Help Conwy Parkrun reach the World Cup final on Friday (April 24)

The big day is finally here.

Conwy Parkrun have reached the World Cup of Parkrun Tourism semi-final and now compete against Welsh rivals Barry Island.

And a win for Conwy will provide the extraordinary achievement of an all North Wales final against Newborough Forest on Sunday.

For anyone who has ever run at the Conwy 5k Parkrun staged at the RSPB centre, they will know just how well organised and popular the venue is, and how friendly people are, and always make fellow runners feel at home.

This is probably a once in a lifetime opportunity to vote for your favourite parkrun to help Conwy reach the grand final on Sunday, and to confirm your support and interest in this exciting inaugural online virtual running competition.

All you need to do is log on to the Chester Parkrun site (as organisers) on Friday (24th April) from about 9am, and click on the photo from the Conwy run to confirm your vote.

It is expected to be a very close-run contest so every vote will count, and as everyone is still in lockdown from this current coronavirus pandemic, please pass the message onto anyone you know who has ever run at Conwy, enjoyed the event and the spectacular scenery.

This extraordinary competition attracted 24 teams with a very strong entry from UK based parkruns, but has also included strong contenders from rival parkruns in Hannover, Germany; Stavanger and Lovstien from Norway; Amsterdam in Holland; and both Bibra Lake and Yeppoon from Australia.

The first encounters saw 16 teams battle for places, with eight teams given a bye into the next round. Barry Island, perhaps better known as the venue for Dr Beeching’s railway massive loco scrapyard of the 1960’s and TV’s Gavin and Stacey, present a formidable challenge to Conwy.

They defeated local rivals Swansea Bay in the 1st round before knocking out Lovstein from Norway in round 2, prior to a formidable victory over Normandy Hall in the quarter finals.

Conwy skipped round 1 with a bye, prior to claiming a narrow win over one of the original tournament favourites Bibra Lake from Australia in round 2, and then clinched a substantial result over another top international, and much fancied opponent, Amsterdam in their quarter final tie.

The 1st round results:
The Eden Project 68-28 Richmond, Ashton Court (Bristol) 12-80 Bibra Lake (Western Australia), Stavanger (Norway) 47-55 Amsterdam, Rother Valley 25-81 Edinburgh, Riverside (Chester-Le-Street) 72-22 Queen Elizabeth (Horden, Hants), Newborough Forest (Anglesey) 103-10 Brokenhurst (New Forest), Fountains Abbey (Yorkshire) 61-43 Fell Foot, Swansea Bay 25-69 Barry Island.

Round 2:
Lovstien (Norway) 38-63 Barry Island, Normandy Hall (North Lincs) 60-31 Cardiff, Georgengarten (Hannover, Germany) 38-67 Newborough Forest, Yeppoon (Australia) 49-29 Riverside (Durham), Amsterdam 55-12 Doddington Hall (Lincoln), Whitley Bay 27-47 The Eden Project, Edinburgh 53-43 Fountains Abbey, Bibra Lake (Australia) 45-53 Conwy.

Quarter finals:
Normandy Hall 26-57 Barry Island, Amsterdam 47-100 Conwy, Yeppoon 12-95 Newborough Forest, The Eden Project 51-50 Edinburgh.

Semi-finals:
The Eden Project 46 -115 Newborough Forest, Barry Island v Conwy (Apr 24).

Final:
On Sunday, North Wales rivals Newborough Forest await the winners of this semi-final tie.