PIGUM by Pegasus 2027

The PIGUM 30 is a single looped route from Abergavenny Castle, across the River Usk (a bridge is provided), past the start of the Llanfoist parkrun (you don't need your barcode today) and up the Llanfoist Inclines, past the Punchbowl pond and onto Blorenge (561m), a big chunky mountain that is often ignored for its more famous neighbours. The rocky trail here is very runnable - if the seemingly perpetual headwind allows you - and we'll soon pass Keepers Pond and descend a short road section to Gilwern Hill, past sandstone quarries which form part of the Blaen Pig 19th Century industrial landscape, slowly being reclaimed by nature.

From CP1 the route takes you onto the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. Don't follow the canal for too long, that's a different race, the MBCR40 organised by our friends at the Canal Race CIC! Instead we will head east along the River Clydoch until we cross the Heads of the Valley Road and visit the Lonely Shepherd, a standing stone with commanding views of Clydach Gorge and the Vale of Usk. At Fell's Swoop the route descends down the valley down a old industrial incline, testing our ankles. Take it steady, there's all the time in the world.

Through the village of Llangattock and across the River Usk (again, a bridge is provided, we spoil you) and there is potential respite in Crickhowell, with shops and nice loos. Many a Pegasus runner and their supporters have been spotted in a pub during the PIGUM. Just don't tarry too long! Another climb awaits us, this time to Crug Hywel (451m) or Table Mountain, an Iron Age hillfort with commanding views over the Usk and visited by the Beacons Way. The route then heads down past Perth y Pia into the Vale of Grwyney and through the village of Llanbedr.

Soon it will be time to wend our way up Sugar Loaf (596m), the highlight of the race. Known in Welsh as Mynydd Pen-y-Fâl (mountain top of the peak), it is the southernmost peak of the Black Mountains, with a cinematic panorama that includes Blorenge and the Bristol Channel to the south; Skirrid, the Forest of Dean and the Cotswolds to the east; Pen y Fan and Corn Du to the west; and the rolling ridges of the Black Mountains to the north. Sugar Loaf's distinctive shape leads many people to wrongly suspect it is an extinct volcano. We'll be glad that there's no lava chasing us down the slopes into Abergavenny, through the busy streets where shoppers and coffee drinkers will cheer us to the finish line at Abergavenny Castle. We don't have to run up the battlements to finish the race... but we do if we want a medal!

With 6,260 feet of elevation, the terrain is mixed, including trail, grass, mud, rock and a smattering of tarmac so appropriate footwear is required.

🏛️ Abergavenny, the Gateway to Wales was originally a Roman settlement called Gobannium.

🏗️ Llanfoist Inclines are the historic industrial remains of a three-stage self-acting inclined plane system that once lowered limestone and iron wagons nearly 235 meters to Llanfoist Wharf on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal.

🏊 Keepers Pond, or Pen-Ffordd-Goch is ordinarily a popular spot for wild swimming but in 2026 drought and extraction of its water to fight wild fires brought levels to an all time low.

🗿 Legend has it that the Lonely Shepherd was once a man who was so cruel to his wife she drowned herself in the River Usk. For his sins he was turned into stone, but at midnight on Midsummer's Eve he comes back to life and walks along the river, calling his wife's name. We have little sympathy.

🏔️ Crug Hywel or Table Mountain is formed from an outcrop of old red standstone topped with quartz.

🌳 Llanbedr was historically known as Llanbedr Ystrad Yw, referring to the huge ancient yew tree that stands in the grounds of St Peters Church. The yew has been dated as 3,000 years old, making it as old as the Fortingall Yew in Scotland, the Defynnog Yew in Wales and the Crowhurst Yew in Surrey - therefore one of the oldest trees in Britain.

📖 JRR Tolkien was inspired by Sugar Loaf after visiting the area. Keep your eye open for Erebor, the Lonely Mountain where the dragon Smaug guards his hoard!

🗳️ Sugar Loaf was gifted to the National Trust by suffragette lady Rhondda.

🏰 Abergavenny Castle was built in 1087 soon after the Norman conquest of Wales. The site of a massacre in 1175 and attacked in the Glyndwr Uprising in the 15th Century, it is said to have "been oftner stain'd with the infamy of treachery, than any other castle in Wales."