Bangor City 10k race saved by quick thinking to help defeat the weather
Special report by Don Hale
Over 500 determined runners completed the weather-beaten Bangor City 10k on Sunday with many elite athletes recording some excellent times despite the challenging conditions.
And praise was given to quick thinking by the race organiser Chris Yorke from RunWales for overcoming many problems with debris on parts of the half-marathon route, which unfortunately forced the late postponement of this associated race but allowed the 10k to continue.
In this latter event, Bangor University AC student Andrew Moore was the first man home in just 32 minutes and 51 seconds, with Ed Slaughter (Porthcawl AC) second in 33.22 and Martin Sunderland (Woking) third in 34.39.
First female finisher was Sarah Attwood (Crook AC) in 38.48, Llio Jones (Cybi Striders) was runner-up in 40.42 chip/40.47 gun, with Laura Coucill (Salford Harriers), a very close third 40.32 chip/40.49 gun.
*NOTE: Chip times are shown, but the gun times always determine the final placings.
Many local clubs were well represented amongst the 523 finishers including 11 members of NWRRC, with Stuart Culverhouse leading the team back in 28th place in 41.09, and he was second in his M50 age cat.
Steve Roberts was 2nd M60 in 75th place in 45.25 chip/45.32 gun, just ahead of club colleague Daniel Henell, 79th in 45.16 chip/45.50 gun.
Kay Hatton won her F60 as 22nd female in 48.27, with Cheryl Frost 31st female finisher and 2nd F55 in 49.21. Nia Lister was 76th in 54.35, with Carol Moss 80th in 54.54.
Master vet Rob Fryer was 2nd F70 in 193rd overall, clocking 55.00, with Gwennan Charlton 94th female in 56.11. Helen Hannam 101st female in 57.28, and super vet Mike Hayton won his M75 cat in 61.47. Liz Evans (GOG Triathlon) was 64th female and won her F70 cat in 53.24.
This is the link to all the provisional results from the Bangor City 10k:
https://www.runwales.com/e/bangor-city-10k-and-half-marathon-8597/results
Road Running duo impress in Chester Marathon
Two North Wales Road Runners tackled the windswept Chester Marathon on Sunday and both performed well in extremely challenging conditions.
Steve Bozier was a little apprehensive about running this distance at first after taking some time out from longer races, but he ran well in chip positions of 844th out of 6,698 entrants in 3 hours 26 minutes and 12 seconds.
Afterwards he said: “A great day back racing again, my first marathon in a year, and only my second race this year.
“I really enjoyed that and only entered two weeks ago with just six weeks of training as a warm-up for the Eryri Marathon in three weeks. I took it relatively easy and paced it well to get my second fastest marathon time. Rest now, recover, and onto the next one!”
Jon Evans also celebrated following his fine effort, saying: “Really pleased. I felt super strong today. My heart rate averaged 135. Next up, Conwy Half pacing. 4 hours 43 minutes and 48 seconds, is a long time on your feet, but I really enjoyed it and feel really good now.”
Mandy Owen ran in the associated Chester Metric Marathon and despite some earlier reservations, she ran well overall in those tough conditions and finished in 3 hours 20 minutes and 24 seconds.
This is a link to the all the provisional results from the Chester races:
https://ale.niftyentries.com/Results/2025-MBNA-Chester-Marathon?#
Kevin Higgins travelled to North Manchester for the Heaton Park 10k. He said: “A bit of a tough one this morning in the Heaton Park 10k Race in Manchester. Very undulating and quite windy. A few puddles to contend with on the way around. My time was a bit down on recent weeks in 61 minutes and 40 seconds, and I was 4th in my VM60 age cat.“
Battle for honours at first Cross-Country race of the season
The North Wales Cross Country League’s first fixture of the season defied the odds and beat Storm Amy last Saturday with hundreds of junior and senior runners competing for honours at Llanerch Hall, near St Asaph.
Bernie Jones, one of the main race organisers and secretary of the NW XC League later confirmed: “A Big thank you to Prestatyn Running Club, Denbigh Harriers and all the marshalls and volunteers for putting on today’s race. It would have been easy to cancel with Storm Amy, but I’m glad we didn’t!”
