Raining Cats & Dogs. Swansea Bay 10k 2018, Gallery 2.

Just like last year, Swansea Bay 10k was a total washout in 2018. The downward stretch wasn’t too bad, you can see gallery 1 here, but by the return it was hammering it down.

But Swansea Bay runners are a hardy lot and thousands charged through despite the rain. The only tougher bunch was us spectators who didn’t get to run to keep warm.

No matter what the weather though it is still one of the best 10k races in the UK.

Here is the full gallery 2 showing the runners in their rain washed glory, and don’t worry I will see you all next year, no matter what the weather is throws at me, DimExcuses.

Nice Weather for Ducks. Swansea Bay 10k 2018, Gallery 1.

Firstly apologies that it has taken me a couple of weeks to put these pictures up, I have been really busy. This year’s 10k was a total wash out, with runners and spectators getting totally soaked.  Very similar to last year then.

Here is a gallery of the runners heading down to Mumbles on the first 5k. The rain held off for this bit, it was on the way back that it poured down. I was is my usual spot at Blackpill.

So here is the first gallery in all its glory. Gallery 2 can be seen here. click on the thumbnails to open any picture, DimExcuses.

You might as well swim it! Swansea Bay 10k 2017.

 

There are rain showers and then there is basically being within a rain cloud! It started raining half an hour before this years’ Swansea Bay 10k, and it did not stop, it just varied in intensity. I always photograph Swansea Bay 10k whatever the weather. You can see photos from previous years in the links below.

Photos of Swansea Bay 10k 2016.

Photos of Swansea Bay 10k 2015.

Photos of Swansea Bay 10k 2014.

Photos of Swansea Bay 10k 2013.

Everyone was so wet they may as well have just swam the distance. The runners were soaked, and us spectators were both wet and cold. It was a baptism of fire (or should I say water) for runners new to the race like DimExcuses MTBer Phil Marshall above.

The runners were pleased to see us at the 8km mark, Lizzie Marshall here managing a drenched smile. Proving our hardcore, me and my friend Ade were proper DimExcuses standing for an hour and a half in the relentless rain to get the action shots. Like this one of Mark Gosney powering up the Blackpill Hill.

It was great to see all the regulars and the new faces, like Rob Griff swapping his skis for trainers below.

There is a full gallery of all the pictures from the race below. If you would like to run it next year, here is my guide to running the race km by km. Maybe I will be photographing you next year, DimExcuses.

Mud, sweat and tears. The Darth Mannion 2017.

This is my third year photographing the Darth Mannion Beach and Swamp Run Challenge (to give it it’s full name).

You can see photos from 2016 here, and photos from 2015 here.

This year was the biggest and best so far. The route was longer, but still included the fiver runs and sea dips that this extreme Gower half marathon is famous for. The number of runners was also up with well over 400 runners this year.

The weather was worse than previous years with high winds and heavy mist. How can you even have those two weather conditions at the same time?

But it is the spirit of the Darth that everyone gets round the course and finish with big smiles.

I am slowing working through my photos and I will get them all up by the end of the weekend. The following links will be clickable once they are available.

Darth Mannion 2017 Gallery 1.

Darth Mannion 2017 Gallery 2.

Darth Mannion 2017 Gallery 3.

Darth Mannion 2017 Gallery 4.

Time for me to get editing, DimExcuses.

None like it hot. Swansea Bay 10k 2016.

What a lovely day in Swansea Bay, unless you were planning on running 10 kilometers on the seafront in Swansea Bay 10k 2016. One of the best road races in the UK, the virtually flat course takes in the wide sweep of Swansea Bay along the Wales Coast Path. You can read a km by km guide to the course here.

The weather was warm with little wind, hot conditions for a long road race. The Kenyans above just took it in their stride leading the race from the beginning. But you didn’t have to wait long to see some familiar Swansea runners. Andrew Frazier setting a blistering pace.

Chris Jones was next smashing almost 10 minutes off his time from last year.

You can see photos from Swansea Bay 10k 2015 here.

You can see photos from Swansea Bay 10k 2014 here.

You can see photos from Swansea Bay 10k 2013 here.

A familiar face in Swansea Bay 10k photos above, Sam Donaldson was running this year too. Here he is at just past the 2km mark at Blackpill.

Closely followed by another Swansea Bay 10k veteran Luke Millward.

Jan Lawrence was next completing her second year in the Swansea Bay 10k, running for the Salisbury NICU premature baby unit that had just treated her latest grandson.

This year the sisters were doing it for themselves, with both my sister and sister-in-law running. First to reach us at 2km was my sister-in-law Caz.

