Fast times by Road Runners at Lake Vyrnwy half-marathon - plus other race results...

By Don Hale

*(PICTURED ABOVE): The NW Road Running team at Lake Vyrnwy (*back row l-r), Sue Smith, Kevin Higgins, Ben Hudson, Stuart Culverhouse, and John Dalzell, and (*front row), Nicola Wylie, Mandy Owen, Kelly Alford and Sarah Hudson.

Fast times by Road Runners at Lake Vyrnwy half-marathon - plus other race results...

Report by Don Hale.

 

Nine Road Runners tackled the revised Lake Vyrnwy half-marathon last Sunday with many athletes amongst the 800 plus entrants celebrating superb times in near perfect conditions.

Endurance star John Dalzell was the first club man home in 122nd place in 1 hour 28 minutes and 36 seconds, closely followed by Stuart Culverhouse, who was thrilled to go sub-90 minutes after his 37th attempt, finally finishing in 125th place in 1.28.47. 

Ben Hudson also had a good run out and finished in 158th place in 1.32.33, but his wife Sarah Hudson was the outstanding star of the team knocking an amazing nine-minutes off her previous best time. Sarah later admitted that she had been trying for ages to dip under 1.45, and said she was “over the moon” about this result.



* Sarah Hudson (*above left) with Nicola Wylie.


Nicola Wylie was another runner in top-form, and said she was “buzzing” after her finishing time of 1.45.15 in 305th place overall, which included an eight-minute PB from her last half-marathon at Wrexham; and Kelly Marie Alford said she found the race hard but still finished well in 1.53.18 to claim 426th place.

Meanwhile, veteran Kevin Higgins continues to improve with every race, and he finished in 454th place in 1.55.02, whilst it was good to see Mandy Owen back in club colours again, and she recorded a time of 2.11.40 in 641st place, with colleague Sue Smith running home in 744th place in 2.27.06.

 

*The race was won by Nigel Martin (Sale Harriers) in 1.05.54, with Callum Rowlinson (Salford Harriers) 2nd in 1.06.00, and Andrew Davies (Stockport AC) 3rd in 1.07.44. The 1st female runner was Alison Lavender (Oswestry Olympians) in 1-18.07.

https://results.sporthive.com/events/6972882776687163648/races/483216

 

Great debut for Llyr at Bilbao Duathlon.

 

Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts made his debut in the Bilbao Duathlon last Saturday and finished 14th at the top end of his MV45-49 in 1 hour 10 minutes and 29 seconds overall, and 89th out of 204 male athletes. The event included a 5k run followed by 20k bike ride and a further 2.7k final dash. 

He later commented: “It was a tough course with 6km of the bike ride up a hill. I held my own across the disciplines, so I’ll take that in my first one. Roll on next year.”



*Llyr AprGeraint-Roberts (*above) crosses the finish line at Bilbao.

NWRRC athletes Rachel and Cheryl at Great North Run.

Report by Don Hale.

 

Rachel Morris travelled to the North-East to take part in the famous Great North Run half-marathon event. Rachel ran well and managed to complete the course in 2 hours and 33 minutes.

She later confirmed: "I had the pleasure of running the Great North Run with my parents. If anyone hasn’t done this one, I would highly recommend it.…but it’s been a long awaited 2 years for this weekend to happen thanks to Covid-19.

"My first time doing the GNR, my Dad’s 14th time, and my Mum’s 12th. The atmosphere was amazing, with families cheering you on, kids high-fiving, shouting your name - someone even called me smiler - handing out sweets, lollies, oranges, and people spraying hoses as it was so hot. 

"Bands playing and right at the end a packed-out pub with everyone singing as we passed! There were 60,000 people taking part, and I was 27,538. Loved the whole weekend! And I’ve already got my place in next year’s GNR 2023.”



*Rachel Morris (*above left) with her running parents at the Great North Run.

Cheryl Frost was another fine competitor at the GNR and celebrated an excellent performance. She confirmed: "I finished 23rd in my age group. I was 4,775th overall and finished in 1 hour 46 minutes and 26 seconds. It was such an amazing atmosphere and a very moving tribute to our wonderful Queen, and the minute silence before the start was very emotional."



*Cheryl Frost (*above) put in another great performance at the GNR.



Don Hale is a former award winning investigative journalist and now a best-selling author who has created a very popular blog post linked to numerous social media sites. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025.

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