Remembering Adrian Woods

The WMRA is sad to share the news of the death of Adrian Woods. As an athlete, coach and team manager, he played a major role in Welsh, British and World mountain running for over 20 years. His passing is a tremendous loss to the sport.

A rugby player until his mid 20s, Adrian made the move into running following a bet with his uncle, who told him that the 16 mile race from Llanbedr to Blaenafon would be harder than rugby. The sport took Adrian all over the world, from Borneo to Alaska to Reunion Island. In spite of all this globe trotting, his favourite race remained the Snowdon International in his native Wales, "Probably my favourite race and also the one I also hated the most. It is one of the toughest and most demanding races I have ever taken part in."

He took great pride in representing his country and ran for Wales at the World Mountain Running Trophy in the Czech Republic in 1997, an achievement shared by both his wife Sharon and their daughter Bethan.

Following his career as an athlete, Adrian was a member of the WMRA Council from 2005 to 2009 and Secretary from 2009 to 2010, as well as being a team manager and coach for Welsh and G.B. mountain running teams for over a decade. He filled a similar role with the Turkish national team for 5 years, and continued coaching for his local club, Pont-y-pŵl, until the end of his life.

Tomo Sarf, WMRA President: With Adrian we spent hours talking not only about mountain running, but also about sports generally, which was a part of our lives. He was always full of energy, ready for action. Losing Adrian, international mountain running family has lost a person who contributed a lot to its development.

Nancy Hobbs, WMRA General Secretary: Memories of Adrian are many and all include his wit, glint of an eye, and a smile. The support he gave to so many will be greatly missed, but the impact he had in our sport will live on.

Jonathan Wyatt, WMRA President 2017-2021: It's hard to find someone more passionate and enthusiastic about mountain running, Adrian was always following closely the sport and helping young runners get into and enjoy it. You could see that from his own running experience he brought a common sense approach to training and racing and he loved nothing more than getting out in the thick of the action. We chatted about our respective rugby teams and I was lucky enough to share both Sharon and Adrian's warm Welsh hospitality. The Mountain Running community will miss him.