Rugby ref touches down on podium at top North Wales half-marathon
North Wales runner and top rugby referee Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts produced a fantastic effort last Sunday in the Bangor Half Marathon, finishing third overall in 1.22.24, and second in the MV45 category.
Llyr, a member of North Wales Road Runners, ran a much quicker time than the previous year but said a PB eluded him due to a strong headwind on the way back.
Partially-sighted athlete Daniel Owens also took part in his first ever half-marathon event and finished strongly in 77th place in an incredible debut time of 1.43.02, assisted by guides Sean and Steven McCormack from Abergele Harriers.
CLUB DUO IN FORM AT CARDIFF HALF MARATHON
NWRRC’s Rory Middleton and Mark Jessett both celebrated superb PBs at the Cardiff Half Marathon last weekend.
Rory confirmed his recent top-form by recording a new course PB and his second fastest-ever half-marathon time of 1.21.28, with club colleague Mark taking an incredible 3 minutes off his previous best time to finish in 1.23.36.
EVANS DASHED AROUND AINTREE RACECOURSE 5K
Jon Evans ran his second 5k dash of the morning last Saturday in the ‘Run Aintree’ series of events at the racecourse, completing the course in a remarkable time of 23.18.
He improved upon his earlier Liverpool Parkrun time by over a minute, saying his legs felt much better.
And on Sunday Jon ran as a pacer in the Chester full marathon, completing the challenging course in exactly 4 hours to complete a remarkable hat-trick of runs.
TROY IN DEBUT AT NORTH WALES CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
Three club runners ran well at the first cross-country meeting of the season at Wrexham last Saturday afternoon.
Troy Kettle, making his debut in the Under-17s event, finished 12th overall in 24 mins 27 secs; whilst in the senior race, Martin Green was 5th overall and 1st MV45 cat winner in 30.45, and Michael (Pat) Finney just back from injury, finished 152nd in 44.51.
PARKRUN ROUND-UP
CONWY
Only five NWRRC athletes took part in the Conwy Parkrun last Saturday due to other race commitments, yet the event still attracted nearly 300 other runners including many staff, parents, and children from Ysgol Glan Conwy.
Dave Spofforth celebrated a great new PB as the first club man home in 11th place in 20 minutes 2 seconds, and was also the 1st MV35 cat.
Teenager Harry Driscoll was almost back to his best form in 17th spot in 20.50, and was 1st SM18.
Helen Hannam ran well to finish as the 6th female, and was 61st overall in 24.24 for 2nd VW40.
Meanwhile, Dave Gardner collected another MV75 cat win in 121st place in 27.54, with Rachel Morris coming close to her PB in 171st place, and 50th female in 30.32.
HENLEY WOOD, OSWESTRY
Rory Middleton and Mark Jessett completed a unique one-two at the Henley Wood Parkrun, near Oswestry last weekend, with both athletes making their debuts at this venue, finishing in 1st and 2nd places and ahead of 93 other runners.
Rory was just 3 seconds ahead of his colleague to claim overall victory, recording 20.98 and 1st MV25-29, with Mark 2nd in 20.11 and 1st SM30-35 cat.
PRINCES PARK, LIVERPOOL
Jon Evans said he ran with heavy legs following last week’s Berlin Marathon but still managed to run around the Princes Park event at Liverpool in 24.07.