Cymoedd Sir Fynwy was born from the union of two South Wales 100 routes; the 2014 Valleys 100 and the 2020 hundred that never was, Y 100 Sir Fynwy.
Our land is lumpy and we always knew that the route that we put together would be challenging, and so it proved to be.

A small organising committee was put together 12 months in advance of the event and comprised of Andrew Clabon, Enrique Santafe, Ferne Davies, Jamie Lewis, Rob Richardson and myself, David Morgan.

In order to link both 100-mile routes we designed Cymoedd so that we used Abergavenny as our Walk HQ and at the heart of a figure of eight route. It was clearly a difficult decision for many entrants to leave Abergavenny and start loop 2 having completed 30 tough miles in the Black Mountains on loop 1. The vast majority of our retirees retired on return to Abergavenny.

Due to an incident that had taken place on Taith Torfaen in 2016 when we had lost an entrant for some considerable time, a decision was taken to use trackers so that we could see where the entrants were at any given time. And this proved useful as Control saw a number of entrants going astray, particularly on the nighttime loop. A quick telephone call from Control to the entrants and we soon had them back on track.

I was very thankful that South Wales LDWA Group has a large number of volunteers who were all keen to participate as volunteer marshals for the event. In addition, Bristol & West LDWA Group very kindly offered to run checkpoint 2 for us at Longtown and we were very grateful for their wonderful assistance. We’re proud of the welcome that we give our entrants and this is down to the wonderful camaraderie that is to be found here in South Wales. We know from the many comments that we have received that entrants enjoyed the welcome at each and every checkpoint that they entered.

We are also grateful to the Whistle Inn who provided their campsite to us on the basis that we donated a sum of money to them to be donated to a charity of their choice.

Congratulations to all entrants who successfully complete their distance of choice. They had to dig in to complete this event and we loved seeing people achieve their personal goals. Commiserations to the entrants who were not able to complete their chosen route this year. If Cymoedd is run again (and we’re very hopeful that it will be) then people will have an opportunity to succeed in the future.

The volunteers who marshalled Cymoedd Sir Fynwy were:

Results

The results can be viewed here as a PDF document

Feedback from some of the entrants 

Huge thanks to South Wales LDWA for a cracking event today. As always, welcoming, well organised and some great scenery & some challenging climbs. Good to see some friendly faces! Thank you to the other volunteers who made it run so smoothly! Bristol & West LDWA – great food; much appreciated. We were planning on the 50m originally but decided 30m was completely sufficient today. Blessed with good weather – we had a great day.
Fantastic fish finger sandwiches as well. Great day out and one day my legs will agree.

Thanks South Wales LDWA and especially all the wonderful volunteers – excellent event yesterday! You also planned the weather well!

Thanks to all involved devising and supporting the route and all the checkpoint helpers who looked after us so well. I had signed up for the 50 but decided to quit at 30. Beautiful route with some amazing views but some tough ups and a very unkind mud filled sunken path on the return into Abergavenny! Kudos to those finishing the 50!

Loved my time in the valley of Monmouthshire. Thank you for putting such a special event, ran my little heart out and smiled all the way. The stew at the end was a dreeeeam.

A brilliant event- thanks to all the supporters (and the weather). Can just about walk today!

Thanks to everyone who made this a success. great day out, good and hilly. Hats off to all who went out on the second loop. It must have been hard to leave the nice warm hall with the hot soup and homemade cake.

Many thanks to David Morgan and the wonderful South Wales LDWA for the Cymoedd Sir Fynwy 50. The scenery was stunning, the hills huge (10,000 ft of ascent in total!), the hospitality, food, overall organization first class! Certainly a challenge but one I’m very proud to have completed.

Very well organised by a super group South Wales LDWA. Thanks for the views they will live long in the memory, can’t say the same about the steep climbs and mud.

I just wanted to say a big thank you for yesterday.  It was such a well organised and friendly event.  The catering and welcome at each rest stop puts many significantly more expensive events to shame!  As a solo female walker having decent rest stops where you are looked after (and have access to proper toilets) makes a huge difference. You are so lucky to have such amazing scenery on your doorstep and the route really show cases the highlights.  I am already working out when I can bring the family!
I hope you are getting a well-earned rest once the clearing up is complete.

Thanks for putting on such a great event. You said it’d be hard, and it was!
Thanks to all the organisers and marshals, with special mention to the kitchen team who made lovely cake and tea (as always!)

A huge thank you to south Wales LDWA for a fantastic event this weekend – Cymoedd Sir Fynwy 50. Relentlessly tough, but amazing scenery and a wonderful welcome from all the South Wales team. You couldn’t have done more for us. The checkpoint teams, the food & the marshals did you proud.
Weather was perfect. Thank You!

Superb event, thoroughly enjoyed and many thanks to all in South Wales LDWA for showcasing such a special area.

A big thank you to South Wales LDWA for organising a glorious 50 miles of challenging ascents and stunning scenery. And big shout out to the kind people who let me join them for the final 6ish miles of the 50.

Attempted the fantastic walk hosted by South Wales. I managed loop 1 and started loop 2 but struggled and called it quits. Everyone who entered had a fantastic day and loved it. Little disappointed but hope South Wales put it on. Again and you all are a credit to the ldwa.

I just wanted to express our thanks to South Wales ldwa for organising such a great event last weekend.
It may well be the toughest ldwa we’ve both ever done – it had the feel of a hundred miler in both the effort and time taken. A real adventure in South Wales!
Please pass on our gratitude to all the volunteers , the checkpoints were excellent and the food was great. A special mention maybe to those at the 1st checkpoint (campsite) on the 20 mile loop in the gazebo – who had to soldier on in some cold and difficult weather and probably had to help their fair share of struggling walkers.
We both feel much better prepared for the speyside 100 having done this event.