It was a hair-raising experience when Welsh fell runner Mark Davies tackled the daunting Swiss Peaks 360 race

MARK DAVIES provides an exclusive, unique and very personal account of his incredible challenge. It
is understood that he was the first Welshman and UK based finisher in this race.

I entered the Swiss Peaks Trail 10 months ago as I needed a massive challenge.

The distance is 236 miles, elevation 83,000 ft, so the difficulty of the course ticked all the boxes.

I’m now lying in my bed however, with legs like an elephant, and wondering what had just
happened, and how the hell I managed to finish!

It all started at midday on a Sunday in Oberwald. The first couple of climbs teased and went
relatively fast both just up 2,000 ft, then dropping 2,000ft to a Valley below; the third climb started
to show you what was coming. It was a 4,300 ft climb up to an 8,850 ft col, but at the top 100/1,500
ft, I started to feel altitude effects for the first time. I was weak, with nausea, and headaches, but it
soon cleared when descending.

After passing through a few aid stations with food and drink, my first problem started to show, my
dietary requirements. I’m gluten free and Vegan. And all I had was a few mixed nuts and fruits but
that was OK. I still had my own flapjacks and gels.

The first main Life Base arrived at 30 miles, the hot food was pasta (which was no good to me), so
I grabbed a few handfuls of crisps and fruit, and then some more flapjacks from my drop bag, and
set off again.

The climbs now were all mostly up 4,500 ft and down the same. The scenery though, was getting
more beautiful, and the ground underfoot more technical, even slowing the descents to a walk.

In the middle of the first night, I started to struggle, I began to feel weak and tired, so I took my first
short sleep, just 20 minutes at the side of the track.

I awoke feeling better, but I was struggling to eat anything. My tongue was getting ulcers, and I was
forcing down antacids to try to tame the heartburn but carried on up and down the mountains,
starving and weak till I reached the main Checkpoint 2, hoping for some decent food.

I arrived to find some Pallenta, and tomato sauce. I took out my bowl and handed it to the catering
assistant. When I received it back, I found the tomato sauce was really beef Bolognese, so I just sat
there and had a choice to make…eat or quit the race, so I ate!

I then slept for two hours and set off again, up, and down massive climbs and descents, enjoying
some amazing scenery, and then napping in bushes, or on benches, and some aid stations along the
way. The volunteers up, were some of the nicest friendliest people I have ever met.

By halfway I kept passing the same people and chatted away. I met a few but ended up spending a
lot of hours with a Swedish guy called Magnus, who it later turned out, I would spend the last few
days finishing the race with.

The second and third day was where the terrain became very difficult. The section after Grande
Dixence at halfway was incredibly slow-going, with a mix of bristly scree and tryfan, up and down in
the wet for 30 miles. It was tough but incredible!

The terrain got slightly easier over the last 60 miles with the climbs getting shorter as we got closer
to the finish in Bouveret, on the shores of Lake Geneva.

By now though, my feet were bruised and swollen, with crazy foot pains. The fatigue was taking its toll, but it still remained good fun, in an odd sort of way.

The last night was a push to the finish. I had a plan to finish in under five days, so we went for it,
pushing as hard as possible but we were so tired by Life Base 6, that we just had to stop and grab an
hour’s sleep, which turned into two hours, anyway up and off again through the last night to
another amazing sunrise.

Finally down to the finish with Magnus in 122 hours and 39 minutes. We finished in 34th and
35th positions.

A quick dip in the lake then a taxi to my hotel. After just under seven hours sleep in five days, I finally got into bed, and then slept for 14 hours straight. I later woke, and then ate some food, Vegan again, before sleeping for another couple of hours.

Mark finally added: “I wrote this novel whilst it was fresh in my mind, now I’m off for another sleep.
The Swiss Peaks 360 has been one of the most crazy, stunning, and incredible experiences of my life. I
knew it was going to be insanely hard, but it was beyond that. The pain will go, but the memories will
last forever!”

North Wales Cross Country League – Season 2022/23

Message from CCL official Bernie Jones

It’s only a few weeks to the first race of the new season at Bangor, so a quick reminder for club
representatives that you need to forward me a list of athletes who will be competing in this year’s
league, so that we can prepare chip numbers for them. NO REGISTRATION; NO RACING!!

Following the success of the trial at the North Wales Champs/last fixture at Wrexham, chip timing
will be used throughout the season for both junior and senior cross-country leagues.

Club representatives, however, will be required to register athletes in advance of the league. Club
Athlete Registration forms have been sent to club representatives, but copies are available for
seniors. All athletes will need to provide their full names, date of birth, email addresses, and club
details. Age groups are relevant at the date of the first fixture.

Further details are available on their website: https://www.northwalesxc.com/

The dates for the North Wales Cross Country League Season (Junior and Senior) 2022/23 are as
follows:
Sat 1st October 2022 – Treborth Track, Bangor LL57 2RQ.
Sat 22nd October 2022 – Dolerw Park, Newtown SY16 2NZ.
Sat 26th November 2022 – Whitford CH8 9AN.
Sat 21st January 2023 – Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay LL29 7SP.
Sat 11th February 2023 – Marches School, Oswestry SY11 2AP.    
Fixtures 1, 2, 4 & 5 will be senior and junior leagues. Fixture 3 will be a senior fixture only

The North Wales Cross-Country Championships will be held at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd, Wrexham on
Saturday 7th January, 2023.

Welsh Inter Region Cross Country

An early date warning that the North Wales Cross-Country League will be trying to take the best possible teams to the Welsh Inter Regions Cross Country Championships on 19 November.

They are particularly keen to ensure we have full men and women’s teams (including masters).

They will be using the first two North Wales Cross Country Leagues to pick the teams so if you are interested just let Bernie Jones know.

As there is doubt whether there will be a CAU Inter Counties Cross Country (Loughborough) next year, this may be the only opportunity to represent North Wales.