Girls on Hills weekend

It’s December. The weather is horrible – wet and windy but still rather too mild – and my runs are still recovery runs: short, slow and flat. It becomes hard to imagine a time when runs were anything other than this, so I’ve been taking my mind off December by reminiscing about one of my highlights of 2020 – a trail running weekend in Eryri with Girls on Hills.

Back in January I’d been feeling very low and needed something to look forward to that was just for me. Obviously it had to be running related, but I didn’t want the pressure of a race this time. I was looking for the chance to get into my happiest places, the high mountains, in as relaxed a fashion as possible. It turns out there’s a remarkable number of people and organisations offering guided trail and mountain running holidays, but the one that suited me best in terms of dates and location was Girls on Hills. They’re a Glencoe based company focusing on women in the hills, but using local guides they also offered a weekend in Eryri (Snowdonia), which was exactly what I wanted.

We met on a cloudless Saturday morning in Llanberis, four runners with a guide (Jade) and a trainee guide (Kat). I’m sure there should have been more of us, pre-Covid drop outs, but the ratio was wonderful for the clients (although less so for the business in this most difficult of years). Jade led us out of Llanberis straight up the track on to Moel Eilio, a fairly steep start to the day, but one that set us up for a fantastic run along the tops to Moel Cynghorion, than back to the Snowdon Ranger path and over the bwlch down to Llanberis. As we ran we chatted and swapped stories and experiences, running and otherwise. We talked trail vs road, how to route plan and keep safe, some techniques. Most of all we talked about confidence, how to get it and keep it, why it matters, and why it’s such a struggle for so many to find it.

It would have been nigh on impossible not to feel a surge of confidence running in such spectacular surroundings, with Jade and Kat encouraging us at every step. No one was left behind or held back as we ran, with regular breaks to look at the view, take photos, breath the amazing, clean air and feel renewed by it. This, to me, is exactly what trail running is all about: no pressure, just the opportunity to get into and explore some stunningly beautiful places.

We arrived back in Llanberis tired but exhilarated, bouyed up by some stunning ice cream from Georgio’s and a paddle in the lake to ease our aching feet. And easing them was crucial because the next day was all set to be even better. We’d decided to meet a little earlier as this time we were starting at the Rhyd Ddu train station to head up Y Garn and onto the Nantlle Ridge. Y Garn seems to rise straight up from the banks of Llyn y Gader so it was quite a slog up to the top, but once there we could see the rest of our route for the day, and what a route. A scramble up the ridge to Mynydd Drws-y-coed and along to Trum y Ddysgyl, a beautiful grassy slope leading to a detour to the obelisk on Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd, then down through the edges of Beddgelert Forest back to Llyn-y-Gader and the finish. Back in a previous life (before children) my favourite of all sports was scrambling, so my ultimate aim these days is sky running, and here, for the first time, I got a taste of it. Warm, grippy rock beneath my hands, the sun on my back, the smell of the mountains, my feet moving quickly over exciting terrain. This is my element, and I was totally, supremely happy.

Confidence comes from experience above all else, holding onto the memories of things we’ve achieved and knowing that we can do it again. My body remembered how to move over the rock and my mind followed, careful but not nervous, knowing that I could do this and that there is no reason not to do it again. And again. At any available opportunity.

I couldn’t possibly have asked for a better weekend. Jade and Kat opened doors I hadn’t realised I’d closed, with gentle encouragement and an absolute belief that we would finish what we’d started. Nearly six months on, I’m still smiling as I think back on it, holding on to that belief in myself and the knowledge that this injury will pass and I’ll be back out in those mountains, putting my newly remembered skills back in action.