This is a write-up of my South Wales Traverse winter record, completed on 13/12/2025 in 15:57.
The Route
I was in south wales for four years studying at Cardiff, and joined the city fell running club MDC. Whilst I was at the club there was always some mention of ‘nutters’ who ran or attempted the South Wales Traverse. The South Wales equivalent of the Bob Graham Round, but without the annual dinner invite. This is a brief summary of the route and my completion on 13/12/2025 in 15:57 minutes, a new winter record.
Some years later having gotten into ultra running, and moved to Leeds, I wanted to come back to South Wales and have a crack at the South Wales Traverse. It is a point to point route across the Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog for the Welsh), picking up 31 summits, starting at a random car park in the west on the Black Mountain and finishing at Llanthony Priory in the Black Mountains. It helped me hugely that I had ran parts of the route many times during my time there.
The Start (not me, mine was in the dark, but it looks like this):
The End (again not me, I finished in the dark…)
Enough chat, what are the stats you say?
- 118 km
- 5340 m elevation gain
- This is split into 6 legs, all approximately 20k and 900m climb.
Organisation and Logistics
I hugely underestimated how important logistics were, and would have struggled had Ellis not intervened to turn my poor plan into something workable.
I set a date for completing the route in advance and locked it in stone, which whilst risky given winter weather variability, I think was worth doing as finding replacement supporters last minute is very stressful!
Damian Hall’s summer record is 14 hours 15 minutes, which I knew would be pretty untouchable at this time of year, but the winter record was 19 hours and 54 minutes – game on! I also fancied a long run around December and couldn’t find anything else suitable.
To start with, I lifted Damian Hall’s GPX file from the FKT website, and on a reccie ran leg 1 & 2 in the same time to see how it felt – I was totally ruined! So I scaled up Damian’s leg times for a combined total of 15 hours, which became my target.
Supporter Recruitment
I wanted to run with supporters as I think it makes for a nicer experience for everyone, plus I’ve always enjoyed supporting others. I also dont like carrying more kit than I have too, but eat and drink A LOT, so its basically a requirement.
Ellis volunteered to be road support (with Pippin, our border collie), and I recruited my Dad (Mark White) to be driving support. Dad was responsible for getting runners to and from the start of their legs. Ellis was responsible for being at the end of each leg (and some extra points) for supporter handover and resupply.
Closer to the time, I lined up accommodation for the Friday and Saturday night and messaged runners who:
- Would want to run 2 ½ hours in the winter, maybe at night
- Knew the route (from MDC fell running club)
- Would be willing to give up a weekend for my attempt
Thankfully I was able to convince enough people to cover me round, cashing in a few favours from when I had supported their attempts:
Leg 1: Anna Llewelyn
Leg 2: Anna Llewelyn
Leg 3: Iestyn Evans (local, recruited last minute through facebook)
Leg 4: Our own Jonny Coney
Leg 5: Matt O’Keefe (MDC runner & local line expert)
Leg 6: Chris Jones (MDC runner & nav expert)
I had another supporter who pulled out due to illness in the week, which made me realise why people try and get 2 supporters per leg… My not having a backup scuppered me, as I had to recruit Iestyn (YES-tin) last minute through the attempts facebook page.
Supporters and accommodation in hand, I (mostly Ellis) put together a logistics plan for the drivers and supporters so that people knew where to be and when:
I also planned a kit list and handover checklist, which was useful in reminding me to pack things and thats about it! My reminder list on our home whiteboard was the most helpful:
On the day
It came round pretty quickly! The adventure started on the last 15 minutes of driving to the accommodation down the Welsh lanes at night, which I can only compare to a poorly maintained roller coaster track. On reviewing the host’s instructions, it clearly said to avoid this road, who has time to read this on top of logistics prep!
Before bed we had an excellent uneventful dinner, except I thought I had forgotten Pippin’s food, so the dog got a cheese sandwich and whatever else Ellis found. I later found the dog food in the only bag I hadn’t checked – oops! After dinner I organised resupply food into 5 bags for each leg handover and all of my kit for the next day.
We were staying about 20 mins drive from the start, so got up at 02:45 to eat, before leaving at 03:15 to arrive ready for a 04:00 start. I should have risen earlier as wasn’t able to use the toilet… I will try not to discuss taboo bowel movements too much, but they were a significant feature of the run. Next time (if there is a next time) I will try to eat only rice and potatoes for the week in the lead up to prevent any issues!
Leg 1
I had to turn on the tracker and wait for 15 mins, before Anna and I started pretty bang on 04:00. We started in thick clag, and stepped off the road onto persistently damp fell. The first climb was up Garreg Lwyd and included some scrambling over a boulder field, very wet mossy boulders that you had to walk over to avoid a painful fall (my fault for wearing Inov8s really). Still, its a short climb to start with (150m) so was over fast enough. The next few climbs were wet and mostly consisted of staring at my watch to stay enroute as there was zero visibility. I was already drinking and eating by this point, with a goal of 100g Carbs (two high carb bars – Stykr rice bars + Inov8 Beta fuel + Veloforte bars) an hour. I was also aiming to drink about 1.5L per leg every 2 ½ hours.
