Radyr & Morganstown Half Marathon and Marathon

Radyr Trail Half Marathon
The route briefly passes Forest Farm, before crosses the river Taff. The crossing is the site of the old ford from Radyr to Whitchurch. Due to the shallow water, you may see people fly fishing in the river.

You'll quickly pass through Radyr before the first climb of the day greets you and you'll head up through the Golf course. Skirting around the edge of the course it quickly becomes apparent how close to true countryside our capital is as you cross stiles and agricultural fields. Soon you will glimpse the Garth Mountain in the distance.

A brief downhill will bring you to your first woodlands, where hopefully the bluebells will still be in flower. A tricky left turn (don’t miss it!) takes you to the left of Morganstown and into agricultural land proper.

You'll face a very steep, but thankfully brief, climb to the top of the woods, which eventually will lead you past a quarry. The route then dives downhill through Garth Woods and take you to Coed-y-Bedw SSSI Nature Reserve.

Leaving the deciduous woods of alder, oak and birch trees, you'll enters Coed Rhiw'r Ceiliog, a conifer plantation, with the eerie quiet the pine needle floor brings. The long climb up through the woods will lead you to your first checkpoint.

After the checkpoint, you'll begin your final climb to the highest summit of the day, the infamous Garth Mountain. If you're not local, you may know this mountain better for the Hugh Grant film An Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain. The route does not pass the trig point, but if you wish to summit the hill we will understand - the view on a sunny day is spectacular. With the capital city of Wales at your feet, you can clearly see both Severn Bridges, the coast of England and the highest peaks of Southern Britain – Pen y Fan and Corn Du.

After all the roots of the woodlands and the climbs of the Garth, you can now get some easy miles under your belt, a long descent to Gwaelod-y-Garth, down some zig zag paths and across the river to Taffs Well.

Once past the football ground, the route climbs up to the higher level Taff Trail. Following the trail for a while the route comes to Castell Coch woods, site of the Fairy Castle.

A sharp left leads to a steep gully which will take you to the top of the hill and a woodland sculpture trail. As you pass over the summit and begin the decent, you'll reach your second checkpoint. There is now under 5 miles to go, mostly downhill.

The descent will take you through Fforest Ganol and follow a pretty stream. If it's a hot day it will be almost impossible to not have a paddle in!

The last climb of the day, is short and sharp, past the café nestled in the woods. A tricky technical descent leads to the road at the base of Castell Coch. Next to Tongwynlais, past the pub where the cyclists meet, you will rejoin the Taff.

Finally, you will veer away from the Taff as the route passes the pretty Glamorganshire Canal, part of the Cambrian Way and the third nature reserve of the day. You'll likely come across herons, water fowl and, if you're lucky, kingfisher. You'll also get some much needed shade if warm before a final mile back to the clubhouse and a well-earned rest.​

Radyr Trail Marathon
The route follows the half signed route for about 3 miles before heading out to Creigiau. Here you'll meander through open fields and down through an exceptionally muddy track before taking some hidden trails to reach the Canada Lodge lakes. A brief road section is required here to avoid a field of bulls.

You'll reach your first checkpoint at 7 miles and, once restocked, enjoy a lovely runnable wooded section along an old railway line. South Wales has spectacular countryside, yet its industrial heritage is only skin deep away.
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A beast of a climb up through a conifir wood takes us to Soar, teasingly close to the summit of Garth, but that's not for you yet. A wander down through fields allows you to rejoin the half marathon route, and a second tough climb to your second checkpoint at 11 miles.
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Over the Garth there's a nice and tricky technical downhill to villages of Gwaelod y Garth and from here you'll cross the river to Taffs Well.
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Once onto the Taff Trail high level, you'll again split from the half marathoners. This time skirting the wild Craig Yr Allt mountain to take you towards Caerphilly. Just before the Black Cock pub there is a tricky to spot right turn off the road which leads to a delightful single track wooded section.
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You will rejoin the half route for the second time to run through Castell Coch woods and sculpture trail.
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At the final checkpoint, you will part from the half marathon for the final time to explore the Wenallt Woods. The race takes place at the time of year that the Wenallt has spectacular drifts of bluebells which attract visitors from across Cardiff every spring.
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After a final climb, its back into Castell Coch woods for a nice downhill section before a short run along the Glamorganshire canal, part of the Cambrian Way, and to the finish line.
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The route genuinely has it all; mountain summits, beautiful downhill speed sections, SSSI woods, eerie conifer forests, we could go on and on....but the best way to appreciate it is to run!

Professional event
Live Timing System
Professional first aiders specialising in off-road rescue (CAVRA)
Aid stations with water and snacks
Friendly volunteers
There are changing rooms and showers at the venue.

Every finisher will receive a 'Finisher's medal'. There will be prizes for:
1st, 2nd and 3rd male
1st, 2nd and 3rd female
1st male veteran (over 45)
1st female veteran (over 45)

• Not for profit event
• Eco friendly medals
• Experienced first aiders with offroad vehicles
• Limited field sizes to protect trails
• South Wales's best routes

Date: Saturday 9 May
Marathon race start: 8:00
Registration opens: 6:00 (for both races)
Registration closes: 7:30
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Half marathon race start: 9:00
Registration reopens: 7:45
Registration closes: 8:30
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There will be a kit check at registration – no kit, no entry.

The course will be signed and should not require map reading or navigation skills. However, due to the length of the race, and wishing to keep the ‘exploring’ feel of being in the countryside, runners should expect distances where there may be no signage. Signs will be at junctions and pathway choices.

Despite the best laid plans, some runners may still lose their way. For that reason, people download What 3 Words. This will help us get you back on track ASAP.
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The race contains 2 checkpoints, with water and light refreshments.

CAVRA will also be on hand to to provide medical support. They are a fully trained and experienced search and rescue team.

The course will follow the route of the half marathon for the first three miles, which will be well marked. After this, there will be three circular sections that veer away from and then rejoin the same route as the half. Where the half route is well marked, the marathon sections will be marked at critical junctions.
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There will be a 'road book' maps and brief description for the sections that are not on the half marathon route. There will be an expectation on runners to be able to navigate, partly because despite best efforts, we cannot check the whole route for sign damage on the morning of the race.

There will be compulsory clip markers on the summits of each of the hills, and at pertinent locations to ensure runners travel at least the full marathon distance. A map and gpx file will be provided with the marathon route.
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Be warned, the marathon route is not easy. It is not a route for a 'first marathon'. Last year, the half marathon took runners an additional half an hour to an hour longer than their road race times. That easily means three hours of racing for the half. If you have not completed a three hour race such as a triathalon, then consider the half route. If you do fancy going for broke we will try to support you, even if it is your first try. You have been warned :-) The cut offs are there to ensure that we can check runners medical fitness at appropriate points around the course. We do want runners to achieve thier goals, but we also bear in mind it is meant to be a beautiful day in the country.

The race contains 3 checkpoints, with water and light refreshments.

For the half marathon, cut offs are generous and allow for approximately 2.5 m.p.h pace – which is fast walking. Remember there are some hills, so this is quite a challenge if you are considering walking the whole route.
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Race Start: 9:00
CP1 cut Off: 11:10 (5.35 Miles)
CP2 cut Off: 13:00 (10 Miles)
Race finish: 14:30 (13.6 Miles)
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For the marathon, there will be an overall time limit of 8 hours for the full marathon route. This equates to about 3.25 miles per hour.
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CP1M cut Off: 10:15 (7.5 Miles)
CP2M cut Off: 11:30 (11.5 Miles)
CP3M cut Off: 14:00 (19.5 Miles)
Race finish: 16:00 (26.3 Miles)