Battle for honours at the first NW Cross-Country match of the season.

By Don Hale


*Pictured above - runners from the leading pack at the NW XC race at St Asaph.

Battle for honours at the first NW Cross-Country race of the season at Llanerch Hall, St Asaph.

Report by Don Hale. Photos courtesy of Bernie Jones.

donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 


The North Wales Cross Country League’s first fixture of the season defied the odds and beat Storm Amy last Saturday with hundreds of runners competing for honours at Llanerch Hall, near St Asaph.


Bernie Jones, who was one of the main race organisers, and is the secretary of the NW XC League later confirmed: “A Big thank you to Prestatyn Running Club, Denbigh Harriers and all the marshalls and volunteers for putting on today’s race. It would have been easy to cancel with Storm Amy, but I’m glad we didn’t!”



Some great action shots (*above and below) from the NW Cross Country match at St Asaph last Saturday.



The first finisher in the Senior Men’s race was talented youngster Noa Vaughan (Eryri Harriers) who was the first U20M athlete with a superb run in 28.26, with Andrew Moore (Bangor University) the runner-up in 28.59, and he was the first Senior Man, whilst two of his club colleagues in Ed Slaughter and Martin Sunderland collected the third and fourth positions in 29.34 and 29.50.


Other notable results included: 1st MV35: Ryan Davies (Wrexham AAC) 6th in 29.57; 1st MV45: Stephen Skates(Prestatyn RC) 9th in 31.07; 1st MV40: Tom Carter (Prestatyn RC) 12th in 31.31; 1st MV50: Martin Green (Meirionnydd RC) 15th in 31.45; 1st M60: Neil Kershaw (West Cheshire) 61st in 36.09; and 1st MV55: Andrew Clague (West Cheshire) in 37.09. *There were 146 finishers.


*In the Men’s Over 65’s race, John Jones (Shrewsbury AC) was the first man home in 28.09 and he was the 1st MV65 age cat winner, and he was followed by Andy Clarke (Oswestry Olympians) in 28.15, with Dylan Huws (Eryri Harriers) third in 28.51. 

In fourth place was the MV70 age cat winner in Pete Hough (Shropshire Shufflers) in 29.37, and some other notable results included: 27th Emyr Davies (Hebog), who won his MV80 cat in 37.32; Chris Clarke (Shropshire Shufflers) 38th, and he won his MV75 cat in 39.26; and the legendary Roger Harrison Jones (Prestatyn RC), was the 1st M85 winner in 43rd place in 61.02. 



*The Senior Women’s race was won by Alison Lavender (Oswestry Olympians) the 1st FV35 athlete in 24.21, with Eden O’Dea (Deeside) the 1st Senior women, and in second place overall in 25.10, and her club colleague Martha Owen finished third in 25.26. 



Other notable age cat female winners were: 1st FV45: Joanne Henderson (Denbigh Harriers) 4th in 25.48; 6th Gemma Moore (Eryri Harriers) 1st FV40 in 26.07; 9th Emily Pyper (West Cheshire) 1st FU17 in 27.40; 11th Andrea Rowlands(Eryri Harriers) 1st FV50 in 28.13; 15th Taliska Faulkner (Bangor University AC ) Ist FU20 in 29.05; 34th Emma Collins(Denbigh Harriers) 1st FV60 in 31.50; 46th Helen Blair (Eryri Harriers) 1st FV55 in 32.54; 47th Susie Hancock(Oswestry Olympians) 1st FV65 in 32.58, and 85th Liz Evans (GOG Triathlon) 1st FV70 in 36.35.


This is the link to the provisional results for the senior athletes:

https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/view.aspx...


Don Hale is a former award winning investigative journalist and now a best-selling author who has created a very popular blog post linked to numerous social media sites. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025.

Comments

Post a Comment

Most recent posts

A fast start and finish by some quality visiting athletes at the Rhos parkrun - plus other North Wales parkrun results and reports.

