Don Hale Blog

* Veteran athletes Kay Hatton and Mike Hayton (*above) both won their respective age cats with good times at the Penrhyn Castle parkrun last Saturday. North Wales Parkun results round-up: plus Kevin Higgins in a spin at the Oulton Park race circuit. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Good number of visitors, first-timers and PBs at NW parkruns. There were good numbers and numerous personal best times at most North Wales parkruns once again last weekend as hundreds of mixed ability athletes, including loads of visitors and first-timers, enjoyed the last of the summer events in the continued good weather.   *Penrhyn:   Ewan Brown  tore around the  Penrhyn Castle parkrun  last Saturday morning in an amazing new PB time of just 15 minutes and 49 seconds to additionally win his VM35 age cat. He was followed by  Nicolas Seguin  in 18.17, and  James Coleman  (Eryri Harriers) in 18.33. The first female finishers at Penrhyn included:  Mabli Bates ...

*Pictured above - Welsh Master Steve Gardner at a recent  track race. Welsh Master Steve Gardner denied a new steeplechase record due to a water leak! Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Welsh Master and international track athlete Steve Gardner hit the track running again last weekend and celebrated in style after winning his 2000m steeplechase race at a British Masters Championship meeting, but he was denied a new record due to a water leak! Staged at the Pingles Stadium in Nuneaton, he took part in a mixed race and was delighted with his outstanding overall win in an excellent time of just 7 minutes 31.62 seconds, but his result won’t count however as a record, as the runners had to miss out on the water jump due to an unfortunate leak, leaving the tray pit only half full. Steve, who also represents  North Wales Road Runners , was obviously disappointed by this unusual problem, but with his current good form on the tra...

Frank from Funchal meets Dancer: A story of barriers, determination and cats:   By J M Martlew. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 This is the link to the book: https://amzn.to/47qPdsd *NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON AUDIO LINK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3P7D9JF*Amazon   *ALSO ON EBOOK AND PAPERBACK : https://amzn.to/49SJmeC     A true account of Frank, a starving street cat from the island of Funchal who travels to the UK on a plane. There he joins Dancer; a traumatised street cat who was lost in London.  Both were emaciated and near to death when found but end up rescued and now living in their forever home in Sussex. Dancer hates Frank and would happily send him back on a plane if she could. J M Martlew recalls her own journey from a childhood rescuing street cats, lessons learnt as an NHS nurse in a children’s burns unit in Scotland; to finding street cats Dancer and Frank.  This touching memoir ends with her discovering no matter where you come from in ...

Special Coast and Country online magazine feature. coastandcountry.blog English for Daily Conversation:  Paul Stroud's latest books on AMAZON: Special Amazon deals:  *This is a link to all Paul Stroud's books on Amazon:   https://amzn.to/462ly6g donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 Paul Stroud is an English teacher in Japan and he has written numerous very interesting books about his life and work in Tokyo...and his passion for Japanese football... English for Daily Conversation: 50 topics and over 700 questions for conversation practice in the EFL classroom. About the author: Paul Stroud: My name is Paul Stroud, the author of the recently released EFL conversation text 'English for Daily Conversation', and the preceeding 'English Forum' series of materials for oral communication practice.  Additionally, I authored a couple of books on my experiences living and teaching for the past 20 years in the land of the rising sun titled 'Living in Japan: The Good, Bad, and ...

  SPECIAL AMAZON OFFERS FOR RICHARD OSMAN'S LATEST NOVELS...  promoted in conjunction with Coast and Country online magazine. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Richard Osman’s   novels have become runaway best sellers and THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB HAS JUST BEEN MADE INTO A NETFLIX FILM... Check out all of Richard Osman's books on AMAZON SPECIAL OFFERS: Click on this link for direct access to the best deals:   https://amzn.to/4nbrrVL   All Richard Osman's can also be ordered via this page:  Click on this link for direct access to the best deals:   https://amzn.to/4nbrrVL Richard Osman is an author, producer, and television presenter.  The Thursday Murder Club was his first novel.  He is well known for TV shows including Pointless and Richard Osman’s House of Games. As the creative director of Endemol UK, Richard has worked as an executive producer on numerous shows including Deal or No Deal, and 8 Out of 10 Cats. He is als...

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