Man vs. Horse Marathon
🏃♂️ 42 km
🌍 INT
The event began in June 1980 following a chat over a pint (or three) in the back bar of the Neuadd Arms Hotel.
The then Landlord, Gordon Green, overheard two men discussing the relative merits of men and horses running over mountainous terrain. The enterprising Gordon, never one to miss an opportunity to promote Llanwrtyd Wells and improve business at his hotel, decided to put it to the test. And so began Green Events and its first, longest standing and now internationally acclaimed event, Man v Horse.
The course was changed in 1982 to provide a more even match between the man and the horse, resulting year on year in very close finishes - sometimes with the horse winning by only a few seconds. It took 25 years before a runner finally beat all the horses - in 2004 Huw Lobb won in 2hrs and 5mins, beating the fastest horse by 2 minutes.
The event has a duration of 6½ hours, and we will be enforcing cut-off times of 3 hrs for horses at the mid-way vet check, and 4½ hrs for runners at the second relay changeover point which is approximately 14 miles into the course. The event is not a leisure event and it is unfair to ask our volunteer marshals to wait around out on the course for people who are walking the course.
The then Landlord, Gordon Green, overheard two men discussing the relative merits of men and horses running over mountainous terrain. The enterprising Gordon, never one to miss an opportunity to promote Llanwrtyd Wells and improve business at his hotel, decided to put it to the test. And so began Green Events and its first, longest standing and now internationally acclaimed event, Man v Horse.
The course was changed in 1982 to provide a more even match between the man and the horse, resulting year on year in very close finishes - sometimes with the horse winning by only a few seconds. It took 25 years before a runner finally beat all the horses - in 2004 Huw Lobb won in 2hrs and 5mins, beating the fastest horse by 2 minutes.
The event has a duration of 6½ hours, and we will be enforcing cut-off times of 3 hrs for horses at the mid-way vet check, and 4½ hrs for runners at the second relay changeover point which is approximately 14 miles into the course. The event is not a leisure event and it is unfair to ask our volunteer marshals to wait around out on the course for people who are walking the course.