First finisher in the Senior Men’s race was talented youngster Noa Vaughan (Eryri Harriers), who was also the first U20M athlete with a superb run in 28.26. Andrew Moore (Bangor University) was runner-up in 28.59, and he was first Senior Man, whilst two of his club colleagues in Ed Slaughter and Martin Sunderland collected third and fourth positions in 29.34 and 29.50.
Other notable results included: 1st MV35: Ryan Davies (Wrexham AAC) 6th in 29.57; 1st MV45: Stephen Skates (Prestatyn RC) 9th in 31.07; 1st MV40: Tom Carter (Prestatyn RC) 12th in 31.31; 1st MV50: Martin Green (Meirionnydd RC) 15th in 31.45; 1st M60: Neil Kershaw (West Cheshire) 61st in 36.09; and 1st MV55: Andrew Clague (West Cheshire) in 37.09. There were 146 finishers.
In the Men’s Over 65’s race, John Jones (Shrewsbury AC) was the first man home and 1st MV65 in 28.09, followed by Andy Clarke (Oswestry Olympians) in 28.15, with Dylan Huws (Eryri Harriers) third in 28.51.
In fourth place was MV70 age cat winner Pete Hough (Shropshire Shufflers) in 29.37, and some other notable results included: 27th Emyr Davies (Hebog), 1st MV80 in 37.32; Chris Clarke (Shropshire Shufflers) 38th and 1st MV75 in 39.26; and the legendary Roger Harrison Jones (Prestatyn RC), was 1st M85 in 43rd place in 61.02.
The Senior Women’s race was won by Alison Lavender (Oswestry Olympians) the 1st FV35 athlete in 24.21, with Eden O’Dea (Deeside) 1st Senior women and second overall in 25.10, and her club colleague Martha Owen finished third in 25.26.
Other notable age cat winners: 1st FV45: Joanne Henderson (Denbigh Harriers) 4th in 25.48; 6th Gemma Moore (Eryri Harriers) 1st FV40 in 26.07; 9th Emily Pyper (West Cheshire) 1st FU17 in 27.40; 11th Andrea Rowlands (Eryri Harriers) 1st FV50 in 28.13; 15th Taliska Faulkner (Bangor University AC ) 1st FU20 in 29.05; 34th Emma Collins (Denbigh Harriers) 1st FV60 in 31.50; 46th Helen Blair (Eryri Harriers) 1st FV55 in 32.54; 47th Susie Hancock (Oswestry Olympians) 1st FV65 in 32.58, and 85th Liz Evans (GOG Triathlon) 1st FV70 in 36.35.
North Wales parkruns battered by Storm Amy but Ruthin survived!
Report by Don Hale
Storm Amy forced the postponement of numerous parkruns throughout the UK last Saturday with North Wales events in particular badly affected by course flooding, heavy rain and gale force winds.
Regular events at Newborough Forest, Nant y Pandy, Wepre, Penrhyn Castle, Conwy, Llangollen, Prestatyn, and Wrexham’s Park in the Past parkruns were all affected, with the Ruthin Memorial Parkrun one of the few survivors.
The Ruthin event on the Memorial Playing Fields, attracted 146 hardy runners including 74 visitors, with many travelling from far afield after searching hard to find a live parkrun, and despite the challenging conditions, 10 people still recorded some very worthy personal best (PB) times.
At the time of writing the name of the first man home remained unknown, but visitor Alan Southwick (Malvern Buzzards) finished second on his course debut with a fast time of 18 minutes and 43 seconds, with James Williams (Lymm Runners), third with a new PB of 18.53.
First two female finishers were Laura Coucill (Salford Harriers) first on debut (14th overall) in 20.16, with Naomi Drakeford (Barnsley AC) second (21st) in 21.00, whilst Catherine Tudor Jones took the third spot (22nd) in 21.07.
North Wales Road Runners – father and son – Stuart and Joe Culverhouse (pictured above) entered with talented young Joe finishing in 11th place, recording a great new PB of just 19.54 and won his JM11-14 age cat, with Stuart 11th in 20.38.
Melbourne, Australia
Gareth and Kath Southworth took part in the Albert Park Parkrun in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday amongst 1,030 entrants. Gareth finished well in 116th place overall on his course debut in 22.46, and was 3rd VM60, whilst Kath was 929th in 46.56.