Tributes paid to popular photographer Steve Jeffery at Conwy parkrun.

*Pictured above - the late photographer Steve Jeffery and his dog Bonnie.

Tributes paid to popular photographer Steve Jeffery at Conwy parkrun...

Report by Don Hale. Photos courtesy of Steve Jeffery’s archive.

https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com

www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk

 

There were mixed emotions at Conwy parkrun last Saturday as nearly 300 mixed ability social and club runners paid tribute, including a minutes spontaneous applause, to the popular and well-known photographer Steve Jeffery, who tragically lost his life last Wednesday.

Steve was a founding member of North Wales Road Runners, and a former member of the Abergele Harriers club, and he was a regular supporter at Conwy, and at numerous other local parkruns, plus a variety of events throughout the region.

There was a notable feeling of shock and sadness amongst the packed ranks as parkrun officials John Hatton, and Bethan Wyn Roberts, confirmed the sudden and unexpected loss of Steve, who usually attended events with his pet dog Bonnie, and willingly posted all his treasured pictures online, and free of charge!

North Wales Road Runners paid their own personal tribute to Steve by wearing their club colours and entered a remarkable twenty-two members, with three runners finishing in the top-ten and claimed three age category victories.

*Josh Keogh (*above left) with Will Williams, and Harry Driscoll.

Josh Keogh led a strong team home in 4th place overall, and he won his SM30 age cat in 18 minutes and 44 seconds. He was closely followed by Will Williams, who was just one place and seven-seconds behind, but won his VM50 cat, and Harry Driscoll ran well in 10th place, and he was 3rd in his SM20 cat in 19.40.

Four other club runners packed well, with each member finishing within a few seconds of each other in a final dash. Dave Jones led the group back in 33rd place in 22.23, followed by Jamie Tharme 39th in 22.46, and he was 3rd in his VM45 cat, with Steve Roberts 41st and 2nd in his VM55 cat in 22.50, whilst Tony Price Jones was only four-seconds adrift in 42nd place in 22.54. 

 

*Dave Jones (*above left), with Adam Lemalle, and Kelly Marie Alford.

And despite a good chase Adam Lemalle had to settle for 48th place in 23.13, with Karl Morris 51st in 23.24, and a recovering Martin Green finished well in 52nd place in 23.33. 

Kelly Marie Alford meanwhile continued her rapid progress with a third parkrun PB on the trot and she knocked almost a minute off her previous time, finishing 66th overall, thanks to her latest PB of 24.44 as the 7th female, and she was 2nd in her VW40 age cat.

Veteran Karen Butler was on good form again, and she was 2nd in her VW65 cat in 78th place in 25.35, with master vet Don Hale winning his VM70 cat in 25.55 in 85th place. Ceri Jones was 105th in 27.23, and Rob Fryer was back in action again, and he enjoyed a steady run in 27.43 to finish in 111th place.

 

*Veteran Karen Butler (*above left), with Don Hale, and Rob Fryer.

Another master vet, Mark Mason, claimed the 2nd spot in his VM70 age cat in 116th place overall in 27.51, and Hannah Griffith was 141st in 29.08, with veteran John O’Shea 142nd in 29.11. Gwennan Charlton also ran well in 167th place in 30.38, with Nia Lister 177th in 31.16; whilst Rachel Morris continued her marathon build-up in 195th place in 32.42. And the injured Steve Mason, and his dog Coco, walked the course as the sweeper in 285th place in 52.38.

*Mark Mason (*above left), with Gwennan Charlton, and Rachel Morris.

*The first finisher at Conwy parkrun was Simon Cole (GOG Triathlon), who won his VW40 age cat in a remarkable time of just 16 minutes and 45 seconds, and club colleague Aled Hughes finished 2nd in 18.03, and won his VM35 age cat, with Mathew Baker just three seconds adrift, and he was 2nd in the same age cat.

The 1st female finisher was course debutant Tinka Vinks (10th overall) in 19.39, and she won her SW30 age cat, with Colwyn Bay teenager Ella Grundy (31st), and she claimed the 2nd female spot in 22.02, and won her JW15-17 cat; and in addition, Katherine Gregson finished 3rd, (33rd overall), in 22.22, and she was 2nd in the same age cat as Tinka.

 

*This is the link to the provisional results from Conwy: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/conwy/results/latestresults/

*Brothers John Jones (Eryri) and Dave Jones (NWRRC) are pictured above with Paul Quentin (Abergele) at Conwy parkrun as they paid tribute to Steve Jeffery.

Tributes paid to Steve Jeffery by trio from different athletic clubs.

Report by Don Hale.

 

Three runners from different local athletic clubs paid their own personal tribute to the former athlete and photographer Steve Jeffery. They included brothers John and David Jones, together with Paul Quentin.

The trio initially intended to run at the Conwy parkrun last Saturday to celebrate Paul’s 100th parkrun, but they also wanted honour the memory of a beloved friend and a former colleague, who Dave said: “Had been sadly taken from the running community this week.”

Paul won his age group during an emotional run, but confirmed, that although he is no longer a member of Abergele Harriers, he was a member when Steve Jeffery founded the club, and ran with him for many years. And he even wore one of the old club shirts from Steve’s era as a mark of respect.

 

*Pictured above (left), Ben Hudson and Sarah Ferguson Hudson.

Other results:

*Prestatyn: Ben and Sarah Hudson continued with their travels and made their debuts at the Nova Prestatynparkrun last Saturday, where they both won their respective age cats. Ben finished 9th overall in 21.44, and he was 1st in his MV45 cat, whilst Sarah was 16th, as the 4th female finisher in 23.12, and she also won her VW45 cat.