For the last few years a couple of us have always met up on the second weekend in March to go running in Snowdonia. It’s become a bit of a tradition. This our plans complicated it and only Paul and I were able to do the weekend. I also wanted to go somewhere new, as much as I love Snowdonia and have so much more to explore there, I crave travel and adventure in places I haven’t been too. When looking at races for the year I came across this event in Slovakia that offered just the 100km distance and coincidently landed on the second weekend in March. From the pictures it looked like a tough winter event with plenty of snow covered mountains to enjoy. It didn’t take much to persuade Paul to sign up (side note, the race is limited to approximately 200 people and sold out within the first day!). Slovakia here we came…

The race started and finished in a town called Trencin. It seemed like a peaceful little town, located about an 95km outside of Bratislava. It was very quiet and is not a tourist destination. Shortly after arriving, we sat in a restaurant with one other table even though Google indicated this place was “as busy as it gets”. It made us chuckle and set the scene for the weekend – a nice lowkey event with just over 200 participants. I believe there were just 6 runners who were not Slovak or Czech.

A few hours later we experienced the most efficient and straight forward of race check in / registration at the sports hall near the stadium. It was pleasing to see the mandatory kit being checked, in full, for all runners. A refreshing change from the more mainstream events where kit checks now seem to take place less and less often. Armed with a sturdy race bib and multiple free drinks we headed back to the hotel to sleep ahead of our Slovakian adventure.

At 6am we were back at the sports hall and ready to start. After not paying attention we found ourselves standing at the front of the race as the countdown began and the sun started to rise. We quickly shuffled to the back where we belonged. The start of the race featured a Long 18km flat (marginally downhill even!) section as we ran along the Váh, passed the local airport and towards the town of Beckov. It didn’t take long for the field to spread out into a few bigger groups based on pace. As nice as it was to see and run alongside the river, it quickly became tedious. The path started as a pathed cycle path and then become narrower trail tracks and an embankment which were solid under foot, far better than the conditions the week before when they were soaked following rain. The weather was fantastic and couldn’t be any different from the snowy winter weather we expected to encounter. These were great conditions to run, but that’s not something you get used to in these sort of ultras and we didn’t want to ruin ourselves completely early on. We were able to keep a decent pace and tick off all the distance in a good time of approximately 2 hours. As we reached Beckov we had the first aid station on the side of the track. It had a good view of Beckov Castle standing prominently on the hill which we’d seen on the drive in the day before.

We ran through the small town and then had the first variation of terrain as we left Beckov with a short climb through some fields and woodlands. There was a photographer cheering us on with a photo opportunity of the castle in the distance. We popped down the other side of the hill and had a short road section before arriving at the second checkpoint in a community hall. The atmosphere here was bouncing as volunteers and supporters cheered us in. We took a few minutes to fuel and compose ourselves, satisfied that just under a quarter of the race was already run. We were feeling good but knew from here the elevation would start to come. We were in good condition though and ready for what came next.

From the aid station we now had just over 20 kms to go before our next stop. It pretty much started with a 600m climb. The climb started through a mountain bike park before continuing further up into the mountains. On the climb we could see many hills in the distance and one with a tower which we believed we’d reach at some point in the race (I believe this was Inovec). It was like a game as we kept guessing ‘are we going over there’ (we were wrong each time). It was a very gentle incline and weaved up through long woodland trails. The forests were special. The Trees were leafless, the floors covered in a blanket of golden brown leaves which our poles collected like litter pickers. The sun was shining through creating beautiful light patterns on the leafy floor. It didn’t take long before the climb was levelling out. There was no ‘summit’ on this climb but rather the route took us skirting the sides of mountains as we continued in the forest. As we reached the highest point the route was undulating for a few kms before we began descending. Again it was a very gentle and runnable descent and we made great progress on the initial descent before another few kms of undulating woodlands.

We arrived at the 3rd aid station in the Sport Chata mountain chalet at about 43km in. This was a small aid station that was a little cramped inside with runners taking a break. It was obvious why people were hanging around – there was a fire burning and pizzas had been delivered. Lots and lots of pizza! It was midday and the perfect lunch in a party atmosphere. We had a few slices and rested as we prepared for the next section which was also around 20ish km.

This one included more undulating trails before a smallish climb of about 300m and subsequent descent. I remember there were parts here that were slightly muddier and the ground wetter as we crossed more fields and weaved through more forests. We also got chatting with a local runner who shared information with us on the trail running community in Slovakia and the other races they have (I’ve read about one further north called the Big Bear which intrigues me). She told us how the race organisers (who form the Slovak Ultra Trail) all help and support each other which I think is a fantastic thing. I also remember running through a long field where there was a guy on a scrabble bike doing loops in the field. The noisy bike momentarily broke the peaceful atmosphere of the race. After leaving the forests we had a short road section (that felt like a very long road section!) on a gentle decline as we approached the 4th aid station where we’d have access to our drop bags.

