Four Fans Race Reports 2016 After enjoying glorious weather all week, the day of the race brought heavy, persistent rain driven on by gale force winds and poor visibility on the summits. The weather conditions didn't seem to deter the 30 hardy fell runners who turned up at the rather quiet Storey Arms car park which served as Race HQ. At 11am sharp the runners set off into the mist with a driving wind at their backs. Marcus Pinker, MDC and Michael Corrales, N Wales Road Runners soon opened up a lead on the rest of the field with Marcus’ superior climbing skills and expert navigation making a key difference towards the end of the race. Marcus went on to win the race and retain his title with Michael following some 6 minutes later closely followed by Ben Gibbison of Mynydd Du. In the womans’ race, Rona Davies (Mynydd Du) had a cracking run taking the honours – with a 4 minute lead over the next finisher, Bev Tucker (Brecon A.C). As always I am extremely grateful for the fantastically resilient and generous marshals (Gareth Jones, Karen Elvers, Steve Force, Martin and Kay Lucas and Rob Brown) who looked after the summits in what proved to be very challenging conditions. 2015 What a difference a day makes! On Saturday I was sunbathing in my back garden, with Saturday evening seeing the arrival of a prolonged thunderstorm followed by torrential rain right through to the start of the race at 11am the following day. Fell runners are a hardy bunch with the moist conditions and poor visibility not seeming to put off the 30 runners who had journeyed to Storey Arms. The race route crosses over two streams which are usually only trickles at this time of the year, but following the torrential rain had suddenly turned into waist deep, fast flowing rivers meaning that most runners opted for the safer crossing points upstream – as a consequence the race records were safe for another year. As usual, there was keen rivalry between the two local fell running clubs with MDC narrowly taking the honours in the mens’ race with Marcus Pinker (MDC) narrowly outpacing Mark Palmer on the descent from Fan Fawr to the finish. In the womens’ race Helen Brown (Mynydd Du) held off Clare Dallimore (MDC) by 40 seconds to claims first prize. Given the weather conditions I was immensely relieved that all the runners returned safely to the finish but, as always, was bemused by the tales of navigational errors, unusual route choices and epic river crossings. One or two runners seemed to be convinced their compasses had developed a fault. I am very grateful to Gareth Jones and Karen Elvers who marshalled at CP1 and then swept the remainder of the course. Steve Force, my erstwhile Mountain Marathon partner who marshalled at CP2, (well at a point adjacent to CP2, but we will skirt over the reasons for that!). And to Paul and Joc Dodd who looked after the undistinguished summit of Fan Llia. Thanks also to my wife Louse for helping at the Start/ Finish. Andrew Blackmore 2014 Glorious, late summer sunshine greeted the 24 runners who took part in the second running of the Four Fans race. The race features a reasonable degree of route choice with Ben Moon, MDC - the eventual winner, taking advantage of his local knowledge by following a rather unusual line straight

from the start with the remainder of the field opting to follow the well-trodden paths towards Fan Frynych. From CP1, many runners favoured the alternative Beacons Way, instead of following the Sarn Helen road, in the belief that this involved less climb and easier going underfoot. Puffing Billy, a local fell running sage, begged to differ and along with several of his Mynydd Du club mates took the Sarn Helen option. The descent from the Fan Nedd trig point (CP2) across steep and tussocky terrain evidently posed challenges for one or two runners (as well as the sweeper), although not for the two race leaders, Ben Moon and Stewart Bellamy (Mercia) who powered up the next ascent and maintained a sizeable lead all the way to the finish. There was keen rivalry between the two local fell running clubs, MDC and Mynydd Du with MDC taking the mens' race with Mynydd Du dominating the ladies' race. I was reliably informed by Mynydd Du's club captain that if he had been racing, as opposed to marshalling at CP2, the outcome of the mens' race would have been very different! For the record, the overall winner of the race was Ben Moon (MDC), with the main category winners being Stewart Bellamy (Mercia) – M40, Andy Creber (Chesptow) – M50, Naomi Law (Mynydd Du)1st lady, Sasha Habgood (Mynydd Du) – 2nd lady and Sammi Toop (Mynydd Du) – 3rd lady. The Race Organiser is indebted to the fantastic assistance offered by the marshals: Gareth Jones, Richard Johnson, Paul and Joc Dodd, and Rob Brown as well as Louise for her help at race registration. A large number of high quality photos of the race have been posted on Facebook (South Wales Summer and Winter Hill Series and other Fell races page) which is also a valuable source of information on local fell races. 2013

A new race touring the quieter hills to the west of Storey Arms deserved a larger field than the 31 runners that came to pit their navigational skills against Andy Blackmore’s challenging 18km/1,200m. A fresh clear sunny morning made the navigation that much easier, and it was interesting to discover which route would be favoured to bridge the long stretch between the first summit, Fan Frynach, and checkpoint 2 on Fan Nedd. A goodly number did go for the radical Beacons Way route which involved retracing steps back south-east for half a mile before striking westward. At the sharp end MDC’s Hugh Aggleton opened out a 95-second lead by the Nedd trigpoint over Mynydd Du’s Mark Palmer who on the eve of his 50th birthday continues to be the man to beat. The consensus was that Hugh’s finish time of 1.48 – just four minutes faster than Mark’s – will take some beating in future runnings. Pete Gardner took third place and the M50 prize, while Gary Gunner had a good run for the M60 category. Chepstow’s Judith Austerberry in her first ‘serious’ fell race was a creditable 8th overall to win the Women’s prize nine minutes ahead of Katie Beecher (Les Croupiers) who was a further 10 ahead of Mynydd Du’s Natalie Taylor, also a relative newcomer to mountain races. Jan Richards of Mynydd Du scooped the F40 prize. Dick Finch