Deemed one of the UK’s most iconic marathons, the Brooks Snowdonia Marathon Eryri has once again filled in record time, with places for the 2017 event being snapped-up in less than 8 hours. This year’s edition will be the 35th and takes place on the now traditional last Saturday in October (28th).
Last year’s event filled to its 2700 capacity in around 12 hours and, having extended the available spaces to 2900 in 2017, the demand for places once again took race organisers by surprise. Race co-ordinator Jayne Lloyd’s explains:
“The entry process in 2017 has been a very busy one for us. Opening on New Years Eve at midnight always makes it a very exciting time and can, of course, present some issues. However, the amount of runners applying for places was phenomenal and our queue system meant that some runners were experiencing delays, due to the sheer volume of online traffic. At one point we had almost 4000 runners applying for places! We are truly sorry for all those who missed out, unfortunately there will always be disappointed people who didn’t get a spot in the race.
“Those runners who have gained a place have given us some great feedback and we have a number of first-timers again this year. This is great from a local economic and tourism perspective as a fair number of those visiting for the race are coming to Llanberis and Gwynedd for the first time, and quite often make a holiday of it. Of course there are also runners who come back year after year and we hope to see many familiar faces again at the race.”
Last year witnessed the biggest field ever taking to the roads of Snowdonia and completing what is considered one of the most stunning 26.2 mile races on the UK calendar. With an elevation of almost 3000ft the race is one of the most brutally tough too.
Jayne concludes:
“We’re really humbled by the support we receive for the race and, despite being a small team, we field hundreds of enquiries via social media and more traditional means around race entry time – so we really get to know many off the participants. We pride ourselves on that community feel too, that is what makes the race so special in many runners eyes. As ever, we are already planning the 2017 race and look forward to putting on a great marathon for all those entered this coming October.”
For those still wishing to gain a place in the race the marathon partners with a number of charities. Welsh cancer charity Tenovus Cancer Care are the event primary charity partner, and have 40 places on offer. Awyr Las are the NHS charity for North Wales, supporting patients and families throughout the region, they have 15 places and fundraisers can even specify a ward they would like to generate funds for. Finally, Parkinsons UK also have 10 places up for offer.
Applications for these spaces can be made by contacting Jayne Lloyd via snowdoniamarathon@btinternet.com
