Another win, another course record for Andy

He may be turning 45 later this week, but Andy Davies proved to the endurance running world that he is still one of the best with a stunning victory over the weekend.

The Forden ace ran a course record two hours 28 minutes and 41 seconds to claim the gruelling Marathon Eryri, previously known as the Snowdonia Marathon, breaking the previous course record by well over two minutes.

The event is regarded as one of the toughest in Europe, and Andy timed his break for the front perfectly from around 11 miles on to win by just over five minutes from second placed, Mike Kallenburg.

“It all went to plan, although I didn’t really have a plan!” joked Andy, who lectures at Newtown college. “It’s a really a tricky marathon to navigate because of the ups and downs, you just don’t know if the legs will be good or bad.

“There was a group of three going up to Pen-y-pass so it was good to have company and kept the pace pushing on.

“Down the hill towards Beddgelert Mike Kallenburg pushed the pace too much for me, so left him go. But I gradually caught him and we ran together until the 11th mile.

“I had one eye on the course record so I kept pushing the pace and my legs were OK at Waun Fawr on about 22 miles, so just needed to get over the last hill.

“That was a killer but knew I had to keep pushing to be somewhere near the record. A quick last mile saw me break the current course record by two-and-a-half minutes. Unfortunately, I missed the race record by 40 seconds which has stood since 1985.

“So, I was happy with my time of 2:28:41, with 800m of ascent.”

He will be taking time off to celebrate his 45^th birthday this week before plotting the next phase of his astonishing career, which is sure to see him hit the headlines for some time to come yet.

“I’m having a bit of a rest from running for a few weeks,” he said. “I’ll soon be turning to the next age group so would like to target some of the records which could start with a marathon next spring, but I’ll see what happens.”

PICTURES: From the Marathon Eryri Facebook page.