MURDER IN THE GRAVEYARD - Award winning BBC documentary

By Don Hale
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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World 5k record title hope for Swansea Harrier and Welsh Master Alan Davies

By Don Hale
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*Swansea Harrier Alan Davies (*above) crosses the finish line at the recent Cardiff 5k - Race for Victory - event to set a new record. (Photo  courtesy of Paul Stillman Sports Photography). World 5k record title hope for Swansea Harrier and Welsh Master Alan Davies. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Subject to official confirmation, Welsh Master Alan Davies of Swansea Harriers is another top veteran who may well have smashed the VM70 category World Record for 5k.  Running in the Cardiff 5k – Race for Victory - on Sunday 5th May 2024, 71-year-old legend Alan clocked a chip time of 18:01. This is a notable improvement on the 18:17 that he recorded at the Tri Hard Harriers 5k On the Bay in Swansea in August last year. Alan also holds the joint 5k M65 Welsh Masters Record at 18:04. Like fine wine, he is improving with age!  *Pictured above - Swansea Harrier Alan Davies - competing in the West Glamorgan cross-country league earlier this ye...
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Mixed emotions but a great experience for athletes at the London Marathon...plus other results and updates.

By Don Hale
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*North Wales Road runner Mal Preece (*above) at the London Marathon. Mixed emotions but a great experience for athletes at the London Marathon...plus other results and updates... Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Seven North Wales Road Runners competed in the televised London Marathon last Sunday amongst a mass participation of some 50,000 runners, who raised tens of thousands of pounds for various worthy charities, with many athletes recalling mixed emotions and personal best times! Mal Preece  was the first NWRRC member home with an excellent time of 3 hours and 20 minutes, and he celebrated following a great new PB time. Afterwards he confirmed:  “Very pleased with a new six-minute PB. I ran my first marathon back in 2011 at Chester, and to date I’ve knocked 20 minutes off that time. Looking to chip away my latest PB again next year with GFA time. My goal was to get my qualifying time for Berlin next year, which I ac...
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Back to the mud and hills for the first cross-country fixture at Bangor

By Don Hale
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*The NWRRC ladies team at Bangor (*l-r) Cheryl Frost, Gwennan Charlton and Kay Hatton. Back to the mud and hills for the first cross-country fixture of the season at Treborth, Bangor. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery and Lesley Goodson. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Five members of North Wales Road Runners entered the first North Wales Cross-Country League fixture of the season, well-organised by hosts Eryri Harriers at Treborth, near Bangor, last Saturday, and staged over a rather muddy, hilly, and challenging series of varied courses. With different distance routes offered in respect of ages, and male and female races, ranging from juniors to masters, the general feedback was most encouraging with many runners welcoming a positive return to some sort of normality following an enforced period of uncertainty. NWRRC members ran in either the senior women’s race, or the senior men’s event, over approximate distances of 3.5-miles, or 5.5...
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Parkrun boss finally makes a belated statement about the latest controversy to remove important records! But ignores the real reason!

By Don Hale
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Parkrun boss finally makes a belated statement about the latest controversy to remove important record! But is it just a smokescreen to cover up a previous row over transgender athletes? By Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It's taken about a week for Russ Jefferys, the CEO of parkrun global to belatedly make a statement about last Thursday’s controversial decision to remove male and female, first, and fast finishers, plus age grades, and age category records from their website. It is something that has naturally attracted strong debate up and down the country, and no doubt at numerous parkruns across the world! But I still question whether this latest debacle is just a smokescreen to try to hide, and hence remove any existing records relating to transgender athletes! Parkrun came into being many years ago following a great idea by several like-minded runners, who organised a timed 5k run in their local park, and so from a small acor...
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North Wales Road Runner Jonathan Kettle wins the Pervolia half-marathon in Cyprus.

By Don Hale
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*NWRRC member Jonathan Kettle takes the top-spot on the podium following his excellent victory at the Pervolia half-marathon In  Cyprus. North Wales Road Runner Jonathan Kettle wins the Pervolia half-marathon in Cyprus. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk North Wales Road Runner Jonathan Kettle claimed an incredible victory at the Pervolia half-marathon in Cyprus last Sunday with a superb performance in a fast time of 1 hour 16 minutes and 28 seconds. This was the veteran athlete's first-ever international win, and he also won his respective VM45 age category, and topped the podium at this prestigious sun-drenched event. Afterwards, Jonathan, who is also a much respected athletics coach, was obviously thrilled by his efforts, and especially with the win, and confirmed: “I did the 27th international race – the Pervolia half-marathon in Cyprus - and won it! I finished first, and this was the only position I wanted today! This was my fi...
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Football predictions for the weekend - 6-8th November 2026.

