I had a positive experience with excellent support from the guides in my group. I did need to leave the event, my own doing entirely, and was given professional advice and assistance to a place of safety. I was listened to. Anthony and James were friendly, skilled and capable.

I would like to thank the organisers and volunteers for their hard work, friendliness, care and commitment. The communication wasn’t always effective and didn’t filter down to all parties. I enjoyed the event but did struggle at times to know what was happening, how long we had for breaks, how long it would take to reach the next stop.
Overall however it did exactly what it set out to do, challenge whilst support and provided beautiful scenery with a mixture of different abilities. Thank you overall but there was a point where I became quite disheartened and not aware of how much was expected.

A huge challenge and I feel a great sense of achievement after half marathon.
Having HQ positioned at halfway point facilitated the decision to enter so that if needed I would be able to bow out. I was pleased to have had the opportunity to do the recce in February after which my goal changed to completing only the first half.
Pre-event communication was regular and informative. The terrain was very demanding as expected. Weather was fantastic, an enjoyable day, lovely atmosphere.
Setting off in the first wave we were well supported by 3 excellent guides, each one friendly, professional and encouraging.
Thanks - a personal goal achieved.

A huge challenge and I feel a great sense of achievement after half marathon.
Having HQ positioned at halfway point facilitated the decision to enter so that if needed I would be able to bow out. I was pleased to have had the opportunity to do the recce in February after which my goal changed to completing only the first half.
Pre-event communication was regular and informative. The terrain was very demanding as expected. Weather was fantastic, an enjoyable day, lovely atmosphere.
Setting off in the first wave we were well supported by 3 excellent guides, each one friendly, professional and encouraging.
Thanks - a personal goal achieved.

A hiking challenge with a range of terrain - grassy, shingle with wide and narrow paths, of different gradient with magnificent views. I’d recommend being hill fit as it is a full day of hiking. Great atmosphere and company with interesting conversations all day to keep us going along with good lunch options/facilities.

We did the recce walks so knew what was coming and could choose our distance. Having the gpx on the day was good but provide it at booking - then reduce the complaints about not realising how challenging the terrain could be. Good to have the guides but perhaps better to let people find their own pace. Perhaps better reaction to actual conditions on the day and stress the need to replenish water. So.. many complaints about running out of water from people not taking the opportunity to refill at 11km. Add headtorch to kit list. We enjoyed our day and our chosen challenge - thank you for organising it and also thanks to our lovely guides.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Yes it was challenging yes it did push us just that little bit out of our comfort zone but that is what its’s all about. I acknowledge there were issues for some but from my personal perspective I completed the course and achieved my howls with the help and support of the leaders. The weather was just the icing on the cake. Diolch

Our group had the poorly lady. I eventually ran to the rangers and hq as I didn't want to miss the full experience. This was after many delays waiting for her and the worry she was keeling over. In fairness the leaders did at one point ask her to go back and explained to ger the adverse impact on the whole group. Im slow but we need to know when its 'enough'. I loved the 2nd part.. I was encouraged and supported but Al..what a wonderful man he is and very kind to keep me going. Lovely chats with Paul too. Thank You so much for my experience. Ps..I wasnt last!!

The course is stunning and is primarily suited to experienced hill walkers. To complete the challenge in a reasonable time, a brisk pace is a prerequisite with short stops only, except at the halfway point.

I wouldn't discourage less experienced hill walkers from participating but would maybe offer a second easier and shorter route with a straightforward ascent of Moel Famau as the alternative.

The group sizes are tricky and have to be limited to stop bottle necks and delays. Having said that, to put together people of the same ability is a very hard task.

I have a suggestion that rather than guides trying to corral walkers of various abilities why don't have a guide free walk.

Groups of 10/20 set off every 5 minutes and there will be manned multiple checkpoints and prelaid pointers on route to sure no one goes off track. Everyone will be encouraged to study the map before hand. People will naturally walk with others of similar walking pace and will feel neither hurried or slowed up.

There will have to be cutoffs with sweepers at the back of course.

Just a suggestion to make this great new event flow better in future.

Great event very challenging even for the fittest of us , wave 2 was a little to large with mixed abilities which caused a lot of waiting around at times . But other than that a fantastic test of endurance and would 100% enter the next one .
Thanks Joe great event great climbs .

The first group to set off was .supported by 3 guides who were knowledgeable, reassuring,.patient and respectful throughout. My friends and I felt that we were in safe hands.

Fantastic start. Everything seemed to be going well. Fab atmosphere. Very friendly volunteers and participants. However the physical abilities of wave 2 were very mixed and we started to fall behind time wise. Then communication for the restart was minimal meaning I missed it the restart by a few minutes. Incredibly disappointing and frustrating. However would not put me off next year (if there is one) as Im sure lessons would have been learned.

So, I'm going to start off with the good... weather was amazing, the updates were consistent and the route was fantastic

Glad to have made the half marathon distance. Would have loved to continue but the gully ruined me!
The group was possibly too big (wave 2) - lots of waiting for people to catch up very early on. Thanks for arranging a great event!

This event was a huge challenge. The course is fantastic, a real mix of steep rocky climbs and descents, grassy fields, woodland tracks, stream crossings, you name it! My strong advice would be to get loads of practice hiking in the hills, and to do the reccys - either join the group or do it on your own - because you really need to understand the terrain and elevation gain/loss to be able to assess your pace on it. There were a lot of people who weren't able to keep up with the required pace. It was a little frustrating for a few miles at the start but Joe re-jigged the groups and we were able to move faster after that. I think quite a lot of people stopped after the first half. The group atmosphere was fantastic, and everyone was so friendly, it was particularly good in the last five miles when things were getting physically quite uncomfortable, to have other people to chat to and take my mind off it a bit! Event HQ was set up really well with plenty of loos, bag drop area, food vendors. There was also a great photographer who showed up in various places. I'd definitely do one of these events again, when I've recovered from this one!

The route is very, very tough and demanding, the ascents were undersold, distance no problem. The pace in the 12 hour group was extreme with none of the frequent stops advised undertaken. The “elite” athletes, clearly in the wrong group, set the pace not the leader. Scenery would have been wonderful if there had been time to look around, communication could have been a lot better, especially as regards the next section of the route and need to conserve water. This is no walk in the park and should be advertised as such …. this is only for very experienced, uphill walkers, first to admit it was way too much for me but I’m sure many who do this type of walk week in week out would have loved it. Given the challenging route even 12 hours is pushing it unless super fit and experienced.

I would recommend another water station if it's hot weather. It was on this year's event and before the last hill some people could have done with more water to complete.

A mental for half Marathon?

Staff were superb and helpful.

Had a lovely day but I feel like the event was over subscribed. Walking in such large groups meant we were never going to finish in time which lead to a disappointing end. A real shame as the rest of the event was well organised.

Loved the event.
It was tough but perfectly doable. Next year please mark it out so we can just do it at our own pace. I like to just keep walking but others like to stop, everyone is different.