Picture this: You leap down from a boulder, your foot races towards a perfectly placed rock, and then BANG!
THREE LESSONS THE DRAGON’S BACK RACE TAUGHT ME
Alexander Novicov
Let’s talk about a 380 km trail run with 17,400 metres of elevation over six days. Let’s add rocky terrain, scrambling, slippery downhills and forests with muddy slopes. You start this journey on Monday 06:00 in Conwy Castle in Wales and you hope to finish in Cardiff Castle on Saturday.
That’s the Dragon’s Back Race.
This year there were 400 souls on the start line at Conwy Castle. When you start, you don’t know what lies ahead and you don’t know if you will finish. Only 124 runners finished the race this year (2024) – which means only 31% of people finished the whole route. It has a very high DNF rate. I’ve been fortunate enough to have finished a few 100 km races, but I have never encountered something of this magnitude.
While doing the race, I learned more about myself in six days than I would have learned in the next six years. Here are 4 insights that hopefully will help you finish Dragons Back Race, the OMM (or any other ultra-race) in one piece.
THERE ARE RACES AND THERE ARE RACES THAT CHANGE YOU AS A HUMAN BEING
1. FOCUS ON PREVENTION NOT SOLUTIONS
Most of the time when we have a problem we start looking for solutions. That’s how the world works, right? But what would happen if we reversed that and look at the problem from a different perspective. If you’re planning on tackling the an ultra yourself, here’s some of the problems I encountered so you can be prepared.
Before running the Dragon’s back I focused solely on two things: doing hill work and doing Crib Gogh.
Living in London makes it harder to do hills every day – not impossible, but a bit harder. So regular visits to Box Hill and Snowdonia became my new routine.
The second issue was Crib Gogh. I’m scared of heights, really scared. My first recce on Crib in July was awful. It was slippery, cold and windy. After it, I decided not to do the Dragon’s Back Race because it was so scary.
After some thought, I convinced myself to do it ONE more time. My strategy was to be very careful where I step, hold on to the stones and move on the left-hand side of the mountain. The other strategy was to not looking down! I highly recommend you recce that section at least once ideally with a friend that has already done it.
WHAT I DIDN’T FOCUS ON IS RUNNING IN BOGS, MUD AND ON BABY GRASS (SMALL WET AND SLIPPERY GRASS THAT GROWS ACROSS WALES).
After this race, I learned that I hate bogs**. I hate muddy terrain and I absolutely hate bogs, did I mention bogs? Wet feet constantly, you can’t get into a rhythm of running.
**Editor’s note: We’ll bring him around to the love of bogs before long.
This is where my two injuries came from. Because I didn’t even think that my legs could get injured from bogs and baby grass I didn’t train for it and I wasn’t mentally prepared.
2. BE GEAR SMART
In a race like this you go up the mountains and the weather there changes constantly, one minute you are hot, the next you are cold. You’re constantly putting your coat on and off, so access to your essential gear is fundamental.
A lot of runners like having their jackets under their running vest, I choose the opposite. I had my OMM Waterproof jacket on top of my running vest which helped me stay dry, keep all my stuff in the vest dry and whenever I felt hot or cold I just put my coat in the back pocket of my running vest without taking the vest off my body. It saved so much time! The jacket is a size bigger than the usual size I take, so it helps me to cover everything.
Always practise everything you are going to do on your long runs, so when race day comes, you don’t have any surprises! This includes nutrition, gear, socks, playlist (download everything on your phone), powerbank and watch battery life. So many runners had their watch battery die and this made it incredibly hard as Dragon’s Back is an unmarked race and a lot of times you end up in the middle of nowhere.
THIS TIME, I DID WAS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT I USUALLY DO.
THIS TIME I USED EMPATHY.
3. KNOW YOURSELF
I learned more about myself in this race because I didn’t expect the amount of pain I can endure. It’s not just physical, it’s mental. I used to be very hard on myself, this comes from a very unhealthy place and caused very low self esteem. But, the Dragon’s Back was different.