My sister Michelle wasn’t far behind, cheered on by a big family turn out.

The great thing about spectating at Blackpill is as soon as most of the runners are past you the elite runners are running back on the promenade behind you. So I ran over to my usual spot to catch the runners coming over the bridge. Here is the fight for first place.

The first women runner was an equally fierce battle.

The rest of the elite runners were next.

The usual suspects weren’t far behind them. Andrew Frazier not dropping any pace in the heat.

Chris Jones setting a personal best for this race.

There he goes, jostling for places on the hill climb.

Some were taking it a little less seriously.

But there were still some seriously fast runners in the far from ideal hot conditions. It was the lack of wind more than the temperature.

I just missed Sam Donaldson on his return run. Here is his back as he climbs the hill.

Frances Samuel was the next familar face I spotted in the crowds.

The hill being her least favorite part of the course.

Clare was the next to tackle the hill.

I even spotted one of my old students, giving a big thumbs up.

Luke looked pleased to have got to almost 8km into the race.

My nieces were thrilled to see their mum Caz safely past the Blackpill bridge…

…and onto the hill. I thought Grace would start running with her.

My Sister Michelle was marking a return to the 10k after having a baby and was joined by her fellow Paul Popham running club members.

Just demolishing the hill towards the final 2km.

Was that sports development legend Tom Jones I spotted amidst this year’s runners? Surely not?

It was all over too fast.

It certainly was a hot one, and none like it hot! Everyone made it home safe though and all had a big smile on their face. A fantastic Swansea Bay 10k 2016, see you next year, DimExcuses.

Darth Mannion 2016. Pwll Du Gallery 2.

 

Pwll Du Gallery 2, hot on the heels of the earlier posted gallery. I took over 100 photos of the Pwll Du section of the Darth Mannion 2016. So I have made two galleries so you can see all the action from this extreme Gower running challenge. This is the second gallery – Pwll Du Gallery 2.  You can see all the previous pictures from the first gallery – Pwll Du Gallery 1.

You can also read about the Pwll Du section of the Darth Mannion Beach & Swamp Run Challenge here.

This is my last post from the Darth Mannion 2016, but you can be sure I will be down there capturing the action next year, DimExcuses.

Darth Mannion 2016. Pwll Du Gallery 1.

I took over 100 photos of the Pwll Du section of the Darth Mannion 2016. So I have made two galleries so you can see all the action from this extreme Gower running challenge. This is the first gallery – Pwll Du Gallery 1.  You can see all the remaining pictures in the second gallery – Pwll Du Gallery 2.

You can also read about the Pwll Du section of the Darth Mannion Beach & Swamp Run Challenge here.

Have a look through and see who you can spot making the cold plunge, DimExcuses.

 

Darth Mannion 2016. Pwll Du River Run.

Once again the Darth Mannion Beach & Swamp Run Challenge was an epic affair. Pwll Du saw the deepest and most exciting river run. I was there to give you a glimpse of the action.

I had already seen the runners at Pennard Castle, you can read about that here, and see the full gallery here. That was a steep dune decent, this was a much more watery affair.

I arrived just in time to see Dom finishing the river run.

While Alun was having a quick think about starting his cold dip.

Others were just taking the plunge.

That was one deep and cold start to the river run that runs from Pwll Du beach all the way to the ford, before the soaked runners make their way to Brandy Cove on the last leg of this extreme run.

The regulators and veterans were taking it all in their stride,their waste deep in freezing water stride.

Putting a brave face on cold legs rubbing against submerged objects along the irregular river bed.

The field was very spread out so runners were still running into the valley from Pennard Cliffs as others were deep into their river run.

The entrance to the start of the river run was soon seeing a queue to jump into the frigid waters.

Katy and her crowd were being particularly noisey about their river entry.

Having a moan about it being cold. It was only nine degrees!

The river was soon full with runners.

Some had the tactic of taking their top off and carrying it above their head to keep it dry.

Some others like Kirsten here just got soaked through.

Here is some more runners utilizing the shirt carrying tactic.

The only thing is you have to get in the river and keep that top dry at the same time, like Rhian here was discovering.

Even the toughest regulators were carrying their kit on their heads.

I can’t tell you what Joel here said to me as he passed.

Best just summarize that he went past, cheered on by the massive crowd of one man and his dog.

This river run is immensely challenging. Knees and joints are stiff and sore at this point as most of the cross country half marathon is behind them.  But now sore joints become cold joints and clothes get wet, heavy and energy sapping.

This is the deepest river run on the Darth Mannion and it is the longest period that the runners have to face in the cold water. That doesn’t stop them having fun and giving me the thumbs up. A big thumbs up is guaranteed to get you featured in the DimExcuses blog.

