Don Hale Blog

*Pictured above - birthday boy Kevin Slattery celebrated his 70th birthday at Conwy parkrun with a superb run, and he won his new VM70 age cat. Six age cat wins for the Road Runners at a mild Conwy parkrun...and special celebrations for Kevin Slattery. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   North Wales Road Runners turned out nineteen members this week on a very mild morning, but on puddle-filled course from the RSPB Nature Reserve, which again attracted a generous attendance of nearly three-hundred mixed ability and social runners. Steve Mason  led the NWRRC team home in 5th place overall as they claimed six age cat victories, including his own VM50 age cat win in 18 minutes and 56 seconds.  Birthday boy  Kevin Slattery , the club chairman, celebrated his both his 70th birthday, and winning his respective, and new VM70 age cat, after finishing 12th overall in 21.43, and this week he was joined in the parkrun by his son...

The British Masters International Cross-Country races in Belfast. Report by Ifan Lloyd. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   The British Masters cross country international is my most cherished cross-country event of the year. Always an honour to represent my country and wear the red of Wales.  And a very special day it was in Belfast last Saturday to take first place and gold in the men 65-69 age category. It’s taken 25 years since my first race in this event back in 1999 to win an individual gold medal.  I had always aspired but never quite achieved. It was also special to compete against such great athletes in my race. It doesn’t get easier as you progress up the age categories!          *Pictured above and right, Welsh Master Ifan Lloyd with his medal and shown tackling a large hill at the Belfast cross country races. A special shout out to my team-mates from Wales: Gordon Jones, Dave Watson, and  John Foster...

*Pictured above - Annie Turner - author, dog psychologist and behaviourist. Special Coast and Country Author Spotlight Feature Welcome to another new author feature in conjunction with Amazon.   Puppy Training Made Easy: A Complete Essential Step by Step Guide to Puppy Training by Dog Psychologist & Dog Behaviourist  Annie Turner.      Published by North Wales based firm:   www.bookpublishing4u.co.uk   https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   Read Annie’s wonderful book which is now available on Amazon via this link:  https://amzn.to/4igikkX   ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE BOOK :  Puppy Training Made Easy: Essential Step by Step Guide to Puppy Training by Dog Psychologist and Dog Behaviourist Annie Turner. Annie Turner is a Dog Psychologist and Author who has been training dogs for over 30 years. She is well known as Dr Dogology. The book gives you a complete comprehensive guide about everything you need to know about raising and training ...

Report and results round-up from the Richard Burton 10k. Details from David Gibson. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   The Richard Burton 10k run in early November in the Afan Valley near Port Talbot is a bit of a cult event with a special valley flavour but attracting top club runners from throughout South Wales.  The race is one of the oldest of its type having started in 1982 as a fun run in remembrance of three lads who died in a car crash whilst travelling from Cwmafan to Swansea. In 1983 Richard Burton CBE was asked if he would allow the race to be named after him, which he agreed to. The atmosphere and local support are just two aspects that make it a great event. The circular course has some serious climbing early on compensated by an exhilarating downhill return from Pontrhydyfen to the finish in Cwmafan. Two unique aspects are the Welsh Slate coasters instead of medals along with a Welsh cake for all finishers.   The category firs...

  *This is a photo of Tony Crocker taken by Roger Garland, proudly wearing his “GB Veterans” tracksuit top, having just secured the European M75 High Jump title at Ancona in Italy in 2016. Special tribute to the late veteran athletic champion - Professor Anthony (Tony) Crocker - RIP. Report by Roger Garland.   It is with sadness that I am writing to inform you of the recent death of Tony Crocker.  Tony was an exceptional “Vet” athlete for many years as a member of the Droitwich Club and MMAC, still holding no less than eight MVTFL records across four disciplines and several different age categories. He was also very successful at Regional, National, European, and World Championship level, winning a hatful of gold medals whilst setting records within Great Britain and overseas.    Although the start of his athletics career pre-dated Power of 10, the amazing performances later in his career are very well documented.    We ow...

*Pictured above  - Carla Heath - with her dramatic new book Mother's Love. Special Coast and Country Author Spotlight Feature. Welcome to another new author feature in conjunction with Amazon.   Mother’s Love by Carla Heath.   Published by North Wales based firm:   www.bookpublishing4u.co.uk   www.donhaleblog.blogspot.com *Read Carla’s fascinating new book which is now available on Amazon via this link:   https://amzn.to/3ASdQQF ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Mother’s Love by Carla Heath.   This is a personal experience of the journey of the author life growing up.  I felt I needed to share my story for others who may have encountered a troubled childhood and give them inspiration and encouragement that you can turn things around and overcome difficulties to thrive when you are an adult and accomplish your own personal aspirations and goals. This book reaches out to wide audience who enjoy real life stories. It is in my own words. It is a story that is raw an...

*Crime thriller writer David Widdowson (*above) with his new book. Special Coast and Country Author Spotlight Feature. Welcome to another new author feature in conjunction with Amazon.   Lifer’s Chance: An Offer he couldn't refuse by David P. Widdowson... https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   Published by North Wales based firm :   www.bookpublishing4u.co.uk   *David’s exciting new book is now available on Amazon via this link: https://amzn.to/416u4jR   About the book: This is the debut novel by David P. Widdowson. An exciting new crime thriller: A prisoner (an ex-Met Police firearms officer) is serving a life sentence. Then he is given an offer he can’t refuse… ABOUT THE AUTHOR : New crime thriller writer   David Widdowson was born in Nottinghamshire in 1952. In 1967 aged 15 he left school and started work as an apprentice agricultural engineer. He Married Jennie in 1977.  From 1981 to 1990 he studied with the Open University to obtain a BA Honours Degre...

*Pictured above - veteran foreign correspondent and author Colin   McIntyre. Special Coast and Country Author Spotlight Feature Welcome to another new author feature in conjunction with Amazon. Tiptoeing Through the Cold War:  A veteran correspondent looks back - by Colin McIntyre. *NOTE: This book is now available on amazon:   https://amzn.to/49992Tu ABOUT THE AUTHOR : Former foreign correspondent and author Colin McIntyre.   Published by North Wales based firm:   www.bookpublishing4u.co.uk https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com In this very interesting memoir the author, Colin McIntyre, looks back on 34 years as a foreign correspondent mainly reporting the Cold War.  After joining Reuters news agency in the 1960s he is posted to East Berlin, the only Western correspondent accredited to communist East Germany, and Czechoslovakia, still reeling from a 1968 Soviet-led invasion to crush attempted reforms.  After a spell in Asia covering communist takeovers in ...

Storm Bert was the only winner as various parkruns and local events hit - but Steve, Martin, and Harry beat the weather. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Storm Bert was the only winner last weekend as heavy rain and gale force winds forced the postponement of numerous sporting events, and in particular some fell and trail races, plus a host of popular parkruns across the area. Planned parkruns at Nova Prestatyn, Penrhyn Castle, Newborough Forest and Conwy, to name but a few, were all cancelled on either Friday night, or early Saturday morning, on essential health and safety grounds, to help protect both volunteers and many hundreds of participants. At Penrhyn Castle  they announced on Friday afternoon: “Unfortunately owing to the weather forecast we’ve been informed that parkrun is cancelled this Saturday.” And the same applied at the  Nova Prestatyn  venue, which is run along the promenade, when they confirmed: “...