On May 10th I will be heading to Snowdonia to take on what is commonly dubbed to be one of Europe's most challenging 100 mile/164km races.

‘Beautiful beyond belief. Savage beyond reason’

Some of you may know I was due to run Trans Gran Canaria in February 2023, however I frustratingly picked up an injury during my training. The decision was made to defer the race and rest the injury to prevent longterm damage, and instead focus my efforts on recovery and another race later in the year. In my eyes the only race for me was Ultra Trail Snowdonia. A sensible decision would have been the 100km, however we all know I'm not sensible so I am going for the big boy 100 mile.

I was devastated to find out all positions had sold out, however there was a small number of charity bib options which could still allow me to run.

When making my decision and scouring the internet for vlogs of the run to try and mentally prepare, I found a lot in the 100km category - all emphasising how hard it was, and only one vlog of the 100 mile category, in which he DNFed due to it's difficulty.

This comment I came across on the 100 mile vlog sold the race for me - I knew if I was raising money again for running, it had to be something extremely challenging!

The initial £400 raised, which allows me to run alongside the usual registration fee, goes to UTMB's local charity - Snowdonia Society. Snowdonia Society is a local conservation charity working with volunteers, communities, businesses and individuals to help look after Snowdonia.

Any further donations will be made to Mountbatten Isle of Wight, again in memory of my beautiful aunt, as without her I wouldn't be on this crazy ultra running journey. I can't ever thank the hospice enough for what they did for her and our family, so I think it's important to give back where I can, with these challenges!

We all know I've done my fair share of running over the past year, however mountain running is something which is new to me, and I will be having to spend a fair few weekends in Wales between now and the race to get to grips with the elevation and terrain. Not to mention the weather! The race is over 168km with 9500+ m of positive elevation, far further than running up Everest. It has a 48 hour cut off, which in perspective, my previous 100 mile race had just 30 hours to do it in, so this show's the level of difficulty involved in just completing it. This will be by far the most gruelling challenge I have ever taken on.