By Don Hale
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DON HALE'S WEEKEND FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS... donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026  coastandcountry.blog Friday 6 – Sunday 8 November 2026 Premier League • Championship • Scottish Premiership Welcome to the second edition of Don Hale's Football Predictions! Following a promising opening edition, with  seven correct match results from nine on Tuesday and six from six on Wednesday night , we're back with another weekend of football forecasts. I've selected matches from three competitions, added my own predicted scores and compared some of the selections with independent statistical forecasts. As always, these are my opinions. Let's see how they fare! PREMIER LEAGUE Friday 6 November Everton v Coventry City –  2–1 Saturday 7 November Leeds United v Tottenham Hotspur –  1–1 Arsenal v Hull City –  3–0 Fulham v Newcastle United –  1–2 Nottingham Forest v Manchester City –  1–3 Sunday 8 November Brighton v Brentford –  2–2 Crystal Palace v Liverpool –  1–2 Ip...
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Newborough Forest parkrun hosted NWRRC championship event - plus other parkrun results

By Don Hale
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*Some of the NWRRC team at the Newborough Forest parkrun - pictured (l-r): Hannah Griffith, Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton, Rob Fryer and Gwen Charlton. Newborough Forest parkrun hosted NWRRC championship event - plus other North Wales parkrun results. Don Hale & Alex Irving – Coast & Country Parkrun Round-up. Rhos parkrun photos by Michael (Pat) Finnie. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog Newborough Forest parkrun welcomed 234 entrants on Saturday, including several members from North Wales Road Runners, who included this particular event within their club championships. Ed Slaughter  of Porthcawl Runners led the field home overall  in 17:12, followed by  Woody Felton  of Spectrum Striders RC in 18:18, while  Aidan Thomas  took third place in 19:07. The first female finisher was  Harriet Wingfield , sixth overall in 19:50.  Alice Horsfield  was the second female in 21:24, and  Holly Worth  was third in 22:18. North...
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⚽ DON HALE'S WEEKEND FOOTBALL SPECIAL!

By Don Hale
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⚽  DON HALE'S WEEKEND FOOTBALL SPECIAL! After a promising opening edition with  7 correct results from 9 , and on Wednesday Night 6 correct results from 6, I'm back with another weekend of football predictions! This time we're covering: 🏆 Premier League ⚽ Championship 🏴 Scottish Premiership My personal match predictions and scorelines, comparisons with independent forecasting models, and our ever-popular Golden Goal selection. Can we improve on last week's results? There are plenty of intriguing matches, including Leeds v Spurs, Forest v Man City, Wrexham v Wolves, and St Mirren v Rangers. It's all for football interest and entertainment – not betting advice. Read the full feature on Coast & Country: https://www.coastandcountry.blog/blog/categories/don-hale-s-football-predictions Predict • Compare • Enjoy! One final recommendation: before publishing, check the score predictions against your own preferred selections and let me know if you'd like any change...
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MEET THE AUTHOR – PAUL STROUD - A British writer and a keen sports fan living in Japan.

By Don Hale
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MEET THE AUTHOR - PAUL STROUD - A British writer and keen sports fan living in Japan. *Author Paul Stroud pictured now lives with his family in Japan. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog An English writer and teacher sharing his knowledge and passions from Japan.. What happens when an Englishman takes his enthusiasm for language, education and football to Japan? For Paul Stroud, it has provided inspiration for a varied collection of published work. An English author who lives and teaches in Japan, Paul has developed an interesting range of books covering English-language education, teaching resources, Japanese life and the beautiful game. Helping others learn English One of Paul's areas of interest is English-language education. His  English Forum  series provides conversation-practice material for intermediate and advanced English learners. One published description highlights 25 topics and more than 300 questions designed to encourage communication and fluency...
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FROM THE AMAZON RAINFOREST TO GROUND ZERO - The extraordinary story of Dr Sam Allen – an unexpected first responder on 9/11

By Don Hale
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FROM THE AMAZON RAINFOREST TO GROUND ZERO The extraordinary story of Dr Sam Allen – an unexpected first responder on 9/11 A remarkable true story of courage, compassion and a life-saving journey, told through the personal recollections and photographs of a British doctor who found himself caught up in one of the most devastating days in modern history. Special Coast & Country feature by Don Hale coastandcountry.blog donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 Some stories stay with you for a lifetime. Others become even more poignant when they involve someone you have known and respected for many years. This is one of those stories. I first met Dr Sam Allen in the 1980s, when I was editor of the  Matlock Mercury  in Derbyshire. We were both members of Matlock Athletic Club, along with the local MP, Matthew Parris. Over the years, Sam and I remained friends, and I have followed his remarkable life and adventures with considerable interest. But nothing could have prepared me for the extra...
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