We bumped into two hikers taking shelter at the top of Fan Brychieniog, they looked at us confused and we looked at them confused and then we moved on to Fan Hir.
I was moving well at this point and had warned Anna about the descent off of Fan Hir and it did turn out to be as bad as expected. It’s like one of those slides at a kids activity centre that is nearly vertical at the top. Only it’s 650m tall and covered in wet grass, and yes you walk off the top straight into a bum slide. I broke away from Anna at this point and met her at the end of leg 1 for a rapid refuelling!
Fan Hir drop off in summer
Leg 2
Leg 2 starts with a long 35m climb up Fan Gyhirrych. Most of the climbs for this leg are vertical grass cliffs. I couldnt find a photo of Fan Gyhrich from the angle that I was going up, but I did find this painting, over which the skyline is the end of leg 1 and first climb up Fan Gyhirych:
Anna stayed with me until the summit, at which point I took the remaining water and food off her as I was moving quickly, she returned to Ellis and the Van to whip round to the other side of Fan Nedd where there was another road point for refuelling. At this point on the recciet, a lovely Welsh man met me and gave an extended summary of the stone age Welsh settlements in the valley that he had made a personal study of. A small touch that combined with the quiet, wild dark made these first two legs feel magical and mysterious.
Leg 3
I descended Fan Fawr in the new light down to the Storey Arms where Ellis, Anna, Iestyn and Pippin were waiting. The Storey Arms is the foot of the famous Pen Y Fan, which every man and his dog in south wales has hiked up at some point, and up which I was about to run.
Ellis told me that Pippin had eaten the second ½ of the ginger flapjacks that she had baked, I ate the first ½ on the drive down. They were meant for the supporters, I dont think the supporters had any, unless you count Pippin as a supporter.
I changed into my trail shoes here, as most of the climbing on this leg is on gravel or slabs, and set off with Iestyn carrying my running poles. I raced up the hill at a good speed, running the vast majority of it. This was definitely when I felt strongest, although I could no longer tolerate the rice or Veloforte bars I had been eating and had moved onto Beta Fuel jelly bars and gels. There are 5 summits in close proximity on the Nuadd skyline, Corn Du, Pen Y Fan, Fan Y Big, Cribyn and an unnamed fell. The summits went by pretty quickly, but the long ridge after Fan Y Big went on for a little too long and I was struggling a little bit with back pain. After the slabs, the descent down to the end of leg 3 was on fell and I rolled both ankles a total of 3 times – which was very concerning.
As I arrived at the handover, I was greeted by my dad and a very excited Pippin and Jonny who had ran out to meet me. I stopped to swap my shoes again as I couldn’t risk turing an ankle, and hurriedly put some running tape on to stabilise my right ankle. The taping was SO BAD, and Anna (a Physio during the week) looked at me with shock horror. I got Ellis to give the sides of the tape a bit of a tug, grabbed a handful of Dorritos and set off on Leg 4. Apparently on the drive back Anna said she hoped I didn’t cut off blood circulation.
Leg 4
Leg 4 is only a single climb and descent and is arguably the easiest leg, as the last 13k is on road and canal. I should have made time up on this leg, but I felt pretty weak from the start up the first climb.
A hundred meters after setting off, I gave Jonny my remaining Doritos since I din’t fancy, though given his look of confusion I think he wasn’t sure what to do with them. I still felt rough going up the first climb, so had a few gels earlier than my 15 minute schedule had planned. By the top of the main climb, and the start of the quarry, I was feeling a lot better. Turns out I just didn’t have enough sugar in my system despite eating around 90g of carbs an hour up to this point!
Near the top of the hill, you go through an abandoned stone quarry which is quite scenic, and there is only one line that works. All others get you lost. Thankfully, I had come in advance to reccie this climb as I knew it was a little tricky.
On the way down from the quarry we bumped into two Welsh sheep farmers who looked very out of breath. For some reason they apologised to us for a sheep being on the footpath further down. They said they had carried it most of the way up the hill back to the fell but it had gotten away before they made it. One of them had a large red mark on their face so I asked if he had been kicked to which they both laughed and said yes. A mighty effort!
Further down we met Ellis and Anna at the start of the road for another shoe change before 13k on road. Dull, but I think Jonny was more upset than I was.
The end of the leg cuts through a field, on the other side of which I could see the van and a few people milling around. I cant explain the relief I felt seeing Ellis at the end of each leg, at being able to pause for just a moment and see some friendly faces. I avoided thinking about the whole too much, just on the end of each individual leg, which makes it much easier to digest.