That’s the spirit!

Others were just focused on keeping their packs dry.

Everyone is relieved to get to the end of the river run at Pwll Du and get out at the ford.

I must be a great feeling to climb that bank and know it is only the run around to Brandy Cove, one more sea submersion and the climb up to Pwll Du Head to go!

The organizers of the Darth Mannion ensure that you are safe and supported in each peleton. Here the regulators are making sure their group get back home and dry. Well as dry as you can be at the end of a river run!

The river run at Pwll Du once again proved to be an entertaining section on this year’s Darth Mannion. I have over a hundred photos from the river run, so I will split these up into two albums (Pwll Du Gallery 1 and Pwll Du Gallery 2) and post them in two further blog posts. Click on the links in the brackets above to view the galleries, DimExcuses.

Darth Mannion 2016. Pennard Castle Full Gallery.

The Darth Mannion Beach & Swamp Run Challenge is a half marathon across South Gower with river runs and sea submersions. Here is the full gallery of all 80 odd photos I took at the Pennard Castle section of this epic race.

You can read about the Pennard Castle section of the Darth Mannion 2016 here.

Have a good look through the gallery below and see if you can spot yourself or anyone you knew running, DimExcuses.

Running out of Summer, Swansea Bay 10k 2015.

If anything in South Wales marks the end of summer it has to be Swansea Bay 10k. All the regular runners, like Chris Jones above, come out of the woodwork and try their best to run from Swansea to Mumbles and back as fast as they can. These two below were the fastest.

With this lot not far behind.

It was a real family affair this year with my new nephew Ethan cheering his Dad, Matt Bailey on.

Here is Matt taking it all in his stride.

My brother Steve wasn’t far behind raising a finger to say he has got this one!

Swansea Bay 10k regular Sam Donaldson was also not far behind, never afraid to get in a photo. You can spot him in the photos from Swansea Bay 10k 2014 here, and in the photos from Swansea Bay 10k 2013 here.

Fresh from running the Swansea Bay Half Marathon 2015, Morriston Actif Girls Caroline & Tracey were the next smiling faces to come along.  Morriston Actif being Sharon’s running club, there was a lot of cheering going on.

Quickly followed by fellow Morriston Actif runner Karys Dermody.

A surprise entry was Jan Lawrence, but she seemed quite happy taking on the 10km of this renowned road race.

Of course it wouldn’t be Swansea Bay 10k without the Macmillan Mug! We love the mug!

The downward run complete the runners start to return on Swansea Promenade. Mark Gosney setting the 40 minute pace for the real athletes.

Matt Bailey had obviously listened to Ethan’s bib, “run daddy, run”.

Chris Jones wasn’t far behind him tearing up the course.

This year really was a family affair with my other brother, Chris Bidder running too. The Safety Lead on the Darth Mannion (surely that is an oxymoron) Beach & Swamp Run Challenge, he is using this race to prepare for entry to that extreme Gower half marathon himself. You can read Chris’ journey to the Darth here. More information on the Darth Mannion Beach & Swamp Challenge can be found on their website.  Or you can read my report on last year’s Darth Mannion here: Part 1 Pennard Castle, Part 2 Pwll Du River, and Part 3 Brandy Cove Headland. Chris is even wearing their jersey.

My other brother Steve wasn’t far behind Chris digging in for the only hill in this great flat race.

Keeping quiet about the pace, Sam Donaldson was next to take on that hill at 8km.

There he goes.

I was pleased to finally bump into fellow Gower photographer, twitterer and blogger Richie Hammond before the start of the race. Unfortunately his wife Ceri proved too fast to photograph and I only caught her back as she climbed the hill.

Next was Debbie, one of two Mumbles Milers running in the race. To be fair half of them had been on the DimExcuses Big Gower walk yesterday, so they get a pass.

Well done Debbie.

Sorry for anyone I missed this year. I had this fidget under one arm, Molly the Frenchton checking out the route on the Promenade Map.

Molly, Sharon and I cheered in Tracey and Caroline from Sharon’s running club.

The Morriston Actif Runners taking it all in their stride.

Soon followed by Actif Runner Karys who was now running alongside Jan Lawrence.

My Zante 2015 buddy Nicole was next.

Proving the Swansea Bay 10k was not all Greek to her.

Nicole’s sister and another of the Zante 2015 posse Yvette was working really hard to complete her first 10k. She completed the course at a steady pace.

Well done Yvette and all this year’s Swansea Bay 10k runners. If you want to do it next year there is a DimExcuses guide to running the race here. So get your trainers on, DimExcuses.