By Don Hale
Image
*The start of last weekend's Rhos parkrun. A fast start and finish by some quality visiting athletes at the Rhos parkrun - plus other North Wales parkrun results and reports... Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog  *Pictured above  - Members and supporters of the 5k Your Way, Move Against Cancer Group at the Rhos parkrun last Saturday morning.  Report by Don Hale. Rhos photos by Michael (Pat) Finnie. The Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun welcomed over 500 runners, walkers, and volunteers to their Saturday morning event last weekend, including many members from the 5k Your Way, Move Against Cancer group, for their regular monthly gathering. It proved to be a very warm but blustery day and attracted numerous quality athletes and visitors from all parts of the UK and abroad.  Six out of the first ten finishers were all first-timers and it was a keen battle for top placings with visitor  Harry Hammon  (Bramhall Runners) just hanging o...
Read more

Ben and Sarah competed in the 5 and a bit mile race

By Don Hale
Image
Ben and Sarah Hudson (*pictured above) competed in the 5 and a bit mile race Race warm up for marathon training. Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog   North Wales endurance athletes Ben and Sarah Hudson were back in action again last weekend at the Run Cheshire Huxley 5-miler - and a bit race – as part of a warm up for their forthcoming marathon training. Ben finished in 131st place in 36.07, whilst Sarah was 165th in 40.15.  After their run Sarah confirmed:  “A fab morning at the Huxley 5-miler, with a few extra miles thrown in for good measure. I tried  to channel my inner  Josh Kerr  but could not quite cling on for a sub-40-mins result but loved it all the same… in my defence I was going 5 times as far!” This is the link to the Coast and Country online magazine post: https://www.coastandcountry.blog/post/ben-and-sarah-tackled-the-5-mile-and-a-bit-race-at-huxle  
Read more

Blooming Great news for the Joshua Tree charity following a large donation from the organisers of the Deganwy Dash.

By Don Hale
Image
*Pictured above - John Hatton in the white shirt is shown holding  the  fundraising cheque for nearly £4k for the Joshua Tree, along with his colleague Carla Green (*far right) and (*far left) Lee Talbot from Brown & Brown, was available together with a charity official and other race sponsors. Blooming Great news for the Joshua Tree charity following a large donation from the organisers of the Deganwy Dash. *John Hatton and Carla Green with race sponsors and the Joshua Tree cheque. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog Fundraising  was blossoming this week with some blooming great news for organisers of the Joshua Tree charity following the presentation of a large cheque for £3,955.37 from John Hatton the run director of the popular Deganwy 5 mile Dash. John and his club and event colleague Carla Green were on hand to present these funds to the deserving charity watched by race sponsors from Specsavers, Brown & Brown, MKM and Jennings Civil Engi...
Read more

Runners were on track to Race the Highland Train at Caernarfon in midweek

By Don Hale
Image
*The North Wales Road Running  team at the Race the Train event in midweek, pictured left to right: Jonathan Kettle, Helen Hannam, Hannah Griffith, Nia Lister, and Daniel Hennell. Runners were on track to Race the Highland Train at Caernarfon in  midweek... Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog   Nearly three-hundred club and mixed ability athletes took part in the popular annual Race the Highland Train 5k dash last Wednesday night at Caernarfon. Departing from the Highland railway station in town, 278 runners, then travelled by train to the next station along the line at Dinas, before returning on foot to take on the challenge of trying to beat the train back to its start, along a mainly downhill and very fast course. A trio of runners from  Meirionnydd RC  claimed the first three finishing places with some excellent times including  Owen Roberts, the first man home in just 14 minutes and 13 seconds, with  Gavin Stuart...
Read more

Personal and professional care provided by Tom Owen and Son, independent family-run funeral directors in Llandudno, Conwy and Colwyn Bay

By Don Hale
Image
Kelly and Tristan Owen with some of their team at Tom Owen and Son.  Personal and professional care provided by Tom Owen and Son, independent family-run funeral directors in Llandudno, Conwy and Colwyn Bay A special Coast and Country online promotional  feature. coastandcountry.blog donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026   *Funeral Directors  Tristan and Kelly Owen at Tom Owen and Son. It Takes a Team - by Tristan Owen - a director of Tom Owen and Son. A special local business feature.   As a small family funeral directors, people often expect to see Kelly or me when they come to Tom Owen and  Son. In many ways, that is exactly as it should be.  Families place a great deal of trust in us, and being personally involved in the care we provide is something we take very seriously.  But no small family business can run well without good people around it.   A funeral home may look calm from the outside, but behind every funeral there are many quiet acts of ...
Read more

Welsh Master Athlete Peter Watkeys is a unique 1500m double record holder within days of each other..

