What is Castles?
Welsh Castles Relay is a 2 day, 20 stage, 211 mile staggered relay race, held mostly on road but with many hills and mountains on route from Caernarfon to Cardiff with an overnight stay in Newtown. It is organised by Les Croupiers Running Club Cardiff. Date of the next Welsh Castles Relay is 10-11 June 2023. Teams compete in one of four categories – Open, Ladies, Vets and Business House. Races within races are also a key feature as individuals try to bag individual stage wins and teams battle it out for both the overall category awards and the special mountain stage prizes. There are six mountain stages in all and three team mountain stages prizes: the Kings (Open), Queens (Ladies) and Monarchs (Vets). As well as running in some fantastic scenery, it's great fun! Our history at Castles can be seen here.
Who's Running?
| Stage No | From | To | Distance | Detail | Runner |
| 1 | Caernarfon Castle | Penygroes | 9.1 | Flat, rises a little 2nd half | Ellie Wood |
| 2 | Penygroes | Criccieth Castle | 10.7 | mainly flat | Craig Tindal |
| 3 | Criccieth Castle | Maentwrog | 12.3 | Mountain Stage (lump at th | Chris Simons |
| 4 | Maentwrog | Harlech Castle | 9.5 | Flat | Alice Sullivan |
| 5 | Harlech Castle | Barmouth | 9.6 | Lumpy at begining | Chris Montenegro |
| 6 | Barmouth | Dolgellau | 9.1 | Flat | Mike Prasad |
| 7 | Dolgellau | Dinas Mawddwy | 10.1 | Mountain Stage (nasty) | Martin Bennett |
| 8 | Dinas Mawddwy | Foel | 10.8 | Very tough (worthy of mnt st | Gareth Parry |
| 9 | Foel | Llanfair Caereinion | 8.6 | Mainly Flat | Diane Ridgeway |
| 10 | Llanfair Caereinion | Newtown | 13.3 | Mountain Stage | Nigel Evans |
| 11 | Newtown | Llanbadarn Fynydd | 12.3 | Mountain Stage (nasty) | Rhys Doyle |
| 12 | Llanbadarn Fynydd | Crossgates | 11.2 | Flat-ish | Dewi West |
| 13 | Crossgates | Builth Wells | 10.6 | Up n Down | Ross Gribble |
| 14 | Builth Wells | Drovers Arms | 11 | Mountain Stage (very nasty) | Si Vaughan |
| 15 | Epynt Visitor Centre | Brecon | 12.8 | Little lumpy but mainly down | Paul McNeill |
| 16 | Brecon Canal Basin | Torpantau | 12.5 | Mountain Stage (not too ste | Lee Morris |
| 17 | Taf Fechan Railway Station, Torpantau | Cyfarthfa Castle | 8.7 | Flat-ish, mainly down | Dean Webster |
| 18 | Merthyr (Rhyd-y-Car) | Abercynon (Navig Park) | 9.1 | Flat-ish | John Sanderson |
| 19 | Abercynon (Nav Park) | Nantgarw (Taff Trail) | 7.7 | Flat | Charlie James |
| 20 | Caerphilly Castle | Cardiff Castle | 10.7 | Flat-ish | Linda Rees |