Quarter century for mountain race

Five-times winner Dennis Walmsley from Bourton-on-the-Water won last year

A capacity turn-out is expected for the 25th Snowdonia Marathon on Saturday.

The race organisers said around 1,600 people had registered to run the 26 miles around the foot of Snowdon.

Billed as one of the most difficult marathons in Europe, because of the terrain, the race is estimated to give the local economy a quarter of a million pound boost.

Runner Iorwerth Roberts, 63, has run all 25 races because "I enjoy running, and the scenery is fantastic".

"I've made friends running this race, and I look forward to seeing them every year," he said.

"It is a hard race because you have steep hills from Nant Peris to Pen y Pass, then from Beddgelert to Rhyd Ddu and then from Waunfawr to Bwlch y Groes."

It's an incredible place to run, it's just fantastic Dafydd Williams, runner

Mr Roberts said the main change from the first race was that it had grown in popularity with more people taking part each year.

"Also I'm older now so I take longer to run it, if I get a time under five hours this year I'll be happy, my best time ever was 3 hours 15 minutes about 20 years ago."

Another local runner, Dafydd Williams, said the appeal of the race for him was that, along with the Snowdon race, it was one of the two big local events for runners.

"The scenery is lovely, the air is pure. It's an incredible place to run, it's just fantastic," he said.

Race organiser Elfyn Jones said the race had developed over the years and was now a major crowd puller to the area.

Boost to the economy

"People come for the weekend and it give the local economy a boost of around a quarter of a million pounds.

"We have had 1,600 register although not everyone will turn up, 1,500 will be allowed to start."

It is also a massive logistical job.

"We have about 600 gallon of water, 500 gallons of isotonic drinks and hundreds and hundreds of mars bars.

"The race will also be looked after by 150 volunteers, from local people and the National Trust, all along the route," he added.

The National Trust supported race starts at Nant Peris at 1030 BST on Saturday morning.