CHASING THE DRAGON

WHY DO WE set ourselves challenges? A challenge invites us to imagine a version of ourselves that’s tougher, stronger, braver than the one we currently inhabit, and then forces us to grapple with discomfort, self-doubt and the temptation to give up on that vision. When we take on a challenge, we allow it to become the organising centre of life for the months leading up to it, aware of the risk we take in pinning our present efforts to a future point. The stakes can be high, the reward huge.

It’s hard to imagine a greater challenge than the Montane Dragon’s Back Race. It runs from north to south along the spine of Wales, taking in over its six days a distance of 380km (236 miles), plus 17,400m (57,086 feet) of ascent. Much of it is off-path and requires total fluency in a vast array of terrains: from