Radyr & Morganstown Trail Half Marathon

The route briefly passes Forest Farm, before crosses the river Taff. The crossing is the site of the old ford from Radyr to Whitchurch. Due to the shallow water, you may see people fly fishing in the river.

You'll quickly pass through Radyr before the first climb of the day greets you and you'll head up through the Golf course. Skirting around the edge of the course it quickly becomes apparent how close to true countryside our capital is as you cross stiles and agricultural fields. Soon you will glimpse the Garth Mountain in the distance.

A brief downhill will bring you to your first woodlands, where hopefully the bluebells will still be in flower. A tricky left turn (don’t miss it!) takes you to the left of Morganstown and into agricultural land proper.

You'll face a very steep, but thankfully brief, climb to the top of the woods, which eventually will lead you past a quarry. The route then dives downhill through Garth Woods and take you to Coed-y-Bedw SSSI Nature Reserve.

Leaving the deciduous woods of alder, oak and birch trees, you'll enters Coed Rhiw'r Ceiliog, a conifer plantation, with the eerie quiet the pine needle floor brings. The long climb up through the woods will lead you to your first checkpoint.

After the checkpoint, you'll begin your final climb to the highest summit of the day, the infamous Garth Mountain. If you're not local, you may know this mountain better for the Hugh Grant film An Englishman Who Went Up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain. The route does not pass the trig point, but if you wish to summit the hill we will understand - the view on a sunny day is spectacular. With the capital city of Wales at your feet, you can clearly see both Severn Bridges, the coast of England and the highest peaks of Southern Britain – Pen y Fan and Corn Du.

After all the roots of the woodlands and the climbs of the Garth, you can now get some easy miles under your belt, a long descent to Gwaelod-y-Garth, down some zig zag paths and across the river to Taffs Well.

Once past the football ground, the route climbs up to the higher level Taff Trail. Following the trail for a while the route comes to Castell Coch woods, site of the Fairy Castle.

A sharp left leads to a steep gully which will take you to the top of the hill and a woodland sculpture trail. As you pass over the summit and begin the decent, you'll reach your second checkpoint. There is now under 5 miles to go, mostly downhill.

The descent will take you through Fforest Ganol and follow a pretty stream. If it's a hot day it will be almost impossible to not have a paddle in!

The last climb of the day, is short and sharp, past the café nestled in the woods. A tricky technical descent leads to the road at the base of Castell Coch. Next to Tongwynlais, past the pub where the cyclists meet, you will rejoin the Taff.

Finally, you will veer away from the Taff as the route passes the pretty Glamorganshire Canal, part of the Cambrian Way and the third nature reserve of the day. You'll likely come across herons, water fowl and, if you're lucky, kingfisher. You'll also get some much needed shade if warm before a final mile back to the clubhouse and a well-earned rest.​

Load more