By Don Hale
Image
Welsh Master Athlete Peter Watkeys is a unique 1500m double record holder within days of each other. Report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk Welsh Master Peter Watkeys recorded a superb new WMAL record at a 1500m event on August 19th,   and then bizarrely improved upon his time just four days later at another similar meeting - by over 7-seconds - to claim a unique double! Peter, who was additionally representing his Basingstoke & Hants club in the MV40 age category, first ran in a Southern League Athletics Division 1 track meeting at Tooting Bec on 19/8/23, where he set a new record of 4 minutes 19.71 seconds. He received a special commemorative certificate of achievement from the WMAL record and stats official Chris Pruski, but then surprised himself by quickly improving on this excellent time to claim another new record of 4 minutes 12 .83 seconds over the same distance during the Watford Harriers Open Graded track meeting on...
Read more

Artist Elizabeth Haines’s exciting new ‘Thin Places’ exhibition in Fishguard. 14th July to 29th August 2026.

By Don Hale
Image
Artist Elizabeth Haines’s exciting new ‘Thin Places’ exhibition in Fishguard...14th July until 29th August 2026. Special Coast and Country online art feature. coastandcountry.blog donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 *Pictured above and below - some of Elizabeth's paintings in the Peppers Gallery. The much-admired Pembrokeshire artist Elizabeth Haines will be staging an exhibition of her latest and exciting paintings from Tuesday 14th July at Peppers in West Street, Fishguard until 29th August. This week Elizabeth confirmed:   This is to let you know about my forthcoming exhibition at  Peppers (West Wales Arts Centre) in Fishguard.  The theme is  Thin Places:  a term rooted in ancient belief, but referring to any physical location where the boundary between the mundane world and the divine or spiritual realm is felt to be especially permeable. It’s often used to describe sacred sites, perhaps associated with ancient ritual, or areas of great natural beauty. In a ‘thin ...
Read more

Parkrun boss finally makes a belated statement about the latest controversy to remove important records! But ignores the real reason!

By Don Hale
Image
Parkrun boss finally makes a belated statement about the latest controversy to remove important record! But is it just a smokescreen to cover up a previous row over transgender athletes? By Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It's taken about a week for Russ Jefferys, the CEO of parkrun global to belatedly make a statement about last Thursday’s controversial decision to remove male and female, first, and fast finishers, plus age grades, and age category records from their website. It is something that has naturally attracted strong debate up and down the country, and no doubt at numerous parkruns across the world! But I still question whether this latest debacle is just a smokescreen to try to hide, and hence remove any existing records relating to transgender athletes! Parkrun came into being many years ago following a great idea by several like-minded runners, who organised a timed 5k run in their local park, and so from a small acor...
Read more

English for Daily Conversation in Japan: Author Paul Stroud's being book promoted by Coast and Country online magazine

By Don Hale
Image
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 ...
Read more

An exciting start and finish at Rhos parkrun plus a NW results round-up.

By Don Hale
Image
*The busy start at the Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun last Saturday with some dramatic actions till to come on the dash to the finish. An exciting story and finish at Rhos parkrun plus a NW results round-up... Report by Don Hale. Photos by Michael (Pat) Finnie. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog   It proved to be yet another exciting and very close start and finish at the Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun - with the top three athletes all battling it out over the final kilometre - before Conor Davies and Michael Corrales, eventually held on to keep James Yarwood and his famous double twin buggy in third place! Connor had an outstanding 5k run in just 16 minutes and 53 seconds, with Michael second with a new course PB in 16.59, and James (Wrexham AAC) a close third in 17.00.  *The first female finisher was  Elin Jones  in 20.13 (18th overall) in 20.13, with JW11-14 athlete  Savannah Williams  a close second with a new course PB in 20.22, and visitor...
Read more