Don Hale Blog

*Will Williams (*pictured above) was the first NWRRC finisher at Conwy. Bumper festive turn-out at a very wild and windy Conwy parkrun. Report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk It was another bumper turn-out at Conwy parkrun last Saturday morning for the ever-popular Christmas event with nearly three-hundred club and social runners braving the wild and windy conditions over this challenging 5k course. And it turned out to be a dash with a blast for two top young guns who battled for honours with just five-seconds separating 1st and 2nd places. Students  Morgan Kendall  and  Bryn Woodall , who are both back home again in North Wales for the festive break, raced neck and neck throughout, with a near photo-finish on stand-by! Morgan  (Durham University Harriers AC) eventually took the 1st finisher place overall in 17 minutes and 15 seconds, and won his SM20 age cat, with  Bryn  (Colwyn Bay AC), a very close 2nd in 17.20, and he was 2nd in the s

*Jonathan Kettle (*pictured above front), with the group of festive runners. Athletics Coaches encouraged their runners to complete a Christmas social dash around the Great Orme. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Popular athletics coaches Jonathan Kettle and Tony Price-Jones, who organise a regular weekly training session on Llandudno promenade, opted to swap their evening programme last week, to a special Christmas social dash around the Great Orme. This festive event included dozens of running enthusiasts, mainly from Dalzell Runners , together with mixed members of North Wales Road Runners , GOG Triathlon , and several other local running groups, or individuals, and it was understood that most runners completed two challenging laps of the Orme, aided by essential head-torches to record a distance of about 11k. After the event, Jonathan and Tony received numerous generous plaudits from the runners for their efforts throughout the

Latest updates regarding the Welsh Masters Indoor T&F Championships on 21st January. Special report and comments from Brett Davis and Dave Watson at WMAL   Brett Davis, a director of WMAL has confirmed some extraordinary updates regarding the 2024 Welsh Masters athletics T&F Championships.  He said: “Due to the demands of the programme and restrictions caused by the timetable challenges, Welsh Athletics were only able to offer us (indoor) championship events at 60m, 200m and 300m.  “The middle-distance events are run by the British Miler’s Club, and we await the conditions there when they go live on the BMC website, but they may be elite open only. No field events are championship events due to number restrictions, but individuals can enter, there just won’t be any medals for those events.” And today he added, hot off the press: “ I can update now that the BMC is elite only which translates to 1:58 800m, and 4:05 1500m, for males, and 2:20 and 4:50 for females.”   The champions

*Organisers from the Ty Hapus food bank (*above) with the generous donations received from members of NWRRC last week in Llandudno. North Wales Road Runners donate generous gifts to the Ty Hapus Foodbank after club's Christmas handicap race. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Road Runners Martin and Carla Green visited a popular local foodbank last week to deliver some generous donations following the NWRRC festive handicap race from West Shore, and up to the former WW2 gun sites and back. Following the event, members donated a variety of food items to a popular local foodbank, and Martin later confirmed: “Another donation gratefully received by Ty Hapus Community Resource Centre & Foodbank from  North Wales Road Runners Club after our annual Christmas handicap  race. “Huge thanks to all that donated, and also a big thank you for all the volunteers at Ty Hapus for their invaluable help for the community. ” *This is my blog report from the NWRRC

Roger Bannister breaks the 4-minute mile record on 6th May 1954. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk Television Newsreel:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg7TwEhNqI8 Roger Bannister's epic race when he smashed the record for the 4-minute mile: Bannister's time was recorded as 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. On the morning of May 6, 1954, a Thursday, Roger Bannister, 25, a medical student in London, worked his usual shift at St. Mary’s Hospital and took an early afternoon train to Oxford. He had lunch with some old friends, then met a couple of his track teammates, Christopher Chataway and Chris Brasher. As members of an amateur all-star team, they were preparing to run against Oxford University. About 1,200 people showed up at Oxford’s unprepossessing Iffley Road track to watch, and though the day was blustery and damp — inauspicious conditions for a record-setting effort — a record is what they saw. Paced by Chataway and Brasher and powered by an explosiv

Time to enjoy some live video action of some exciting races from the Border League and the Wilmslow 10k race in 2023,  recorded live courtesy of top athletics coach John Earlston.   Also included within this post are some additional action photos from various races during  the latter part of 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T9RrhbTXSA Telford 10k wave 1 at 5k point   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQTElzegB-c Telford 10k wave 1, the finish.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xM-j_vbd0 Q Telford 10k, wave 2 at 5k point   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbI5JOqpAGI Telford 10k, wave 2. The finish. 2nd part of the video of end of first lap of 2 of the Borders League 3 at Wrexham…Dec 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4PAoWzzWTQ Borders League 3 at Wrexham.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxE5xYuhsEI Wilmslow 10k start. The start of Borders League 3 at Wrexham. Didn't press record at the beginning of the runners coming past so missed a load of the faster runners.   https:

Some entertaining videos from waterlogged parkruns. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk Parkrunners often face a unique challenge every Saturday morning, especially if it rains heavily, and the course becomes like a flood plain and heavily waterlogged. This often happens at Conwy, Warrington, and even at Ormskirk at their finishing funnel, and possibly at many other places too, so the following YouTube links show what some runners have to brave in their quest for fitness and fun. The conditions can be quite extreme at Warrington and the regular flooded part of the course has even been nicknamed - Lake Victoria! My thanks to the parkrun organisers for sharing. Some videos from Warrington show the before and after comparisons from September to the winter. it's a very good advert for wellies! Ormskirk parkrun, and their waterlogged  finishing  funnel.   https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cbrzeCTdwIA Splash and dash with dad and son at Ormskirk parkrun, http

*Members of NWRRC (*pictured above), prior to the start of the Christmas handicap race at West Shore. Blustery winds for Road Runners at club’s Christmas handicap race...plus other  results and New Year events. Report by Don Hale. Main photos by Kevin Slattery and John Hatton. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Twenty-five members of North Wales Road Runners took part in the annual Christmas handicap race last Sunday, but they had to battle with cool and very blustery head and sidewinds as they negotiated a challenging four-mile course along part of the Great Orme. Following a tough route out from West Shore and climbing up the Orme to the old WW2 gun sites and past what’s known as ‘ Millionaires Row ,’ the runners then turned via a further muddy track before returning back to the start. This popular event, well organised by John Hatton, Martin and Carla Green, and a team of willing volunteers and marshals attracted a bumper attendance, which included ne