At this point, Jonny apparently handed Ellis the handful of Dorritos, having carried them all the way from the start of the leg, I can only assume in case I fancied them later on – sorry Jonny! I relished the chance to have a cup of chicken broth, which was divine, as I had eaten exclusively pure sugar for the last two legs and my stomach felt empty. I was eating as much as possible, but gels just go straight through like liquid, and dont make you feel satiated, even if they do provide energy.
Jonny trailing me at the start of leg 4, about to be handed a handful of dorritos:
Ellis, Anna and Iestyn waiting at the start of leg 4:
Me running down the awful road section at the end of leg 4:
Leg 5
Leg five marks the start of the dark mountains, which are strange mountains. Four ridges like fingers extend southwards for miles and miles. For both this leg and leg six, it was a steep climb up to the ridge and then a long slow climb along.
Matt O’Keefe was at the van ready to go and looking sprightly, exactly how I felt about 10 hours earlier, but certainly didn’t feel now. Still, I think some of the energy soaked into me as I felt really strong going up the first climb, catching up with Matt in-between laboured breathing. This leg we completed nearly entirely in the light, which I think helped psychologically to get round, as only the leg at the end was in the dark (and the two at the start).
There is a horrible descent at the end of this leg which goes down through farmed forest. Matt had gone out in advance to reccie this section for me as the best line changes as they farm the forest – thanks so much Matt! We decended without a hitch and met up with Ellis, Mark, Chris Jones and Pippin at the Van.
Applying more Trenchfoot liberally at the end of leg 5 and had a few swigs of chocolate milk, pippin clearly wants some too:
Leg 6
I stopped to cover my feet in more Trench foot cream, and also to drink some more chocolate milk, but wasnt stopped for long before Chris ‘Cattle Driver’ Jones cracked the whip and we started moving. The first climb was really rough up through the forest, but Chris had arrived early and scouted ahead. He had found the map that I had packed with the supporter kit, and chosen to use it – the only supporter who felt the need. This climb summed up a lot of my experiences with Chris, behind him on the fells, trying to keep up whilst he has time to look at a map. In my defence he has very long legs!
I’m not sure what it was but when I hit the ridge after the climb, and the long slow climb started, I started to lose a lot of motivation – resembling a child in the back of the car saying things like ‘Are we there yet?’ and ‘How long do we have left?’. Ellis had whipped round to another road crossing 14k before the finish and we met her there where I sat down to have a cup of tea. Chris tells me ‘C’mon you can drink that on the move’, I was disappointed to say the least. We started up the last climb before the long (13k) descent to the finish.
I had ran out of gels which you might not think is an issue, but when I had been exclusively fueling on sugar for the last 15 hours, it was a time bomb bonk that was waiting to happen. Chris rationed his two snickers bars and fruit pastels on this leg to get me through, I think depriving himself of food at the same time – thanks Chris. He drip fed me small pieces of snickers as we ran down the ridge, and this did perk me up. I had mentioned to him earlier that it would be nice to get under 16 hours, though by this point I couldn’t care less and made that clear to Chris. However I think he read between the lines of my tiredness and woudn’t accept that.
He told me there was only 3k left, and I confess I didn’t believe him as my GPX track told me 6k – 15 minutes is a big difference at this point! We got to the final descent and I knew it must be tight to get under 16 hours, as Chris started charging ahead and expecting me to follow with the occasional ‘C’mon!’. I had been protecting my quads the entire length of the route, but no longer for this descent. I hammered it down through the pain and exhaustion.
I sprinted down through the final grass field towards two headtorches lighting up the Abbey, and its wall at the finish, for a time of 15 hours and 57 minutes. Ellis and my Dad were waiting to celebrate the completion with me. I can’t tell you the sheer relief at finishing having ran hard for nearly 16 hours. Almost immediately my legs turned to pure jelly and I struggled to walk round the wall.
There is an underground pub at the Abbey, which we went to for a post run drink, but having been outside, I felt like a wild thing and a little out of place in the well-lit comfortable pub, being expected to produce something resembling conversation. All that was on my mind was food, a shower and bed. I got my wish shortly enough at the Brecon Beacons YHA. Apparently no one dot watching knew I had finished as there was no signal (GPX or otherwise) in the valley.
Post Finish
I can’t say I got a good night’s sleep, but I did get a good full english breakfast the following morning, where I had a confrontation with the staff who didn’t think that asking for three of everything for the ‘made to order all you can eat breakfast’ was reasonable. I won, and it was totally worth it.
Anna had been at the YHA that night too and was overheard by two hikers, who as it turns out were the hikers that we ran past on leg one, huddled in the shelter of one summit at around 5:00 AM. They had been hoping for a good sunrise, not the cold clag that they got.
A week later I am mostly recovered, except for some bruises on the top of both feet giving me sharp pain in the tendons when going downstairs. Still not running yet, but hopefully soon.
Next up, the Fellsman in April. Training starts now, cant wait!
