Private Project

Solo & Unsupported

Russell Bentley’s record-breaking Winter Paddy Buckley attempt.

The Winter Paddy Buckley is a 100km mountain running round climbing over 47 of Snowdonia’s highest summits. Mountain runner Russell Bentley is going to try and break the overall record, solo and unsupported which, means running for over 20 hours on his own with no support from anyone.

We follow Russell’s adventure as he runs over his local mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia) alone in the middle of winter. He will have to cover some of the most remote and dangerous terrain in the UK. But things don’t always go to plan, especially as he’s afraid of the dark!

  • Huw Erddyn
    Director
    47 COPA, Ar Gefn Y Ddraig
  • Llion Iwan
    Director
  • Huw Erddyn
    Producer
    47 COPA, Ar Gefn Y Ddraig
  • Llion Iwan
    Producer
  • Russell Bentley
    Key Cast
    Breaking the Dragon's Back
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Adventure, Mountain, running, ultra
  • Runtime:
    37 minutes 31 seconds
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Premiere at Cell B Cinema
    Blaenau Ffestiniog
    United Kingdom
    March 5, 2022
    Premiere
Director Biography - Huw Erddyn, Llion Iwan

Huw Erddyn from North Wales based production company Cwmni Da has worked in the television industry for over 10 years, he started his career as a camera operator before moving into directing and producing. Since then he’s produced several factual entertainment series for S4C (channel 4 Wales) like Fferm Ffactor, FFIT Cymru and Ar y Dibyn. In 2017 he directed his first documentary, Riding The Dragon which won ‘The People’s Choice Award’ at Kendal Mountain Festival and took the ‘Silver People’s Choice Award’ at SHAFF. In 2018 he was the lead director for the 3 part documentary series ‘Tide’ which was a co-production project between BBC Alba, BBC Northern Ireland, S4C, TG4 and LIC in China. The Series was honoured with the Silver Dragon Award at the China International Congress of Science and Education Producers. In 2020 Huw released his second running documentary film 47 COPA which won best action film at LMFF and best Sports Documentary at The Celtic Media Festival.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When you set out to film something as formidable as the Paddy Buckley Round in the middle of winter, you know it’s going to be a challenge! You’re covering a route that’s 100km over 47 mountains and most of it would have to be shot in the dark! On top of everything Russell had decided to run the round solo and unsupported, hence the film’s title. This meant that we as a filming crew had to follow strict guidance set out by the FRA (Fell Running Association) so that Russell would be eligible for this particular record. Which meant we weren't allowed to talk to Russell for the duration of the round!

As a director I believe that actuality is what makes a great documentary so not having the opportunity to film any actuality for the duration of the challenge meant we had to approach the film in a different way. We decided to make a feature of these rules in the film as well.

On the day we decided that the filming crew would concentrate only on the visuals mostly with drones so to keep our distance from Russell as much as possible. Russell agreed to carry a GoPro with him and he recorded some bits throughout the day, giving us the actuality that we needed for the film. In a way it worked out better filming it this way as Russell was truly on his own throughout the film. It was just him and the mountains, and I believe that the intimate pieces that he filmed on the GoPro were better and completely different to what a member of the filming crew would have got.

Having the opportunity to make a film with such a talented runner as Russell Bentley was an amazing experience. What he was attempting was superhuman! I only hope that we’ve managed to portray his story in a way that inspires the audience in the same way as Russell inspired us whilst making this film.