We’d now covered around 3/5 of the course and were glad to have a rest. As we set about rummaging through our drop bags the volunteers brought us warm dumpling soup (yeah ok I thought it was cheese soup at first!). It was delicious. We were so very well looked after here, and everywhere else on the course – the volunteers were so helpful and friendly. The aid station had so much on offer. There was a huge range of drinks (this aid station had Coke, Pepsi, water, isotonic, bottled fruit juices/squash, magnesium/vitamin water, energy drinks, beer, non alcoholic beer, Radler…) and loads of food options. The warm soup was perfect and we washed it down with a Radler as I talked with another local runner enjoying a beer. We put on some warmer clothes for the next 40 odd kms. It was a very cold day, despite being dry, and we figured it would only be about 2 hours before it started getting dark. After about 40 minutes we went back out and began the long , fairly flat pathed section before we tackling the next climb.

We were now faced with the biggest/longest climb on the course as we’d head up towards Inovec. It was another 600m climb but this time we’d reach and altitude of just over 1,000m. Similar in height to Yr Wyddfa, but very, very different trails. Like before, this was a climb we found fairly easy going as it was another gentle ascent (admittedly we didn’t find it as easy going as some runners around us who ran off up the climb!). For us, we were pleased, there was no ‘huffing and puffing’ or elevated heart rate. It was a nice change to be able to enjoy the inclines and maintain a steady climbing pace. We were also back climbing through the forests and leave covered woodland paths.

As we climbed we completely switched off by reminiscing about movies from the 80s and 90s. All the good ol’ fashioned action movies. Paul was making a mental list of films to watch again. As the climb started to level out there was a short section where we ran back along the course we covered earlier in the day (if we weren’t paying attention here we could have carried on and probably followed the course markings from 50km earlier! I think if you did you would have ended up back at the Sport Chata we passed around 40km in!). This time though we’d turn off in a different direction and towards a ‘ridge’ that everyone kept mentioning.

We weren’t quite at the highest point yet and had around 10km of undulating trails as we climbed further up. This section seemed to drag a little. Every climb felt like it should be the last one. The daylight was starting to fade and the wind was picking up as the evening began to get colder and colder. As we reached Inovec it was just about light enough to see the Inovec lookout tower. After this it went dark pretty quickly. We were tiring a bit now (fair seeing as we had covered over 80 km) and the terrain became ever so slightly rockier compared to the previous sections. This coupled with the very cold wind made it harder going. I was aware of how cold I was getting now as I trudged through the thinnest layer of snow on the ground. Most of the day I’d had my gloves on but had resisted a windproof jacket up until we reached Inovec. Now I wanted my thicker jacket and warmer gloves! Thankfully the descent finally came and we made our way into the next aid station. Again another mountain hut with fires burning inside. It was warm. It was welcomed. I stuffed my face with apples, crisp, salami and chocolate before warming up and layering up with a beanie hat, my warmer gloves and thermal jacket. We shivered as we left.

Leaving the aid station we continued on some more road before completing the rest of the descent, probably about 400m downhill in the dark forests. We were toasty and warm again now. After this came a short climb of about 300m. Thankfully this one wasn’t undulating and we started descending pretty much straight away. This final section was nicely split up by one last aid station. We were glad it wasn’t another 20km section straight to the finish. The aid station was another chalet and was lit up with lights and reflective signs. We made a quick stop as it was set up outside (probably a good thing to keep us moving!). Paul knocked back a coffee and we set off before we started shivering again. Stupidly we walked the wrong way for about 50m. It was stupid as we’d even talked about this section and it was incredibly well marked as we approached the aid station. It was clear we were tired, cold and distracted. Back on the right track we finished the descent and got excited as the kms started to tick down.

We’d mentally accepted that it was pretty flat to the finish now, but despite the simple appearance of route profiles, it was broadly uphill, albeit at gentle undulations. The deception of our thoughts messed with our heads a little, but it wasn’t far to go and the climbs were no worse than walking around the hillier parts of London! So really it was mostly runnable and we made good progress. We were impressed by our undertrained body’s ability to keep running during this race. Before we knew it we were arriving back in Trencin, just below the castle. As we approached I remembered some massive luxury houses and how one resembled a yacht. We then made the final descent, down the cobbled path through into the church courtyard, then down into town and along the pedestrianised streets, through the subway and back to start, the way we’d walked to the registration the evening before. Arriving back at the sports hall we had a great reception from the volunteers and race director.

After finishing I spent a little time chatting with the race director who was so friendly and accommodating. The organisation really was excellent, we were well looked after, supported by loads of friendly volunteers, had ridiculous amounts of high quality foods and drinks and enjoyed a great atmosphere and vibe from the Slovak trail community. I couldn’t recommend this race enough and really want to try some more of the Slovak Ultra Trail events now!

On a personal note this race was a real confidence booster after recent injuries and lack of consistent running. I was expecting a slog (I’m sure it would have been in worse weather!) but seemed to get through with no issues or problems. Even afterwards my body felt ok and didn’t ache too much. Overall we were happy. Undertrained but over performed. With a 17.5 hr finish we were well under the cut off of 25 hours and the WSER qualifier time of 22 hours. Now I can look forward to what is to come next, roll on Istria100 in April…