The infamous Dragon’s Back Race will be held for the third time in recent years in 2015. Berghaus will be sponsoring the event, which traces the mountain spine of Wales from Conwy Castle in the north to Carreg Cennen Castle in the south. Runners will be tracked in real time all the way.

Over the five days of the race runners clock up roughly 300km and 17,000m of ascent across remote and often trackless terrain - those who stay the course at any rate. In 2012 only 32 of nearly 100 runners managed to complete the full route, cementing its reputation as one of the toughest mountain races in the world.

The original Dragon’s Back Race took place in 1992 and entered running folklore for its extreme difficultly and surprise female winner, Helen Whitaker, who finished first alongside Martin Stone. After a 20 year absence event organiser Shane Ohly revived the race in 2012. Helen returned in 2012, and incredibly finished fourth. The overall winner was renowned adventure racer and recent Wainwrights record breaker Steve Birkinshaw (see UKH news here).

Shane Ohly said:

'Berghaus provided superb support for the 2012 race and I am really delighted to be working with the team there again on the 2015 Dragon’s Back Race. The company’s renewed support will directly allow us to improve the event in many ways but I am most excited about providing live tracking of the competitors, which will allow the public to follow the race in real time as it unfolds. It’ll be very exciting!'

The Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race will take place from 22nd to 26th June 2015 and there are just a few days remaining before the entry application closes on Monday 8th September.

Shane Ohly has this advice for would-be contenders:

'The race is very tough but not impossible to finish. We are looking for applications for the limited number of entries from runners with a combination of mountain running, ultra running and multiday experience. That said, there is a free text space on the entry application, which allows potential competitors to outline other relevant experience.'

• For more info see the Dragon's Back website.