Tough running at Pen Llŷn Winter Ultra event

Report by Don Hale

Three North Wales Road Runners Club endurance athletes competed in the gruelling Pen Llŷn Winter Ultra trail race last Saturday.

Run over a challenging and undulating 37.5-mile course from Pwllheli Golf Club, with over 5,000 ft of elevation, the event attracted 218 intrepid starters and 129 hardy finishers.

Local runners included Marc Davies, who finished 14th overall and was the 12th U50 cat in 6 hours 35 minutes 37 seconds, and Karl Morris was 33rd and the 26th U50 runner in 7.08.56, with Jon Dalzell 67th overall and the 40th U50 cat in 7.55.18.

After the race, Karl Morris confirmed: “A great route with a fair-few climbs. I ran a strong race – all 37-miles of it! Thanks to Huw Williams and all the team for putting on a great race.”

And his colleague Dalzell described the event as ‘brutal.’

*The race winner was Jon Shield in 5.25.19, with 2nd Sam Walsh 5.46.11, and 3rd Julian Ayres 5.56.30. This is the link to the provisional results:

https://penllyn.niftyentries.com/Results/Pen-Llyn-Ultra-Winter-Edition-2021?ResultSetupId=bec7c1a8-d40b-4be1-9f46-73f6c7f0d7c3#

Troy Kettle performs well on debut for North Wales team

Report by Don Hale

Promising young Road Runner Troy Kettle made his debut for North Wales last Saturday in the tough Inter-Counties Challenge race staged within the Meerbrook 15k in Staffordshire.

Student Troy made a very impressive start to his representative career and helped the county team to claim runners-up spot against some quality opposition. The NWRRC athlete finished 27th overall in 69 minutes 49 seconds.

Troy’s talented father, and a highly respected top athletics coach Jonathan Kettle remarked: “Well Done to Troy on his debut race for the North Wales team in the toughest race I know. Fantastic running!”

*The overall competition winners for the Men were Shropshire with 20 pts, with North Wales 2nd on 29, Staffordshire 3rd with 36 pts, Cheshire 4th with 74 pts, and Derbyshire 5th with 84 pts.

This included: 2. Ryan Davis 52:44; 3. Scott Nixon 52:47; 8. Joel Gomes 54:27; 16. Phil Pumford 57:35; 24. Jez Brown 62:04; and 27. Troy Kettle 69:49.
*For the Women: The winners were Shropshire with 22 pts; 2nd Cheshire 25; 3rd Derbyshire 54; 4th Staffordshire 61 and 5th were North Wales with 67.

Individual placings included: 11. Rachel Shipley 65:41; 13. Lucie Truett 66:14; 21. Jen Adams 71:02; 22. Jane Doughton 72:36; 24. Claire Wyn-Jones 73:56.