THE Sirona 100 takes place on the wonderful Wales Coast Path, a 100 mile route from Barmouth to Mwnt.

A beautiful journey but when you only have 50 hrs to complete it during a few of the hottest days of the year it becomes an incredible challenge.

That did not deter Aberystwyth Athletic Club’s Dan Back who managed to complete the 100 mile course in 39 hours and 3 minutes finishing in 21st place overall.

The size of the challenge is clear – of the 100 runners who started, only 46 managed to finish.

A very tired Dan Back said: “I was looking forward to this as an opportunity to see the fantastic views on the coast path with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other.

“But if I’m honest the heat made this a very challenging experience.

“As we were starting at 6am I tried to cover as much distance as possible before it got too hot but from around 10am onwards it was very tough going.

“I managed to make it to Aber by around midnight and had a few hours sleep before making an early start again to try and avoid the worst of the heat.

“I was so happy to see the finish line later that day.

“Members of Aber AC were fantastic in their support with many joining me in various parts of the race which helped me enormously.

“A great event though in a wonderful location.”

Moving slightly further afield, to Corsica, and another of Aber’s ultra athletes, Balázs Pintér, took part in the Restonica Trail, a 110km long loop with 7,200m elevation and he completed the event in a time of 36.51.25.

Another great challenge according to Balázs: “We started in the dark at 11pm with a 7km long uphill, where we climbed up from 400 to 1,700m altitude, and we had to complete the anti-clockwise loop in the island and get back to the town by 11 pm Saturday.

“The combination of the very technical terrain of that part of Corsica and the Mediterranean summer there made it a new experience for me.

“I was drinking continuously and, during the day, kept my Sahara hat wet.

It helped a lot that the streams and waterfalls are safe to drink everywhere in Corsica and at each food station, I ate countless slices of melon.

“This was probably my slowest trail run but also one of my best adventures.”

If you would like to hear more about Aberystwyth Athletic Club and join in its activities visit aberystwythac.wordpress.com or find the club on Facebook.