Let’s make one thing clear straight away. Yes, ultra runner and 202 HOKA Val d'Aran by UTMB winner Luke Grenfell-Shaw does race a train up Yr Wyddfa (née Snowdon) in this fun video but it’s definitely not the express engine in the publicity photo.
It’s a rather more sedate steam engine that chuffs up and down Wales' tallest mountain full of tourists on the Rheilffordd yr Wyddfa (Snowdon Mountain Railway). But hey, it still shifts way faster than most people who climb the mountain by foot, and let’s not forget – IT’S GOING UP A MOUNTAIN in Snowdonia.
This vid is actually a follow-up to “Man Vs Boat” from the same team earlier this year (which we’ve also embedded at the bottom of this article for good measure. That featured Grenfell-Shaw running along the shore of Ullswater in England’s Lake District trying to beat one the lake’s tourist steam boats to the finish line (which was a bit unfair as the boat had less of a distance to go).
Grenfell-Shaw lost that race (FIX!). What would happen this time? You’ll have to watch the video to find out.
The route Grenfell-Shaw took is the Llanberis Path, which, to be honest, if you are going to climb Snowdon on foot, is the least interesting ascent, but it does follow the railway track, so it was pretty much the only choice for this challenge. More hardy hikers tend to opt for the Miners Track or the Pyg Track
Grenfell-Shaw is a SportsShoes x Brooks athlete, so there is some product placement as he swaps shoes at one point in the challenge – but he’s an old hand as transitioning, he says. He kicks off in a pair of Brooks Hyperion 2 running shoes for the fast, opening section, before switching to the race-ready Brooks Catamount Agil trail running shoes as he hits the trail.
Meanwhile, his mate takes the train. And you get to watch.
So what next? Man versus hot air balloon?
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