2021 Race Report
The long-awaited return to racing, our first event back- The Snowman Triathlon
Over 600 triathletes turned out over this weekend for the 2021 Snowman Triathlon at Plas y Brenin in Capel Curig. The Snowman was the first event back in our long-awaited return, with our remaining 2021 events now following until the end of the year.
Widely believed to be the toughest triathlon in the UK, the Snowman isn’t for the faint hearted. Consisting of a swim in the stunning Llyn Mymbyr, a bike section in the challenging climbs of Snowdonia, and a run up Moel Siabod it’s hard to argue.
After 15 months of no events, the calibre of athletes across the weekend was incredibly high and the racing followed suit.
SATURDAY
Conditions for racing weren’t the best for the start of the day with low clouds just above the tree line on the mountain. Saturday consisted of the shorter races of the weekend with day one of the Savage Race, Sprint Triathlon, Sprint Duathlon, as well as our new Super Sprint Triathlon. The Saturday had the added bonus in the afternoon of the three AquaSphere Snowman Swims of 1000m,2000m and 2.4m, all of which were highly popular this year.
The Sprint race was dominated from start to finish by Ben Goodfellow who took the Snowman Sprint title with a time of 01:34:27, Jonathan Tyler was second in a time of 01:48:57 with Jake Jamieson hot on his heels in 3rd 01:49:13. The Women’s race was a closely fought battle that saw Hannah Dodwell take the honours in a time of 02:06:38, 2nd place was Jen Edwards with a time of 02:07:44 and Lizzie Hartley made up the top 3 with a time of 02:08:49.
Our new Super Sprint Distance was a great addition to the day with Marc Geary taking the top spot in an incredible 00:45:29, the women's race was won by Sarah Roberts of Manchester Triathlon Club with another great time of 00:51:02.
The Sprint Duathlon was a comprehensive win for Alex Bath, taking the win with 01:40:31 a full 25 mins minutes ahead of Michael Waring who took second place 02:05:21, with Caron Rees Jones taking 3rd place (02:06:28) The Women’s duathlon win was taken by Rachel Davies with a time of 02:04:19, with Laurie Michel taking 2nd with a time of 02:31:34
AQUASPHERE SNOWMAN SWIMS
Rounding off Saturday’s action was the AquaSphere Snowman Swim. New for this year we had the 1000M, 2000M and 2.4mile Swim events. Taking the win for the 1000M distance and back for the 2nd
win of the day was Sarah Roberts, who had won the women's Super Sprint Triathlon earlier in the day. Taking the winning position for the 2000M swim was local triathlon coach Rhian Roxburgh, with the 2.4 mile Swim won by Alan Young in an incredible time of 00:50:23.
SUNDAY
A much different start to the day on Sunday with excellent clear conditions, showing off the beauty of Moel Siabod, with the sun coming through early afternoon.
The Legend athletes were the first to go with an early start of 7 am for 3 waves. In the men’s event, the racing was fast and furious with the lead dominated by Richard Andreson of Team KMC. He lead into T1 with John Collier right behind him, John briefly passed Richard on the run but he managed to maintain his lead overall with an incredible time of 05:15:03.
The women's event was a closely called race with the top three all finishing within 13 minutes of each other. Lucy Commander took the overall top spot with a time of 06:22:15, securing her first place with a great run time of 02:22:45.
The standard distance saw Ben Goodfellow 03:18:31 take the top spot for the men after yesterdays win on the sprint distance, ahead of Jack Hindle (03:23:01) in second and Ashley de Lotz (03:38:00) in third. Sarah Harrison 04:18:28 won the women’s race, just 1 minute ahead of Natasha Perks 04:19:41 in second place Sian McGuinness came in third.
The new Standard Duathlon was a great addition to the weekend's event with Jack Smith-Keegin of GOG Triathlon taking the top place with Rob Kennard taking second and Katharine Harris coming in third.
The Savage Distance is a 2 day event that comprises of the Sprint on the Saturday and Standard on Sunday. The women’s race was convincingly won by Emma Jenkins in a combined time of 07:09:04, ahead of Christine Howard in second place. Elizabeth Ferguson completed the podium in third. Ben Goodfellow took top spot in the men’s Savage event with an amazing total time of 04:52:58 well ahead of Andrew Scott second place and Frank Holmes in third.
Always Aim High Director Tim Lloyd had this to say about the weekends racing “what an amazing feeling to be back running our events again, the Snowman is such a great event that just gets better every year. It was also great to be back with our friends at Plas y Brenin, a stunning venue that we love coming back to each year
Our first race back was just as epic as ever with some excellent racing. Conditions varied greatly between the two days with Sunday bringing us some glorious sunshine for the legend and standard athletes.
“We’d like to extend a massive thank you to everyone of our athletes, it has been a tough year and a half for us as a local independent events company and their support throughout the pandemic has been hugely appreciated.
We’d also like to thank Plas y Brenin and the community of Capel Curig for the warmest of welcomes after what has been an incredibly challenging time for so many as well as our event sponsors and partners for their continued support.
Another thank you goes to our local authorities of Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey councils as well as the Welsh Government for their tremendous support during the pandemic and for helping us on our road back to events.
“Lastly, we’d like to thank our world class marshals and volunteers, without whom we the race just wouldn’t be possible”
View full Snowman race results.
View race photography courtesy of Sport Pictures Cymru.
Selected 2021 Snowman Triathlon & Duathlon Results
Super Sprint
Men
Marc Geary 00:45:29
Phil Lynes 00:49:54
Gethin Davies 00:51:12
Women
Sarah Roberts 00:51:02
Kara Bussen 00:59:14
Louise McKee 00:59:17
Sprint
Men
Ben Goodfellow 01:34:27
Jonathan Tyler 01:48:57
Jake Jamieson 01:49:13
Women
Hannah Dodwell 02:06:38
Jen Edwards 02:07:44
Lizzie Hartley 02:08:49
Legend
Men
Richard Anderson 05:15:03
John Collier 05:24:31
Harry Boscawen 05:28:21
Women
Lucy Commander 06:22:15
Nerys Jones 06:27:17
Caroline Higgins 06:35:00
Standard
Men
Ben Goodfellow 03:18:31
Jack Hindle 03:23:01
Ashley de Lotz 03:38:00
Women
Sarah Harrison 04:18:28
Natasha Perks 04:19:41
Sian McGuinness 04:30:46
Savage
Men
Ben Goodfellow 04:52:58
Andrew Scott 05:45:29
Frank Holmes 06:34:12
Women
Emma Jenkins 07:09:04
Christine Howard 07:21:25
Elizabeth Ferguson 07:35:59
Standard Duathlon
Women
Katherine Harris 04:18:34
Sarah Murray 04:48:40
Rebecca Fagg 04:54:15
Men
Jack Smith-Keegan 03:27:09
Rob Kennard 04:17:36
Mark Jefford 04:18:53