Medals galore for NWRRC athletes in 10-mile championships

*Jonathan Kettle won a gold medal at the North Wales 10-mile championships

Medals galore for NWRRC athletes in 10-mile championships

Report by Don Hale. Most photographs by Steve Jeffery.

The North Wales virtual 10-mile championships attracted a star-studded field with 95 quality entrants battling hard for prestigious medals.

NWRRC had thirteen runners competing and collected a total of eight medals, including two gold, four silver, and two bronze in the various age categories, with Jonathan Kettle being the pick of the team once again, finishing 5^th overall, and winning gold in his M45 age cat.

Held under strict pandemic restrictions, and run individually on their own patch, athletes had to choose their moment to run amidst a wet and windswept period.

The 10-mile race was eventually won by Luke Northall from Wrexham in 56.07, but NWRRC had two runners in the top-ten and three in the top twenty, with their team of eight men and five women competing for honours.

Jonathan Kettle ran exceptionally well and maintained his current form to finish in 58 mins 19 seconds for a well-deserved gold medal. Another gold medal winner was Richard Eccles, who finished in a highly-credible 10^th overall, and was also 1^st M50 cat in 61.12.

                            *Richard Eccles enjoyed another fine run for a gold age category medal

Stuart Culverhouse however, narrowly missed out on a prize in 19^th spot in 69.51, finishing 4^th in his M45 age cat; whilst Steve Roberts collected a silver medal, finishing in 21^st place in 76.00 for 2^nd M55 cat. James Jones finished 23^rd in 79.18, and in the master veteran M65 section, Kevin Slattery just missed out on a gold medal by just 3 seconds, but was happy to claim silver, finishing 25^th and was 2^nd M65 cat in 79.32. Colleague Don Hale finished in 27^th place in 87.59 for 3^rd M65 cat, and collected a bronze medal. And another worthy bronze medal winner was Len Jackson in 31^st position, as the 3^rdM60 cat in 98.18.

                                           *A silver medal for Steve Roberts (pictured above)

             *Kevin Slattery missed out on a gold medal by four seconds but still claimed silver

For the Ladies, they too were extremely successful, and put in some amazing performances, deservedly winning two silver medals, with two other team members narrowly missing out in 4^th places. 

Kay Hatton continued her purple patch to finish 9^th female and 2^nd F45 cat in 80.09, and the other silver medal went to the hard-working Kelly Alford as 21^st female as 2^nd F35 athlete in 104.42. Hannah Griffith had a good run as 4th W45 cat in 89.29, and her running buddy Helen Hannam finished in 89.32, with Cheryl Frost just pipped for a medal as 4^th F55 runner in 95.54.

                              *In form Kay Hatton won a silver medal in the 10-miler championships

*A silver medal for Kelly Alford (above) and (below) Helen Hannam, who unfortunately just missed out on a medal in 4th place despite a good run

*The next major events on the virtual running calendar include the remainder of the Welsh Athletics Winter series of short events, with the two-mile race being staged from 5-8^th March; and the Welsh Athletics three-mile race from 12-15^th March. All WA club runners must register pre-enter, and agree to abide by current Covid-19 rules. Full details on the Welsh Athletics website: https://www.welshathletics.org