Road Runners beat the weather to win age cat victories and podium places at Abergele races.

 

*Some of the NWRRC team (*above) on the prom at Abergele.

Hundreds of runners beat the storm at the Abergele races.

Report by Don Hale.

https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com

 

Hundreds of runners tried to beat the weather at the Abergele 5k and 10k races last Sunday morning as the prelude to Storm Ashley battered North Wales with heavy rain and gale force winds.

Fortunately, the worst of these conditions didn’t prevail until later in the day, but entrants for the earlier 5k faced driving rain and gusty winds, whilst 10k entrants more than an hour later, still had some strong winds to contend with, but welcomed a brief spell of bright sunshine.

The elements though failed to dampen the spirit of nineteen Road Runners who bravely took part in either one or both events. Fifteen NWRRC members ran in the 5k race and claimed five age category victories and several podium places, including some fast times, and four members ran in the later 10k race.

Will Williams led the team home on 12th place in 19 mins and 9 seconds, and he won his M50 age cat, whilst Carla Green (*pictured below), was the 1st female finisher, and she also won her F50 cat with a great performance in 20.36. Veteran athlete Kevin Slattery was another cat winner in his M65-69 section after finishing 24th in 21.05.

Ben Hudson recovered well from his recent ultra races to finish in 25th place in 21.09, and Steve Roberts was 27th, and he won his new M60 cat in 21.19. Cheryl Frost continued her run of good form to claim 2nd place in her F55 cat in 22.50 as the 8th female, and Daniel Hennell was 37th in 23.03.

Sarah Ferguson Hudson also managed to shake off her ultra-blues to record a very good time of 23.15 as the 9th female, and she was 2nd in her F45 cat, and Kay Hatton celebrated another sparkling F60 cat win with a positive run in 23.59 as the 13th female.

Mal Preece was 51st in 25.24, and he finished 3rd in his M60 age cat, whilst Helen Hannam was the 23rd female in 26.33, and Gwennan Charlton claimed the 27th female place and she was 3rd in her F35 cat with a new PB in 27.42.

Meanwhile, master vet Rob Fryer recorded an excellent weekend double after winning his parkrun VM70 age cat with further success in the 5k, where he won his F70 cat in 63rd place overall in 28.07. 

*Pictured above (l-r): Age cat winners Rob Fryer, Steve Roberts, Kay Hatton, and Kevin Slattery at the Abergele races.

And it was great to welcome Mark Davies back to a race for the first time in ages, as he continues to recover from serious injuries. Mark finished 72nd in 33.25 to also claim a second PB of the weekend, whilst Rachel Morris returned from her holiday to battle along with a sterling run as the 54th female in 35.50.

*In the later 10k race, a quartet of NWRRC members enjoyed slightly better conditions to record some good finishing times. Stuart Culverhouse was 27th in 41.59, whilst Karl Morris finished well in 48th place in 45.54.

Helen Hannam finished as the 41st female – and completed a unique double race day – in 56.08, whilst master veteran Mike Hayton claimed a deserved 2nd place in his F70 age cat in 59.38. *Praise was given to the race organisers RunWales, Chris and Tracy Yorke and to all the volunteers and marshalls in such a challenging day.