On Saturday 5th September 2026, 250 runners met in Betws-y-Coed with a unified goal of crossing the finish line on the Village Green, after navigating 73 kilometers and 3200 metres of elevation through the Snowdonia National Park. A race which aims to break you, whether you’re summiting the Glyders at the half way point or shuffling through the forever-flowing forest towards the end of the race. The race is advertised as a 50 mile, however the route works out at around 45 miles, which you may think is a cop-out. I was disheartened when I first found out. I wanted my documented Strava activity to show 50 miles (a nice round number) however, I was quite happy with 45 miles once I made it to the 40 mile mark.
The event is organised by GB Ultras, a running event company which has approximately 16 races, with varying distances of 50-200 miles, covering a lot of areas in Britain.
This was my second time completing the race, I ran it in 2022 with my wife, Beth. We came joint 13th, finishing the course in 13 hours. Beth took 3rd place female which was absolutely amazing following a tough day, mostly due to undesirable weather and underestimating the difficulty of the course.
Same race 4 years on, but the outcome and day were slightly different. Read on to find out more about the GB Ultras Snowdon 50 mile race.
Race Morning
The race starts at 615 am, a quarter of an hour after the 100 mile runners begin their journey. By the time the gun goes off, signaling the start of the race, you have already been awake a few hours. The check-in, bib and tracker collections opens at 415 am (you can check-in on Friday, too) and the cut off is at 5:30 am, leaving 45 minutes to prepare and stay warm. We stayed opposite the start point making the morning much easier and it meant I could go back to the hotel for 20 minutes to do any last minute prep / use a proper toilet, although there are toilets situated in the park, but not having to queue was a great benefit.
As soon as you arrive at the race HQ, the volunteers and staff are checking you in, assigning trackers or making sure you have enough safety pins for attaching your bib. This level of service continues throughout the whole day, especially at the five checkpoints.
Arriving at the start is a great feeling, the nerves and excitement are setting in and everyone is just gathering around chatting about the adventure ahead. ‘Have you done this before?’ echoes around the park, whilst pre-race rituals are completed. It’s an interesting feeling getting to the start, months of training under the belt, all of them hours obsessing and now… the day has finally arrived. There is nothing left to do but get out there and have a smashing time, what can go wrong?
The Route
Start to Check-Point-1
You will leave the village green and head west past Swallow Falls onto the Snowdonia Slate Trail. The route climbs through the Gwydir Forest and over moorland and farmland with plenty of rolling hills. It is a long, gentle warm up and ends at the base of Tryfan in the Ogwen Valley.
Check-Point-1 to Check-Point-2
This is where it gets interesting, the first real mountain section climbs the flanks of Tryfan. It then drops off towards Pen-y-Gwyrd.
Check-Point-2 – Check-Point-3
After a short link to Pen-y-Pass, you take the Pyg Track route past Llyn Llydaw and Glaslyn to the top of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa). The race official stood close to the summit, meaning you only need to reach this point and you can turn around and start the descent. However, like me, you are unable to live with yourself climbing so far to just say ‘we went near the summit’. You have the option to go a little further in order to touch the Trig point.
Once you have taken the stereotypical ‘Snowdown Summit’ photo, you can then begin the descent, taking the Miners Track to Pen-y-Pass and returning to Pen-y-Gwyrd (CP3). Having now completed a big chunk of the route, you will be settling in nicely, probably eaten a fair few boiled potatoes, gels and drank what might feel like Lake Tailwind, but you’ll be glad you did.
Check-Point-3 – Check-Point-4
This next stage is the cherry on top of the pain filled cherry sundae. Having already technically endured 2 summits, I would argue the pre-Snowdon summit is the hardest, you now have to beat the Glyders (Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr). Bring another pair of legs and a fresh mind for this quite technical section, with some rock hopping. The scenery and views are absolutely mind blowing and almost makes you forget that your body is beginning to break.
The descent follows the Devil’s Kitchen to Llyn Idwal and Ogwen Cottage and finishes at Pont Pen-y-Benglog. The descent is pretty horrible, I found it difficult to pick up any sort of consistency on the way down as the track is steep, uneven and quite narrow at some points but it is a well timed section for ‘active rest’, following the ‘stair climber’. I believe it was at this point where I was either hallucinating or I did witness a man walking up with a rowing machine on his shoulders. Which makes what we’re doing pretty tame. It was for charity, although he probably does that for fun, as he was making it look like a walk in the park.
Check-Point-4 – Check-Point-5
The mountains are complete, you can sit back, relax and think about the post race Hangin’ Pizza, which is opposite the finish line, but you either need to be back before 8 or have someone save it for you if you are planning on finishing after 8.
Right, back to it. Say goodbye to the mountains and enjoy the mostly flat 9 mile section. It heads east through the Ogwen Valley and the Gwydir area, then north towards the lakes. The section around miles 28-30 is where the 2026 reroute avoids the Slate Trail on the far side of Llyn Ogwen. The whole section has roughly 260 metres of climbing, so it is a great place to make up time after the slow-moving mountaineering.
Check-Point-5 – Finish Line
The final stretch follows forest and lakeside trails past Llyn Crafnant and Llyn Geirionydd, with a shorter climb of about 275 metres in total. A well needed runnable section but after 40 miles of arduous terrain, but how runnable is it?
Technical Points
Fueling: boiled potatoes were my staple, plus jam sandwiches, sweets and gels. I did begin with hummus wraps as they have worked well previously, however, I was sick of hummus by the 3rd checkpoint of the race.
Shoes: Salomon Speedcross 6. They are a great pair of shoes and do not cause me any issues, my feet do not rub or blister, but they don’t work for everyone and can be expensive.
Poles: I didn’t require these, as I have never used them and feel like they would be more of a hindrance. Plenty of runners carried them but I did see some people mostly carrying them and not using them, if you start with them you have to finish with them. Although I opted not to use them, they would probably be beneficial for the amount of downhill scrambling.
Weather: unusually warm for September. It was around 15 degrees C with clear skies, most of the kit list wasn’t used, especially waterproof trousers, but we were pretty lucky! This wasn’t the case in 2022.
Race Recap
The GB Ultras Snowdown 50 is a brutal, beautiful day out. Tryfan, Snowdon and the Glyderau come one after another, the volunteers are exceptional, and the final stretch past Llyn Crafnant and Llyn Geirionydd gives your legs one last test before the Village Green.
This year I finished in 11:56:46, 33rd place and an hour quicker than in 2022. If you’re thinking of entering in 2027, I’d say: train properly for the climbing and the technical descents, fuel early and don’t rely on one food. Most of all, enjoy it. There are plenty of fast runners on that start line, but there’s no better place to be on a trail-running Saturday.
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