When I was in pain, I told myself that it is okay. My partner, Anja, was beyond empathetic to me. When I told her on Day 1 that I want to DNF she sent me the most kind messages and showed me what empathy really means.
My coach suggested finding a running buddy. I ignored his advice because I knew one thing about myself: I prefer running alone. My strength is running uphills and flats. Most people run down hills faster than me and on boggy terrain so running in a group could just takes up more of your mental energy.
Self-awareness is knowing what you are willing to tolerate and how you are willing to challenge yourself.
4.THERE IS NO FINISH LINE
Races are painful, fun and enjoyable. You get the medals, the glory, the dopamine, your friends and family support you. You start as one individual and you finish as a different individual. During every race you learn something about yourself.
EVERY SINGLE FINISH LINE CHANGES YOU AS A HUMAN BEING.
You learn that you can do hard things, you can go through pain, you can cry a bit and then keep on going. You learn things that you wouldn’t have learned in another way. When you run ultra’s you have a lot of time in front of you and you have a lot of time with yourself.
You might have finished Dragon’s Back Race or a local Parkrun but after you cross that literal finish line you will continue and life goes on. I think that races are brilliant ‘tools’ that can help us achieve other goals in our life.
I loved the following paragraph from Austin Kleon who wrote about how there is no finish line in the creative world:
The creative life is not linear. It’s not a straight line from point A to point B. It’s more like a loop, or a spiral, in which you keep coming back to a new starting point after every project. No matter how successful you get, no matter what level of achievement you reach, you will never really “arrive.” Other than death, there is no finish line or retirement for the creative person.
Trail and ultra-running is a beautiful journey that can be a tool for us to improve ourselves and as a by-product of that, others might be inspired to push their boundaries and redefine what crazy means to them.
Let’s talk about a 380 km trail run with 17,400 metres of elevation over six days. Let’s add rocky terrain, scrambling, slippery downhills and forests with muddy slopes. You start this journey on Monday 06:00 in Conwy Castle in Wales and you hope to finish in Cardiff Castle on Saturday.
That’s the Dragon’s Back Race.
This year there were 400 souls on the start line at Conwy Castle. When you start, you don’t know what lies ahead and you don’t know if you will finish. Only 124 runners finished the race this year (2024) – which means only 31% of people finished the whole route. It has a very high DNF rate. I’ve been fortunate enough to have finished a few 100 km races, but I have never encountered something of this magnitude.
While doing the race, I learned more about myself in six days than I would have learned in the next six years. Here are 4 insights that hopefully will help you finish Dragons Back Race, the OMM (or any other ultra-race) in one piece.
THERE ARE RACES AND THERE ARE RACES THAT CHANGE YOU AS A HUMAN BEING
1. FOCUS ON PREVENTION NOT SOLUTIONS
Most of the time when we have a problem we start looking for solutions. That’s how the world works, right? But what would happen if we reversed that and look at the problem from a different perspective. If you’re planning on tackling the an ultra yourself, here’s some of the problems I encountered so you can be prepared.
Before running the Dragon’s back I focused solely on two things: doing hill work and doing Crib Gogh.
Living in London makes it harder to do hills every day – not impossible, but a bit harder. So regular visits to Box Hill and Snowdonia became my new routine.
The second issue was Crib Gogh. I’m scared of heights, really scared. My first recce on Crib in July was awful. It was slippery, cold and windy. After it, I decided not to do the Dragon’s Back Race because it was so scary.
After some thought, I convinced myself to do it ONE more time. My strategy was to be very careful where I step, hold on to the stones and move on the left-hand side of the mountain. The other strategy was to not looking down! I highly recommend you recce that section at least once ideally with a friend that has already done it.
WHAT I DIDN’T FOCUS ON IS RUNNING IN BOGS, MUD AND ON BABY GRASS (SMALL WET AND SLIPPERY GRASS THAT GROWS ACROSS WALES).
