Jonathan Kettle back to his best at Conwy parkrun.

By Don Hale

*Jonathan Kettle (*pictured above) was back to his best at Conwy parkrun.

Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery.

 

North Wales Road Runner Jonathan Kettle recovered from injury and soon claimed the top spot at Conwy parkrun last Saturday, finishing more than a minute ahead of his nearest rivals.

Jonathan shook off a recent knee problem to quickly set a fast pace over a hard, dry, but challenging 5k course, and recorded an excellent time of just 17 minutes and 47 seconds. 

He easily won his MV45 age category, but he was chased all the way by visiting athlete Gethin Owen, who set a new PB in 19.05, with Andy Jones (GOG Triathlon) a mere 17-seconds adrift, despite another new PB of 19.19. There were 238 finishers including many visiting club and social runners.

The 1st female finisher was SW20 athlete Ffion Roberts in 27th place overall in 22.33, with Lianne Stevenson in close pursuit in 29th place, and the 1st SW25 runner in 22,51, whilst veteran NWRRC member Kay Hatton finished as the 3rd female, and she was also the 1st VW60 cat winner in 37th place overall in 23.13.

The Road Runners entered seventeen members and claimed ten podium placings including eight age cat wins. Jonathan Kettle led the club team home with Tony Price-Jones next in 21st place in 21.53, and he won his MV35 cat. 



*Tony Price Jones (*above left) with Stuart and Joe Culverhouse.


Youngster Joe Culverhouse ran with his father Stuart, and he was another deserved winner of his JM11 cat in 34th place in 23.03, with Stuart one place and two seconds behind. Steve Roberts continued his recovery from injury in 36th place in 23.12, and talented veteran duo Kay Hatton and Cheryl Frost enjoyed another cat and mouse encounter, with Kay finishing 37th in 23.23, and won her MV60 age cat. Cheryl also performing well and finished just one place behind, but won her VW55 age cat in 23.23.



*Kay Hatton (*above left) and Cheryl Frost.

Richard Scamans finished in 47th place in 23.59, and Gethin Wyn Jones was back on form and turned in another determined display to claim the 55th spot in 24.47, with veteran runner Barrie Wells winning his MV65 age cat in 24.51 in 59th place. Sion Thomas was 68th overall in 25.27, whilst veteran Rob Fryer was 78th and 2nd MV65 cat in 26.13.



*Gethin Wyn Jones (*above left) with Richard Scamans.


Dave Spofforth ran with his son Ben, and the fast-improving junior finished in 84th place and won his JM10 age cat in 26.22 and shared the exact same time as his father. Master vets Mark Mason and Don Hale claimed the first and second places in their respective MV70 age category, with Mark 93rd in 26.50, and Don 132nd in 28.17.

 

*Praise was given again to the Conwy run director, and to all the volunteers and marshals, who made the parkrun event such a success. *This is the link to the provisional results:

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

 

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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