I am running the Marathon Eryri - Snowdon Marathon in memory of my Mum who sadly passed away in June this year.

As a family we had many happy family holidays in and around Llanberis and Snowdon and often stayed in a holiday cottage on the opposite side of the valley to Llanberis village which lies in the shadow of the mighty Snowdon itself.

We as a family will soon be scattering my Mum's ashes on the mountainside looking out toward the holiday cottage, Llanberis and Snowdon itself as my Mum requested. The mountainside itself is in the background of the picture on this page that shows the Mountain Rescue Team.

To this day I still have not been to the summit of Snowdon but I am looking at rectifying that next year in another fundraiser, but for the time being I will be running 26.2 tough miles circumnavigating the base of Snowdon and it's surrounding hills and mountains. The marathon route has an elevation of 1800+ ft! i.e. I have to run up over 1800ft of climb. It makes London Marathon look like a day trip.

The run route itself starts in Llanberis and then takes a long 3 mile uphill climb up to the top of the valley at Pen y Pas and the YHA hostel. It then goes through the lovely scenic Beddgellert at the half marathon mark and then takes a turn up the next valley with another climb for a mile or so before slowly winding along the valley to Waunfawr village and another turn and a horrible climb at 20-21 miles up and over the mountainside adjacent to Snowdon. 

At this point you can look down into the valley towards Llanberis or look along the valley to Snowdon, but most importantly for me I can see the mountainside opposite where the holiday cottage is. This brings the fondest and happiest memories back for me.

The route then drops rapidly and steeply back down to Llanberis itself and it's High Street for a spectacular well supported finish among the locals and fellow supporting runners, friends and families.

I have done this marathon before, and every year it is extremely tough, especially as I am usually carrying an injury from the years running events. This may well be my last marathon and I think it is fitting that it is at Snowdon and Llanberis.

I am fundraising for the local Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team as a payback and thank you for all the work they do looking after the tens of thousands of visitors that Snowdon itself gets every year, year in year out. 

The team of volunteers give up their time to protect and save life's and put their own at risk in doing so, a truly thankless task at times as people often put themselves in unwarranted danger by going out totally unprepared and often in completely inappropriate clothing and shoes.

People sadly often go out with their mobile phone and Google Maps thinking that is enough to navigate the beast that is Mount Snowdon and often find themselves lost with no idea where they are. It is down to the Mountain Rescue Team to then spend hours on end trying to find them just to return them safely back to their cars back in the car park. All this is done for free and at no charge to the people who use them.

The Mountain Rescue Team need £30,000 a year just to stay fully operational and that money all comes from public donations, so please donate and support if you can and help save life's.

Thank you,

Les Jackson.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.