Road Running duo fly the flag at Conwy parkrun...plus other results ... and Welsh Masters rankings.

Road Running duo fly the flag at Conwy parkrun.

Report by Don Hale.

Due to the latest 5k club championship event being held at Ruthin last weekend only two NWRRC members remained to proudly fly the flag at the Conwy parkrun, yet both athletes ran well and won their age categories amongst another popular entry of 176 varied entrants.

Despite very wet conditions underfoot with another puddle-filled and muddy course, Road Runner Will Williamscontinued his recent good form to finish in 4th place overall and he was also the 1st MV50 cat in 18.55.

*Will Williams (*above) back to his best at Conwy following a period of ill health.

And master veteran athlete Don Hale celebrated a surprise return to the Conwy parkrun following serious injury, which has kept him out of action since July, by winning his MV70 age cat in 75th place overall in 27.15. Due to this long delay, this was Don’s first event in this new age cat.

Afterwards Don admitted: “It’s a been a long hard recovery battle and although I am still well short of fitness, it was great to be back running again. Parkrun is so important for both mental and physical well-being and sometimes we take this for granted when long term injury or illness occurs.”

*Don Hale (*above) returned to parkrun after a long absence through injury.

Local sports shop promoter Tom Carter from Abergele was the first man back at Conwy, and he also recorded a new PB in a cat and mouse dash with Simon Cole (GOG Triathlon Club). Tom won his MV40 age cat in 16.57, with Simon 2nd overall and 2nd MV40 in 17.08, and Osian Griffiths finished 3rd and he was 1st in his SM30 cat in 18.29. The 1st female athlete was Elisha Price who also won her SW30 age cat in 22.54.

 

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

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

Hat-trick for Don at Welsh Masters' Athletics final rankings 2022.

Welsh Masters' Athletics have just confirmed their final rankings list for indoor and outdoor track events throughout 2022 with North Wales Road Runner and master veteran athlete Don Hale featuring in three different distance categories, including one national record!

Don competed in his M65-69 age cat at the top end of this scale at two different indoor venues and later celebrated with three gold medals, three PBs, and three prestigious top rankings at the time, including a new national record at an unusual but very challenging distance.

He ran in the three-lap 600m indoor track race for the first time ever at Sport City in Manchester on March 5th and won his M65 cat whilst recording a new national record time of 2 minutes 11.38 seconds. 

Don later competed in the 200m event at that same venue on that same day and again topped his age ranking at the time with a result of 36.55 seconds. During the season however, his ranking gradually dropped from 1st to 3rd, but it’s understood that his rivals Roderick Davies (Lee Valley) and Chris Norton (Aberdare) recorded their impressive times on an outdoor track.

Don’s other top ranking was achieved on the indoor track at the Deeside Leisure Centre on February 20th when he won the 60m race with a new PB in a time of 11.15 seconds. At the time he collected the No 1 top ranking place, but again over the course of the season, his position later dropped down to 2nd place overall following a great performance by rival David Marginson (Lee Valley).

*Gwennan Charlton at the Sherwood parkrun (*above left) and with her family.

 

Other race results: *Sherwood Pines, Newark: Gwennan Charlton enjoyed a steady trot through the woods at the Sherwood Pines parkrun near Newark last Saturday and she finished as the 34th female runner, in 120th place overall, and in 4th spot in her VW35 age cat in 31.13. The event included 207 finishers.

*Cai Roberts and Kelly Marie Alford (*above) at the breezy Morecambe 10k.

*Morecambe: Kelly Marie Alford and her partner Cai Roberts ran together in the Morecambe 10k race on Sunday, and for Kelly in particular, the conditions on Sunday included a strong blustery wind and near freezing conditions, which were in stark contrast to her London Marathon experience from the previous week when she said she was “boiling” in her special TV theme costume. 

After the race, Kelly admitted: “My time was 50 minutes and 31 seconds, and just short of a my PB. The strong winds were against us out and back which didn’t help. It felt strange when you have the wind against you, and then when you turn around, it’s still against you, you can’t win.”