooled down it was really hard even to walk, but anyway) and sleep. I woke up on the fifth day and set off feeling really recovered, but with enough pain in my left foot that I was only able to shuffle the whole day. By the third hour I had already accepted that it was going to be a long day (~15hrs), but I was not expecting the midsection to be so hard, 4 very steep hills which I was not able to go very fast both because I suck at steep hills and because of the pain, but anyway. By the time I got to the last waterpoint at the base of Pen-y-Fan I had only 25 minutes to spare there. The real problem was what came next. At some point after Pen-y-Fan I realised I might not be able to get back into camp in time, so I just overcame the pain caught up with a group that I could see in the distance that was moving well. Eventually I got to camp with 29minutes to spare, but now I had pain in my right foot as well, in the same place as the other. I went through my feeding routine one last time: hot chocolate and chips, 20 minutes later had proper dinner with another hot chocolate, charged my stuff and went to bed.
Final day
I woke up, feet hurting, but it was the last day, no stopping today! I had my usual Dragons Back Race breakfast of porridge with all possible add-ons (all dried fruits and maple) and a full English vegan breakfast. Got my stuff ready and went to the medical tent. With both my feet taped up to my knee I set off to Cardiff, and I can say with a high degree of certainty that this was the most painful day of my running career, I eventually arrived in Cardiff, and the feeling of entering that castle was indescribable. I never cry after finishing races (although, weirdly enough, I do cry in stupid movies… go figure), but this time I could not hold myself. Partly because of the pain I felt for the past two days, partly because of this massive accomplishment, but mostly because I was met by some of the most incredible friends I have made since I moved to the UK 3 years ago.
Reaching the finish line ©My Bib Number Photography
Just to finish off with some tips I heard in the webinars and learned during the race:
1. Have a small pack (I had an 8-10L from Decathlon) in camp so that you can have all your stuff (toothbrush, plate, mug, chargers, etc.) with you so that you only need to get back to your tent to sleep
2. I had a proper pillow, the one I use in my bed hehehe, it takes up space, but it was incredibly comfortable
3. Sleeping clothes, maybe I am a sissy, but that made me so much more comfortable during the night. Some people just slept with their running kit, no way Jose.
4. Vary your nutrition.
5. Eat everything you can for breakfast and dinner. After I finished the Dragon’s Back Race it took me 1.5 weeks to get back to my normal weight. So, yeah, you will be in a massive caloric deficit, even after eating 2 plates of chips a day plus dinner and breakfast. But those meals are likely more important than what you eat during the day, so, eat a lot!
6. If you are limited in time/resources, try at least recce’ing days 1 and 2. The others you can find similar conditions all over the UK
7. Learn how to tape yourself and take care of blisters. The medical team is there and they are amazing, but there are almost 400 runners, and they are no more than 15, so, learn to be self-sufficient. A great book about this is “Fixing Your Feet” by John Vonhof. A must-read for ultrarunners
8. Soak in the environment, the volunteers and organisers are runners as well, they and the other runners all understand what you are going through, so, yeah, talk to them, share your experience and listen to theirs, this will make the days much more enjoyable.
The incredible Dragon's Back Race experience! ©My Bib Number Photography
Feeling inspired to take on the full Dragon’s Back Race or The Hatchling in 2025?