Black Beacon Ultra Bach
- Total distance: 50 km
- Location: Pontneddfechan
- Race Date: 30 Oct 2026
- Finish rate: 94%
- Entry Cost: £60
- Nearest Station: Treherbert (10.3 km)
- Night Running: 12.4% in darkness
- Pacing Complexity: High (64/100)
Black Beacon Ultra Bach
- Distance
- 50 km
- Total ascent
- 1,915 m
- Cut-off
- 14h
- Town/Village
- Pontneddfechan
- Date
- 30 October to 1 November 2026
- Entry cost
- £60
Overview
No overview text has been written for this race yet.
Quick Facts
- Entrance Cost: £60
- Organiser: Run Walk Crawl
- Start Town: Pontneddfechan
- Dogs Allowed: Unknown
- Start Date: 30 Oct 2026
- End Date: 1 Nov 2026
- Start Time: 9:00 AM
- Final Cut-off: 14h
Navigation
- Type: Unknown
- Closest Train Station: Treherbert
- Distance from Start Line: 10.3 km
Eligibility
- Minimum Age: 18 years
- Gender Eligibility: All genders
- Minimum Entry Criteria: Unknown
Toilets
- Hand Washing Beyond Sanitiser: Unknown
- Period Products Provided: Unknown
- Female Only Toilets: Unknown
Family & Spectators
- Baby Changing at Start: Unknown
- Family Friendly Spectator Areas: Unknown
- Flexible Deferral or Cancellation: Unknown
Safety
- Marshalls at Isolated Areas: Unknown
- Safeguarding and Reporting Policy: Unknown
- Can Hide Location from Public Tracking: Unknown
Terrain & Elevation
The course is mainly trail (61%), with paved road (14%) making up most of the rest. The terrain is highly fragmented, switching roughly every kilometre. This demands constant mental engagement and limits the ability to build a sustained rhythm from surface consistency alone. The longest unbroken stretch is 10.7 km of trail. Climbs are mostly on trail, though the surface varies across the ascents. Descents share the same trail surface, so careful footing on the uphills also carries through on the way down.
Black Beacon Ultra Bach has 27.4 km of trail / path, this is in the top 35% of all our races.
- Trail / Path61% · 27.4 km
- Paved Road14% · 6.7 km
- Gravel / Track12% · 5.2 km
- Grass11% · 4.9 km
- Off-road / Unknown2% · 0.7 km
Distance
47.4 km
Ascent
1915 m
Descent
1922 m
High Point
782 m
Compared against 26 other races of a similar distance, Black Beacon Ultra Bach has more total elevation gain than 88% of them, and more elevation gain per kilometre than 88% of them — significantly hillier than typical for its distance.
Source: GPX Data
Gradient
7.46%
Average climb gradient
Do you have experience of moderate climbs like Black Beacon Ultra Bach's, which average 7.46%?
Black Beacon Ultra Bach's climbs average 7.46%. If your training never rehearses sustained climbing at that gradient, race day will be the first time your legs meet it.
7.03%
Average descent gradient
Do you have experience of moderate descents like Black Beacon Ultra Bach's, which average 7.03%?
Black Beacon Ultra Bach's descents average 7.03%. If your training never rehearses sustained descending at that gradient, the downhills will empty your quads long before the finish.
Source: GPX Data
Climate
Pacing Complexity
Black Beacon Ultra Bach scores 64/100 for pacing complexity, rated high.
Similar-distance races score a median of 54/100 (5 races compared).
Black Beacon Ultra Bach is among the more pacing-complex races at this distance. The challenge is not just the total distance or ascent — it is the repeated need to change effort level. A fixed pace target is unlikely to work here. The dominant source of complexity is terrain type changes, which means preparation should include training runs that deliberately mix different intensities in sequence.
Source: GPX Data
Aid Stations
No aid station data available for this race yet.
Night Running
Black Beacon Ultra Bach starts at 09:00 local time, with sunset around 16:50. Based on the median finisher time of 8:56:24, a runner at that pace would finish around 17:56 — after dark, spending around 1h 06m (12% of their race) running in darkness and covering roughly 6.8 km of the course after sunset.
Shaded stretches are expected to be run in the dark
Are you ready for Black Beacon Ultra Bach?
Compare it to a race you've already run, or connect Strava and see the three biggest gaps between your training and what this course will ask of you.
