The Nos Galan road race is an annual five-kilometre (3.1 mi) road running event, held on Nos Galan (Welsh : Nos Galan), New Year's Eve, in Mountain Ash, in the Cynon Valley of South Wales.
The Nos Galan road race is an annual five-kilometre (3.1 mi) road running event, held on Nos Galan (Welsh : Nos Galan), New Year's Eve, in Mountain Ash, in the Cynon Valley of South Wales.
The Nos Galan race celebrates the life and achievements of Welsh runner Guto Nyth Brân. Founded in 1958 by local runner Bernard Baldwin, it is run over the 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) route of Bran's first competitive race.
At its height covered by the BBC nationally as part of its New Year's Eve celebrations, [1] the races were halted in 1973 due to concerns expressed by the Glamorgan Police regarding the undue delay to traffic. [1] The Nos Galan race was resurrected in 1984, when a reduced field of 14 runners ran a 1 mile (1.6 km) race. The race also broke with tradition, with three mystery runners, representing the present, past and future of athletics, carried the Nos Galan Torch. [1]
It still attracts runners from all over Great Britain. The 2009 race attracted over 800 runners, and 10,000 people into Mountain Ash for the associated entertainment. [2] In 2023, after two years of virtual races, the number of runners had grown to 1,925 participants. [3]
A virtual race was held in 2020.
The main race starts with a church service at Llanwynno, and then a wreath is laid on the grave of Guto Nyth Brân in Llanwynno graveyard. After lighting a torch, it is carried to the nearby town of Mountain Ash, where the main race takes place. The format of the race has changed several times over its history. The current race consists of three circuits of the town centre, starting in Henry Street and ending in Oxford Street, by the commemorative statue of Guto.
Traditionally, the race was timed to end at midnight. [1] But in recent times it was rescheduled for the convenience of family entertainment, now concluding at around 21:00. [3]
Rescheduling has resulted in a regrowth in size and scale, and now starts with an afternoon of street entertainment, and fun run races for children, concluding with the church service, elite runners race and presentations. [4]
The race is started and run by a mystery runner, normally a running or local sporting celebrity. The mystery runner lays the wreath: [1] [5]
Pontypridd is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Rhondda Cynon Taf is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and villages away from the valleys.
Cynon Valley is a former coal mining valley in Wales. It lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash in the south. From 1974 to 1996, Cynon Valley was a local government district.
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Griffith Morgan (1700–1737), better known as Guto Nyth Brân, was an athlete. Many of Guto's running feats have since become merged with legend, and were disseminated by poets and authors such as I. D. Hooson, who wrote the ballad Guto Nyth Brân. Much of what is known of Guto was recorded by William Thomas (Glanffrwd) in his 1888 book Plwy Llanwynno.
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Pontypridd High School is an English-medium comprehensive school in the village of Cilfynydd near Pontypridd, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Ynysboeth is a suburban area in the community of Abercynon, in the Cynon Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, South East Wales.
Athletics has a long history in Wales, with many events recognised today codified during the Victorian period. The first amateur athletic clubs in Wales were formed in the 1870s, while the first championships began in the early 20th century. Wales began competing as a country in international athletic events in the 1920s and has since produced a notable number of world class sportspeople including many medal winning Commonwealth, World, Olympic, Paralympic and European champions. Wales competes in the Commonwealth Games under its own flag but at the Olympic Games, Welsh athletes compete alongside those of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland as part of a Great Britain team.
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