The steep traverse as we leave the Clywedog valley is another impressive part of the route. You have to watch your step as the bracken slopes very steeply down to a stream far below. After this another cross country section leads to a long stretch of road which takes us to checkpoint 3 in the Hafren Forest.

The checkpoint is real 5 star luxury. Carrot and coriander soup, rolls, home made cakes and hot tea make a fine lunch and recharge the batteries. Dry socks complete the revival and we are off up the mountain. Plynlimon is in thick fog so out comes the compass and following the excellent instructions we hit the summit fence bang on target.

As we leave the top of Plynlimon (30 miles) the old competitive streak cuts in and we start some proper running pretty much to checkpoint 4 at the end of the dam on the Nant-y-Moch reservoir at 33 miles. The picture on the left does not show Plynlimon which is completed shrouded in cloud.

From checkpoint 4 we skirt the reservoir until the end when we head off to the lake and then the screes of Craig y Pistyll. This is the last mountainous section of the route. Leaving behind a spectacular waterfall we head off down the valley before joining the road at checkpoint 5 for a run down to the finish.

Finally after 79,200 paces (David's), 45 miles and 1994 meters of ascent we force ourselves to run the last 1/2 mile to Clarach Bay. After tea, biscuits and dry T-shirts we dip our feet in the sea to mark the end of our country crossing. We are the 6th finishers out of 103 starters, way behind the runners who got here first but very proud that we have made it. Hot on our heels, Jeremy and Peter make the finish a few minutes later. David and Ian arrive at a more sedate pace, Ian forced by a sore looking sprained ankle and David reckoning that the speed that we came down Plynlimon was unhealthy. The profile below comes from a "Tracklogs" digital map of the route. The highest point is Plynlimon at 745m. The second highest peak is actually quite early on at Two Tumps on the Kerry Ridgeway.