Mountain Racing: Snowdon's up-and-down struggle: Weather ensured some runners were more steamed up than the scenic locomotive but competition was still fierce. Rob Howard reports

TOURISTS taking the Snowdon mountain railway may have thought their hour-long journey was the quickest way to the summit. But as the engine steamed steadily towards the top, runners in the National Grid Snowdon Mountain Race ran past them, the winners completing the 10- mile return trip from Llanberis to the top and back down in little over the hour.

The only international mountain race in the British calendar was started by Ken Jones, a local walker and mountaineer, in 1976 with 87 runners. 'It was a success from the outset,' he said. 'Then the Italians heard about it and came over and following the European example we set up an international race in 1980, when an Italian won for the first time. Now we have to limit entries to 500 and turn hundreds more away. We have runners from Scotland and Portsmouth and this year a Czech and a Slovakian team have driven overland to compete.'

Conditions on Saturday ensured the record of 1hr 02min 29sec, set in 1985, would not be threatened. With temperatures in the eighties and a light headwind on the climb, Robin Bergstrand of England B, and Robin Bryson, the Irish international, led the way to the summit taking just 41min 20sec for the five-mile, 3,200-foot high climb. However, the leaders at the top rarely win and Fabio Ciaponi, the race favourite, made the fastest descent, winning in 1:04:44.

Afterwards he said: 'To win was a lifetime's ambition. This race is famous in Italy and I ran here first as a junior in 1980 and was second in 1986.' With England A and B coming first and second in the team competition, their prospects for the IAAF mountain racing world cup, to be held in Germany on 3 September, looked good but Ciaponi added, 'I'm not the fastest in the Italian team. I was selected as third best.' Italy have never lost a world cup and their dominance seems set to continue.

For the hundreds of club runners, the race is not about international honours but personal commitment and a classic challenge. For the watching walkers and tourists, it is an astonishing sight as the runners often bent double with effort race up the path then turn for a descent which requires even more courage and daring. The leaders were taking eight-foot strides down the rough and rocky path completing the five-mile descent as fast as 23 minutes. For most, the heat and the pace were quite literally blistering and three runners were evacuated by helicopter from the summit with heat exhaustion.

Among those who did come down again but more slowly were Peter Coleman from the Vauxhall Motors club and Ron Gawler from the Invicta club in Kent, both of them completing their 19th race. Gawler, 70, won the national grid trophy for personal achievement for his time of 2:16:58 and of his training said: 'Every day I run 12 miles from my home in Canterbury for a swim in the sea. It keeps me fit and I hope I'll be here next year for my 20th Snowdon race.'

(Photograph omitted)