Road Runners win a magnificent seven regional medals at Holyhead 5-mile race

Report by Don Hale

https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com

The Road Runners won seven prestigious North Wales Regional medals at the Holyhead Breakwater 5-mile race on July 28 including four age category gold and three third-placed bronze, in addition to celebrating three podium places in the main event.

Jonathan Kettle led NWRRC members home after finishing in 9th place overall with a chip time of
just 28 minutes and 58 seconds to win his MV50-59 age cat. He was followed by Iwan Evans 26th in
32.07 and Benjamin Brummitt 30th in 32.54.

Carla Green was back to her best once more and won her FV50-59 cat in 34th place overall, and was 4th female finisher in 33.17. Sion Thomas took 41st in 34.33, Adam Lemalle 46th in 35.26, and Steve Roberts 59th in 36.35.

Cheryl Frost claimed second FV50-59 in 73rd place, as the 12th female, in 38.32, and Kay Hatton won her FV60-69 after finishing 92nd, and 18th female, in 41.43.

Master vet Rob Fryer placed 104th in 43.34, Gwen Charlton 123rd in 47.31, as the 36th female, whilst Rachel Morris was 145th in 52.47 and 54th female.

North Wales Regional 5-mile regional medals – Holyhead Breakwater 5-mile: Female results: GOLD – FV50-54 1st Carla Green; FV55-59 1st Cheryl Frost; FV60-64 1st Kay Hatton. BRONZE: FV35-39 3rd Gwen Charlton; FV40-44 3rd Rachel Morris. Male results: GOLD – MV50-54 1st Jonathan Kettle; and BRONZE: MV70-74 3rd Rob Fryer. NWRRC also finished 3rd in the team event.

The main race was won by Connor Rogers (Wrexham AAC) with a new record in 26.11, with Sam
Gunning (Cybi Striders) 2nd in 28.16, and Chris Pownell (Cybi Striders) 3rd in 28.28. Women: Anna Drinkwater was the 1st female finisher in 30.41, 2nd Rachel Shipley (Abergele Harriers) 31.44, 3rd Amie Smith (Cheshire Dragons) 3rd in 33.05. There were 160 finishers in total.

*This is a link to the provisional race results from the Holyhead 5-mile race:
https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/en/results-embed.php?event=4046#0_3EF1B7

Over 250 runners Race the Highland Train

Report by Don Hale

A pleasant 5k dash on a humid summer evening proved just the ticket for over 250 mixed ability
athletes on July 24 as they opted to Race the Train from Dinas railway station back to the terminus at Caernarfon.

This was the 24th annual event featuring this exciting race which involved taking a train load of
runners and their supporters out from Caernarfon station to the first stop at Dinas on the 7.30pm
special, with entrants then disembarking in readiness for a very quick run back to town in a
determined effort to beat the mighty Highland loco and the train back.

North Wales Road Runners entered a quartet of runners with Mal Preece completing the downhill dash in 73rd place, and he was 5th MV60. Hannah Griffith was 23rd female in 111th place overall in 23.46, and 4th FV45, whilst Vicky Taylor was 45th female and 144th overall in 26.06, with Gwen Charlton 66th female in 175th.

The Race the Train event was won in a very close finish by Tomas Roberts in just 14 minutes and 28
seconds, with Owen Roberts (Meirionnydd RC) 2nd in 14.30 and Sam Gunning (Cybi Striders) 3rd
in 15.35. For the ladies, Samia Jones (Liverpool Harriers) was 1st female finisher (13th overall)
in 17.18, Rachel Shipley (Abergele Harriers) 2nd (17th overall) and Nia Manson (West
Cheshire AC) 3rd in 19.41 (35th overall). There were 254 finishers in total.

Father and son Dave and Steve Gardner strike gold

Report by Don Hale

Father and son athletes Dave and Steve Gardner struck gold at the Welsh Masters Track and Field
Championships at Yate.

Son Steve scooped a gold medal in the 1500m, whilst his dad Dave, proudly won two gold medals in the shot put and javelin events.

Steve had a superb run in the 1500m track race with a new PB time of 5 minutes and 9 seconds, to take the gold medal in his MV60 age cat, beating his previous winning time from last year of 5.13, and to add to his success, he has also received notification from Bernie Jones, the Welsh Masters team manager, he has been selected to represent Wales in the Mid-Cheshire 5k on 23rd August.

Meanwhile, Dave has probably smashed two records in both the shot and javelin with new PBs in both.

He recorded a throw of 7.69m in the shot put and 17.76m in the javelin to win a unique golden double in his MV80 age cat.

Visiting athletes from far afield boosted numbers at Conwy Parkrun

Report by Don Hale

Local athletes, together with a bumper turn-out of visitors from around the UK, and even from the
Netherlands, and Australia, boosted the numbers to 355 entrants at the RSPB Nature Reserve on July 27 for the 410th Conwy Parkrun.

North Wales Road Runner Alistair Canaway was the 1st athlete back overall on this unusually dry and bumpy 5k course. He stormed ahead from the start and celebrated an excellent result with a new PB in 17 minutes and 39 seconds and won his VM35 age cat. He also led home a team of 12 club runners.

Other NWRRC members included Steve Roberts in 24th place and 2nd VM55 in 22.02. Jamie Tharme ran well despite his recent injury, and was 56th in 24.18. Sion Thomas came 60th in 24.34, and Barrie Wells won his MV70 master vet age cat in 108th place in 27.08. And he led a quartet of masters, who swept the board claiming the top four places.

This included Don Hale, back from injury, in 121st place in 27.33, and 2nd master, with Rob Fryer 123rd, and 3rd master in 27.41, whilst Mark Mason took the 4th spot in 157th place in 28.49.

Richard Scamans was a good Samaritan and acted as a guide to his partially sighted colleague Daniel Owens, who ran his first parkrun in nine months. They ran together with Daniel 184th in 29.52 and Richard just one place and one second behind.

Veteran Len Jackson was building back his fitness, but still finished well in 201st place and 3rd MV65 in 30.28, with fellow vet John O’Shea 212th and 4th MV65 in 31.00.

Other results

Troon

Harry Driscoll and his mother Elizabeth Driscoll both won their respective age categories on
their debut as tourists last Saturday at the Troon Parkrun in Scotland, which started from the South
Beach Esplanade. Harry finished in 3rd place overall and won his SM20-24 age cat in 18.29, with
Elizabeth running well in 32.03, 1st VW55-59 while finishing in 122nd place.

Widnes

Steve Mason ran with his dog Coco at the Victoria Park Parkrun at Widnes on Saturday, and he finished 80th on his debut in 23.51.

Belfast

Kevin Higgins continued his series of consecutive races and this week he travelled to Hillsborough Castle, near Belfast for a 5k race, which he ran in 29.02, and he won his MV60 cat.