Six podium places for Road Runners in tough Conwy Half Marathon

Report by Don Hale. Photos by John Hatton and Lesley Goodson

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There was a great turn-out of some 31 North Wales Road Runners among a massive entry of nearly 3,000 mixed ability athletes, who took on the challenge of the Conwy Half Marathon last Sunday.

Described as one of the most gruelling half marathons in the country, following a picturesque but extremely tough course from Conwy Castle to Llandudno and around the Great Orme, six NWRRC members claimed podium places, including one age cat victory, two second places and three thirds, in addition to recording numerous PBs.

Martin Green, who has dual registration for both NWRRC and Meirionnydd RC, had a fine run, finishing 9th overall with a chip time of just 1 hour 17 minutes and 3 seconds, and he was 2nd in his M50 age cat.

Jonathan Kettle was pleased with 18th place in 1.20.48, and 3rd M50..

Young Harry Driscoll enjoyed a superb run in 74th place in 1.27.31, and Will Evans was 100th in a new PB 1.28.29. Meanwhile, Steve Bozier’s recent hard work paid off as he dipped under his 90-minute target with a good run in 1.29.23 in 120th place. Stuart Culverhouse was 167th in 1.32.30, with Steve Mason 183rd in 1.33.14.

Carla Green was back to her best as the 17th female finisher, and 2nd F50 in 1.34.35.

James Jones was 209th in 1.34.30, and Benjamin Brummit 303rd in 1.38.39. Veteran Kevin Slattery finished 300th in 1.38.52, and was 3rd M65, with Sion Thomas clocking 1.38.58 in 314th following a massive 3-minute plus PB.

Ultra distance athlete Ben Hudson posted 1.39.42 for 331st place, and Adam Lemalle registered 1.40.59 in 359th, whilst Karl Morris was 393rd in 1.42.13 and Steve Roberts 400th in 1.42.21.

Master veteran Sandy Johnson was the club’s only age winner following an amazing run in 1.46.22 in 540th place, and easily won his M75 cat. Steve Poupart finished 582nd in 1.47.08, and Richard Scamans knocked an amazing 15-minutes off his time from last year in 634th spot in 1.48.36.

Cheryl Frost repeated her excellent performance from the Inter-region cross country championships the previous day, with another well-deserved 3rd place in her F55 age cat in 1.50.00 as the 116th lady. Philip Moss came home 825th place in 1.53.29, and Sarah Hudson did 1.53.44 as the 149th female.

Daniel Hennell was 937th in 1.55.56, and Molly Evans finished well as 260th female in 1.58.07. Master vet Rob Fryer just dipped under the two-hour mark in 1.59.01, in 1024th place, whilst Helen Hannam was 377th female in 2.04.44.

Hannah Griffith ran the course with her sister Siwan in 2.07.48, and Gwen Charlton was 455th in 2.09.05, with Nia Lister 530th in 2.11.30. In addition, Sarah Jones ran exceptionally well in 2.21.32, as 717th lady, and Rachel Morris posted a determined 2.43.00 as the 967th female finisher.

*First finisher was Sam Stratford (HI Runners) in 1.13.47, with Harry Lupton (Charnwood) 2nd in 1.14.11, and Bethesda athlete James Browne took the 3rd spot in 1.15.06. The first female was Keely Smith (West Cheshire AC) in 1.24.37, Holly Chipman (Silverdale RC) finished 2nd in 1.25.50, with Sarah Atwood (Highland Hill Runners) 3rd in 1.26.03. There were 2,766 finishers.

Road Running duo perform well for Wales at Belfast Masters International XC race

Report by Don Hale

North Wales Road Runners Will Williams and Karen Butler competed in the British and Irish Masters International Cross-Country Championships at the Billy Neill Country Park, Dundonald, near Belfast last Saturday.

Will performed well in his MV50 age cat on a rather hilly and challenging course despite only just recovering from injury and seemed satisfied after finishing 29th overall in 33 minutes and one-second.

Karen finished 16th in her VW65-75 age cat (24th overall) and was the 1st Welsh veteran athlete in this section following an excellent display in 31.09.

She also led home some other well-known Welsh runners who packed well including Christine Wyn-Jones 17th in 32.16, Fiona Davies 18th in 32.33, VW70 Elizabeth Evans (GOG Triathlon), in 32.46 and Beverley Jones 33.50.

Three Road Runners impress in Inter-regional cross-country champs

Report by Don Hale

Three North Wales Road Runners competed well in the Inter-regional cross-country championships at Dolerw Park, Newtown, last Saturday, and each recorded some excellent times, with one member even winning a prestigious team medal.

Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton and Steve Gardner were selected to represent the North Wales regional team in the Senior Women and Senior Men’s Masters races, following some promising results in recent NW Cross-country league meetings.

And at the weekend Cheryl formed part of a successful five-women squad that packed well and clinched the 3rd team spot in the Senior Women and Master Women’s race, finishing 105th overall, She was the 5th team counter, winning a bronze medal, and celebrating 13th place in her MW55 age cat in 29.32.

Kay also had an impressive run, 121st overall and 20th in her MW55-64 age cat in 31.07, narrowly missing out on a team placing.
Steve enjoyed a positive run in 88th place overall in the Senior Men and Master Men’s race in 36.40, and he was 3rd MM55.

Cheryl’s team medal winning colleagues included: Emma Collins (Denbigh), 5th in 28.06; Ceri Cook (Buckley RC), 8th in 29.00; Debbie Cattermole (Meirionnydd RC), 10th in 29.01; Joy Hickman (West Cheshire), 12th in 29.01, with Cheryl herself (NWRRC), 13th in 29.32.

Wild, wet, and windy for bumper set of visitors at Conwy Parkrun

Report by Don Hale

It was back to the usual wild, wet, and windy weather conditions at Conwy Parkrun last Saturday morning, as another bumper entry tackled the challenging 5k course from the RSPB Nature Reserve.

Many visitors travelled from far afield and utilised the parkrun as a pre-race warm-up for the Conwy Half-Marathon set for the following day, so consequently this popular event attracted a large number of travelling club and social runners.

North Wales Road Runners entered 10 members, with some just taking it easy in preparation for either cross-country races, other events, or the half-marathon date.

Harry Driscoll finished 20th overall and 3rd SM20-24 age cat in 22.10, and veteran Steve Roberts took 23rd in 22.10, but won his VM60 age cat.

Tony Price Jones was 47th in 24.37, and partially-sighted athlete Daniel Owens recorded his best time since December 2021, after running with his generous guide Iain Burgess, Daniel finishing 53rd in 24.49, and Iain shared the same time, just one place behind.

James Jones was 59th in 25.15, Stuart Culverhouse 73rd in 25.49, whilst master vet Don Hale won his VM70 age cat in 99th place in 27.08.

Gwen Charlton ran the course with her children again, and was 199th in 31.32, and Rachel Morris battled her way home in 250th place in 33.38, in readiness for her half-marathon effort the next day, whilst Steve Mason and his faithful hound Coco, acted as back markers in 357th place in 61.25.

*The 1st finisher overall at Conwy Parkrun was VM40 athlete Tom Carter (Prestatyn RC) in 17.18, with SM18-19 Cai Curtis-Roberts in close pursuit in 17.24, and VM35 Aled Hughes (GOG Triathlon) 3rd in 18.06. The 1st female finisher was VW35 athlete Carla Houghton (24th overall) on her debut in 22.10, with VW40 Aeronwy Craig (Bramhall Runners), 2nd (and 26th overall) in 22.26, whilst VW40 athlete Jennifer Houghton finished 3rd, (27th overall), with a new PB in 22.28.