Special 24-hour track challenge for Ukraine appeal raises thousands

Report by Don Hale

Dozens of local runners of all ages and abilities took part in a special 24-hour track ‘Run for Ukraine’ fundraising appeal, organised by Cybi Striders last weekend.

Staged on the Treborth 400-metre athletic track, near Bangor, event organisers welcomed anyone and everyone to take part, with entrants invited to run as many, or as few laps as possible for a donation, and as part of a unique challenge, which began at 9 am on Saturday morning and continued until the same time on Sunday.

A club official confirmed: “We are a small Anglesey based running club who like so many have been appalled to see the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine unfold. This 24-hour run is our way of showing support and raising much needed funds for the people of Ukraine.”

Kay Hatton and Cheryl Frost from NWRRC, ran together for about 30-minutes and completed nearly 4-miles around the track, and amazingly they completed their task within minutes of finishing the Conwy Parkrun.

Kay later said: “It was a real fun event organised by Cybi. They had chipped batons to count the number of laps done by each person, so a total distance could be recorded. They were also recording the total amount collected.

“Anyone could turn up for their half-hour slot and start at any time. There were runners and walkers, young, and not so young! Kev, the organiser was there for the 24-hours, and was hoping to run 20 mins in every hour.”

Club colleague Helen Hannam also helped the appeal, but opted to run her leg virtually from Rhos on Sea to Colwyn Bay and ran just over 3-miles in her half-hour spell. Helen put in a tremendous effort especially as it was less than a week after running in the Manchester Marathon.

Nic Brook and his partner Gemma Brown also ran around the Treborth track with Nic recording 7.71kms in 29.48, and Gemma 7.66kms in 31.13.

*At the time of writing over £3,000 had been raised for this important appeal but further donations may be made via this link: https://my.raceresult.com/196690/live

Harry Driscoll first Road Runner at Conwy Parkrun

Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery

North Wales Road Runner Harry Driscoll was the first club runner back at Conwy Parkrun last Saturday morning and he led home a strong team of 14 seniors and two juniors among a holiday crowd of some 200 finishers.

The talented team of mixed ages and abilities also claimed six age category wins and five second places in addition to recording several personal best (PB) times.

Harry finished 5th overall and won his SM20-24 age cat in just 20 minutes and 6 seconds, and he was nearly two minutes ahead of his nearest rival, veteran Sean Butler, first MV60-64 cat in 21.56 and overall.

Jamie Tharme battled a lack of sleep due to work commitments, but still enjoyed a dream run to finish 22nd and 2nd in his MV40-44 cat in 22.13, and he was just six seconds ahead of equally troubled clubmate Gethin Wyn Jones, 24th in 22.19.

Jamie later admitted: “A tired parkrun today after a 15-hour shift and a bad night’s sleep.” And Gethin added: “Slow and steady after feeling rubbish all week.”

And it was good to see in-form Cheryl Frost back at parkrun, and she turned in another positive performance in 34th place overall and won her VW55-59 age cat in 22.51.

Her running partner Kay Hatton also ran well to finish in 40th place in 23.26 and was 2nd in the same cat as Cheryl.

Newcomers Juana Hunter and Karen Butler made their mark with excellent runs. Juana won her SW30-34 age cat in 26.12 in 85th place, whilst Karen topped her VW60-64 cat, and was just five seconds adrift in 87th place in 26.17.

David Spofforth ran with his son Ben again, and helped the youngster to his fourth consecutive parkrun PB, this time knocking more than a minute off last week’s excellent result, to finish 90th overall and 2nd in his JM10 age cat, sharing the same time of 26.37 with his dad.

Veteran Don Hale was still plagued by injury so took it steady during his 140th parkrun and finished 95th and 2nd in his MV65-69 cat in 26.59. And fellow master vet Mike Hayton was 102nd and 2nd in his MV70-74 cat in 27.45, with Rachel Morris continuing her marathon training, and included the parkrun as part of her build-up, finishing 147th overall in 31.33.

Ian Turner made a welcome and emotional return to finish in 173rd place in 33.52, whilst youngster Elowen Spofforth and her mother Nicola celebrated their second family parkrun at Conwy, with both runners claiming new PB’s. Elowen also won her JW10 cat in 188th place and shared the time as her mother in 39.32.
*A generous tribute was additionally paid at Conwy Parkrun on Saturday to the late NWRRC veteran athlete Gilbert Gillan, 69, who had previously completed 89 parkruns and 59 virtual runs, but sadly lost his battle with cancer the previous weekend.

*This is the provisional results list from Conwy Parkrun:
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/conwy/results/latestresults/

*Krakow Parkrun for Leslie: Lesley Goodson ran as an international tourist in the Krakow Parkrun in Poland last Saturday among 95 finishers and claimed 2nd spot in her FV55-59 age cat. Lesley was 44th overall and the 8th female athlete in 25.33.

*Karl ran in Aber Falls fell race: Karl Morris took part in the Aber Falls (Aber Bach) fell race near Bangor last Tuesday night in 36.11. The event included a challenging route of 4.8 miles and 350 ft of elevation.

*Fundraiser for Snowdonia Search and Rescue: Gwennan Charlton enjoyed a steady 8-mile run around Llyn Trawsfynydd last Sunday in 1 hour 27 minutes as part of a fundraising event for the South Snowdonia Search and Rescue Team.

*Easter Dash on the prom: Saturday marked the welcome return of the Easter 5k Dash on Llandudno promenade. This popular event has not been run since 2019 due to Covid-19 problems.

Steve’s Gambian kit appeal proves a success

Report by Don Hale

Steve Forsyth’s appeal for any unwanted running shoes and kit has proved a huge success with the first batch of donations delivered to underprivileged young sportsmen and women last week.

The North Wales Road Runner also helped organise the delivery of several carloads and boxes of kit to the Gambian Police Athletic Team who began an urgent distribution to youngsters in readiness for a series of races in their country.

Steve was also able to send back several photographs from different groups who were absolutely thrilled to receive this kit from hundreds of North Wales supporters which included running clubs at Llandudno, Prestatyn, Deeside, Cheshire, to name just a few, plus numerous individual donations, and generous support from many parkrunners across the region.