Brecon to Cardiff Xtreme

Name: Brecon to Cardiff Xtreme
Start: 2025-02-16T07:00:00+00:00
Location: Bannau Brycheiniog - Brecon Beacons - National Park

Schedule

Sun, 16 Feb, 2025 at 07:00 am

UTC+00:00

Location

Bannau Brycheiniog - Brecon Beacons - National Park | Brecon, WA

The Brecon to Cardiff Xtreme, is the mountain running version of our classic Brecon to Cardiff ultramarathon. It is a 43 mile linear race over 11 major peaks between Brecon and Cardiff. This is a tough winter ultra marathon with over 2650 meters of ascent and is only suitable for those with excellent winter mountain running skills, experience and fitness.
The Route
Starting at the canal basin in Brecon the Xtreme heads through the old town then straight to the top of Pen Y Fan followed by steep climbs up Crybin and Fan Y Big, before a fast descent down the Roman road. Another short but steep climb reaches the Twyn Mwyalchod trig point and the 'Bog of Doom', before a long descent towards Pontsticilli Reservoir. Here the Xtreme and classic B2C routes briefly converge with some faster forestry running over more rolling hills, before gaining the half way checkpoint in Merthyr.
Now clear of the national park, the classic B2C course rolls gently downhill to the finish, but the Xtreme still has approximately half the elevation to conquer! Initially it is an ascent of Twyn y Werfa into the Gethin woodlands, followed by a rolling high level traverse south over Twyn Ddisgwylfa and Mynedd Gethin (Mynedd Merthyr). With the end nearly in sight, there are final climbs over Cefn Eglwysilan and Mynedd Meio before the fast drop down into the finish and the wonderful welcome at the Coleg Y Cymoedd.