Conwy parkrun’s silent tribute to the Queen & Will's birthday surprise.

*Birthday boy Will Williams (*centre), with his friends Jamie Tharme (*left) and Steve Forsyth (*right) at the Conwy parkrun.

Conwy parkrun’s silent tribute to the Queen & Will's birthday surprise.

Report by Don Hale.

 

One hundred and sixty-five entrants at the Conwy parkrun stood in silence for a minute to pay tribute to Her Majesty the Queen last Saturday morning before the start of their 5k dash.

It proved to be a day of missed emotions following recent commemorative events and special permission had to be granted to run this week’s parkrun as part of the course covers Crown land.

The parkrun race director Kelly said: “Thank you to everyone who joined us this morning, runners, and volunteers alike. It was a lovely atmosphere and the silence in memory of Her Majesty the Queen was very moving. 

“It was lovely to share a piece of living history with you all today. We are so fortunate to have the support of the RSPB at Conwy parkrun, so thanks again for today folks it was a really special run.”

The emotions were then lightened to a certain extent, by NWRRC member Will Williams who was celebrating his 50th birthday with club colleagues and friends, with many amusing special replica face masks of Will, during the warm-up. 

(*Pictured above): Which is the real Will Williams? The birthday boy enjoyed his special "mask" treat organised by Steve Forsyth and pals.

It must have proved beneficial though as Will later claimed a new course PB time and won his new MV50 age cat finishing 7th overall in 18 minutes and 38 seconds. His best pal, club colleague and mask organiser Steve Forsythwas fittingly the first man home in 16.59, and he also won his MV40 age cat, with another club rival Josh Keoghfinishing 2nd overall and 1st SM30 runner in 17.15.

Another of Will’s friends, Jamie Tharme, joined in with the fun to additionally claim a course PB in 21st place in 21.48 and finished 4th in his MV45 cat. Stuart Culverhouse was 33rd in 23.29, and veteran Rob Fryer won his MV65 age cat with another good effort to finish 46th in 25.04.

*Stuart Culverhouse (*above left) with Karen Butler.

And Karen Butler also enjoyed a fine parkrun outing and she was just eight-seconds behind Rob but won her FV60 age cat with another PB in 25.12. Her husband Sean Butler finished in 74th place in 27.06, and Rachel Morris fresh from her Great North Run debut last week recorded a time of positive 30.43 in 123rd place overall.

*Sean Butler (*above left) with Rob Fryer.

Following the event, a delighted Will Williams said: “So much effort and thought had gone into this birthday surprise, I had no idea. I’m blessed to have such a fantastic friend in Steve Forsyth, and many other fantastic friends including Jamie Tharme, who all joined in with me this morning. 

“And a huge thank you to the race director, volunteers, and all those participants who wore the mask, and wished me a happy birthday. It really goes to show what a special community park run really is… so only one thing to do after that, and that was to smash my course pb and get my first 50 age cat win.”

*The Road Runners entered nine members this week and amazingly claimed five age category wins and podium places, and the 1st female runner home was former NWRRC member Gemma Moore (Eryri Harriers) in 24th place in 22.34, with promising teenager Harri Jackson (Manchester Metro University AC) taking the 3rd spot for the men with a new PB and 1st SM18-19 cat in 17.19.

*This is the link to the provisional Conwy parkrun results:

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/conwy/results/latestresults/