After this race, I learned that I hate bogs**. I hate muddy terrain and I absolutely hate bogs, did I mention bogs? Wet feet constantly, you can’t get into a rhythm of running.
**Editor’s note: We’ll bring him around to the love of bogs before long.
This is where my two injuries came from. Because I didn’t even think that my legs could get injured from bogs and baby grass I didn’t train for it and I wasn’t mentally prepared.
2. BE GEAR SMART
In a race like this you go up the mountains and the weather there changes constantly, one minute you are hot, the next you are cold. You’re constantly putting your coat on and off, so access to your essential gear is fundamental.
A lot of runners like having their jackets under their running vest, I choose the opposite. I had my OMM Waterproof jacket on top of my running vest which helped me stay dry, keep all my stuff in the vest dry and whenever I felt hot or cold I just put my coat in the back pocket of my running vest without taking the vest off my body. It saved so much time! The jacket is a size bigger than the usual size I take, so it helps me to cover everything.
Always practise everything you are going to do on your long runs, so when race day comes, you don’t have any surprises! This includes nutrition, gear, socks, playlist (download everything on your phone), powerbank and watch battery life. So many runners had their watch battery die and this made it incredibly hard as Dragon’s Back is an unmarked race and a lot of times you end up in the middle of nowhere.
THIS TIME, I DID WAS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT I USUALLY DO.
THIS TIME I USED EMPATHY.
3. KNOW YOURSELF
I learned more about myself in this race because I didn’t expect the amount of pain I can endure. It’s not just physical, it’s mental. I used to be very hard on myself, this comes from a very unhealthy place and caused very low self esteem. But, the Dragon’s Back was different.
When I was in pain, I told myself that it is okay. My partner, Anja, was beyond empathetic to me. When I told her on Day 1 that I want to DNF she sent me the most kind messages and showed me what empathy really means.
My coach suggested finding a running buddy. I ignored his advice because I knew one thing about myself: I prefer running alone. My strength is running uphills and flats. Most people run down hills faster than me and on boggy terrain so running in a group could just takes up more of your mental energy.
Self-awareness is knowing what you are willing to tolerate and how you are willing to challenge yourself.
4.THERE IS NO FINISH LINE
Races are painful, fun and enjoyable. You get the medals, the glory, the dopamine, your friends and family support you. You start as one individual and you finish as a different individual. During every race you learn something about yourself.
EVERY SINGLE FINISH LINE CHANGES YOU AS A HUMAN BEING.
You learn that you can do hard things, you can go through pain, you can cry a bit and then keep on going. You learn things that you wouldn’t have learned in another way. When you run ultra’s you have a lot of time in front of you and you have a lot of time with yourself.
You might have finished Dragon’s Back Race or a local Parkrun but after you cross that literal finish line you will continue and life goes on. I think that races are brilliant ‘tools’ that can help us achieve other goals in our life.
I loved the following paragraph from Austin Kleon who wrote about how there is no finish line in the creative world:
The creative life is not linear. It’s not a straight line from point A to point B. It’s more like a loop, or a spiral, in which you keep coming back to a new starting point after every project. No matter how successful you get, no matter what level of achievement you reach, you will never really “arrive.” Other than death, there is no finish line or retirement for the creative person.
Trail and ultra-running is a beautiful journey that can be a tool for us to improve ourselves and as a by-product of that, others might be inspired to push their boundaries and redefine what crazy means to them.
Alexander Novicov loves challenging himself by staying curious, learning new ways how we can explore our potential so we can make the biggest possible impact.
He is a trail runner, skydiver, brand storyteller and author. He lives in London with his beautiful dog Chanel.
Alexander Novicov loves challenging himself by staying curious, learning new ways how we can explore our potential so we can make the biggest possible impact.
He is a trail runner, skydiver, brand storyteller and author. He lives in London with his beautiful dog Chanel.
If you have a story to tell, whether it’s from the OMM, another race or challenge or just how you use our kit, get in touch! Just pop an email to james@team-ark.com and who knows, you might just earn yourself some free kit!
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