The Fan Dance
The first time I ever heard of The Fan Dance was whilst I was watching one of the early episodes of 'SAS Who Dares Wins'.
The Fan Dance is part of the SAS selection process, the route involves going up and over Pen Y Fan, twice. The total mileage is about 15 miles and during the selection, candidates must complete it in 4 hours and 10 minutes, all whilst carrying weighted packs. It is designed to test if candidates have the physical and mental aptitude to complete selection.
It was during the dark days of lockdown that I came across a company who ran this test for "civilians" to try. You could either sign up for the full weighted version (like in selection), or a "clean fatigue" version which was designed for runners.
Having spent a lot of time in the mountains with a weighted pack, and really wanting to test my mountain running, I opted for the clean fatigue version.
The original date for this race was January 2021, due to COVID restrictions it wasn't until March 2022 that I finally found myself stood at the iconic red phone box for the start.
It was typically Welsh weather with wind and rain in abundance. As a clean fatigue runner, we were able to set off ahead of the full weight competitors.
The first climb took us up Corn Du with all the wind and rain to go with it. The climb itself was manageable with some sections that required some power hiking. A bit of a nav error saw myself and another take a wrong turn here, but we soon rectified this and got back on the correct path to Pen Y Fan. Just goes to show how tricky nav can be when moving in the mountains whilst in clag.
The Summit of Pen Y Fan was reached, but no time to stop and definitely no views. Now it was time to get down and get to the turn around point.
After Pen Y Fan, we followed the Beacons Way to around Cribyn then took a sharp right at Bwlch ar y Fan (yes that is correct, check OS Maps). This was a gradual decent which was good to run and led us to the half way point at Torpantau Station.
Knowing what the climb back up was like, I spent a couple of minutes taking some layers off and headed back up.
The climb back up was punishing. Even though I'd just ran down this it was energy sapping on the return leg. The positive was that the weather had improved slightly. Some of the views over Upper Neaudd Reservoir were stunning.
The Brecon Beacons isn't a place I've visited very often and I'd definitely like to head back and do some exploring.
Rejoining the Beacons Way, the route took us back up Pen Y Fan via the infamous Jaccobs Ladder. This is the last section of the climb up and you are reduced to a plod. The gradient is horrible and you are relieved when it's over.
The return leg takes you around Cribyn's summit and then it's straight down to the finish.
The decent down to the finish is around two kilometres of downhill on a packed trail path. Great for running on, just watch out for people climbing up and the drainage channels. I love downhill running and this section was great after the climb up.
All that was left was a quick dash across a bridge and into the finish.
Finishing time was 2 hours and 45 minutes along with a 5th place finish.