Prestigious medals won at the North Wales cross-country championships.
*Some of the NWRRC team (*above), that competed at the NW cross-country championships last Saturday (l-r): Karen Butler, Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton, Carla Green, Gwennan Charlton, Iwan Evans, and Stuart Culverhouse, with team supporter Martin Green.
Prestigious medals won at the North Wales cross-country championships...
Report by Don Hale. Most photos by Steve Jeffery.
https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com
www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk
Several hundred runners ranging from juniors to master veterans took part in the Grand Prix Express, North Wales cross-country championships, held last Saturday afternoon at Ysgol Morgan Llywd at Wrexham.
North Wales Road Runners entered nine athletes including five ladies and four men, and they won six prestigious NW championship awards with one gold, one silver, and four bronze medals.
The female athletes competed in the senior/master women’s race with Carla Green bouncing back to form in 29th place overall in 28 minutes and 20 seconds to win a silver medal in her W50 age cat.
And Cheryl Frost put in a very determined display but unfortunately, just missed out on a medal in her W55 age cat, despite running well in 35th place in 29.51, whilst Kay Hatton claimed a bronze medal in her W60 cat in 37th place in 30.09.
Karen Butler however, struck gold with a new NW champs medal as the W65 age cat winner after finishing 38th overall, following an outstanding performance in 30.16, and Gwennan Charlton completed another excellent run, finishing 52nd in 37.29, and she won a deserved bronze medal in her W35 age cat.
*Pictured above - Carla Green, Cheryl Frost and Kay Hatton, and (*below), Karen Butler (*left), and Gwennan Charlton.
The four-man NWRRC team competed in the senior/master men’s race with Josh Keogh finishing 7th overall in 31.39, and he was 5th in his SW age cat, with Iwan Evans 32nd in 36.32, and he won a bronze medal in his M45 cat.
*Josh Keogh (*above left), with Iwan Evans, and (*below), Steve Gardner (*left), and Stuart Culverhouse.
Steve Gardner, meanwhile, put in another strong run in 34th place in 36.45 and he too was 3rd for a bronze NW championship medal in his M60 cat. Stuart Culverhouse though, was another club runner who just missed out on a medal in his M50 cat despite a good run in 40th place in 38.34 and finishing 4th in his M50 cat.
*The senior/master women’s race attracted 55 top club runners with Martha Owen (Deeside AC) winning the overall event with a fast time of 22.16, to claim a gold champs medal in her SW age category.
She was closely followed by Joanne Henderson (Denbigh Harriers) as the runner-up in 22.32, who also struck gold in her NW W45 cat, and in 3rd place was Samia Jones (Menai T&F), who claimed a silver medal in the same NW age cat as Martha in 22.45.
Praise was additionally given to Gemma Moore (Eryri Harriers), who won a gold medal in her W40 age cat in 23.50 in 5th place overall, and some other notable race performances included Emma Collins (Denbigh Harriers), who also collected a gold medal in her W60 cat in 20th place in 27.47.
And there were generous plaudits to two other highly respected veteran athletes in Liz Evans (GOG Triathlon), who was a NW gold medal winner in her W70 cat in 44th place in 32.08, with fellow GOG and veteran runner Ann D’Alberquerque finishing 49th overall, for a gold medal after winning her W75 age cat, in 49th place in 36.03.
*In the masters men, 65 race, which attracted 26 entries, the 1st finisher overall was Russell Owen (Eryri Harriers) in 23.29, and he was also the winner of his M65 age cat. Gordon Jones (Prestatyn RC) was 2nd in the same age cat as Russell in 23.53, with Mark Watling (Denbigh Harriers), taking the 3rd spot overall, and 3rd place in the same age cat as the other two athletes in 25.43.
Some other notable NW gold medal results from some superb master veterans, included Neil Owen (Run Free Fell), who finished 5th overall in 26.43, and he was a gold medal winner of his M70 age cat, with Gareth Hughes (Prestatyn RC), winning gold in his M75 cat in 20th place overall in 34.44, and top marks to Emyr Davies (Hebog), who won his M80 cat in 11th place with a great time of 29.39, whilst Roger Harrison-Jones also deserves tremendous credit for winning his M85 age cat in 41.26.
*The senior men’s race was won by Matthew Willis (Wrexham AC) in 28.20 who collected a gold medal as the first SM age cat winner. The runner-up was Ethan Ackroyrd (Liverpool Harriers) in 28.56, with Tomos Roberts(Meirionnydd RC), 3rd in 30.02, and they all competed in the same age categories, winning appropriate NW championship medals.
*The NW cross-country champs were well organised by Bernie Jones and his support team, and Bernie thanked Wrexham AC for hosting the event, all the volunteers, and Dave Peters and his helpers from Newtown, who did the chip timing and registration, in addition to all the Wrexham volunteers, and support from Eryri Harriers, Run Free Fell, NWRRC, and to Noel Butler, who travelled from Warwick to watch his grandson run, and offered his services. He confirmed that without this support, there would be no championships.
*This is a link to the provisional results of the NW Champs:
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