Tough day on the rolling hills for hardy athletes in the Eryri Marathon: Local results round-up.
*When the going gets tough, the tough get going; pictured above (l-r): Mandy Owen, Elizabeth Driscoll, Hannah Griffith and Gwen Charlton, and (*below) Kevin Slattery in the white top is shown with Steve Bozier on a challenging hill climb (*photo courtesy of Sport pictures Cymru).
Tough day on the rolling hills for hardy athletes in the Eryri Marathon...local results round-up...
Report by Don Hale.
It was a very tough day for the 2,208 hardy athletes and all the volunteers on the rolling hills around Snowdonia last Saturday as they battled gale force winds, hail, and driving rain at times for the gruelling Eryri Marathon.
And, as if the unpredictable weather was not bad enough, the varied range of mixed ability, but mainly experienced competitors from far and wide, also faced a series of picturesque but undulating challenges over roads, rough tracks, and steep mixed terrain descents.
Michael Kallenberg (Swansea RAF) was a high-flyer though, and he soon landed the top prize as the first finisher overall in 2 hrs 33 mins and 56 seconds, followed by runner-up Ifan Dafydd (Meirionnydd RC), in 2.35.44, with Nicholas Barry third in 2.40.59.
The first female finisher was Ceri Merwood (CDF Runners) in 2.58.47, whilst Emily Jones (Les Croupiers) was the runner-up in 3.07.52, with Tinka Vinks (Eryri Harriers) third in 3.10.38.
There were some notable performances too from Welsh athletes, David Cole (Cardigan RC) in fourth place in 2.42.56, and Michael Roderick (Tri-Hard Harriers), who was seventh in 2.49.21. And praise was given to all the dedicated volunteers and marshals around the course.
*North Wales Road Runners entered eleven members, and Steve Bozier led the team home in 238th place with a new course PB of 3.40.24, with Rory Middleton 258th and making a rare appearance in 3.42.07, and Dave Jones enjoyed a great marathon debut run in 4.03.17.
Two master veteran athletes in club chairman Kevin Slattery and Sandy Johnston finished within one place and four-seconds of each other, with Kevin 836th in 4.25.30, and he won his VM70 age cat, with Sandy finishing in 4.25.34, but unfortunately, he had to settle for 2nd VM70, as there was no VM75 plus award!
Karl Morris finished well in 1055th place in 4.39.03, with Cheryl Frost the 250th female in 4.40.13, with Elizabeth Driscoll putting in a great effort as the 363rd female in 4.59.48; and Adam Lemalle was 1490th in 5.12.19; Hannah Griffith finished as the 437th female in 5.14.01, and Gwen Charlton was the 674th female in 5.56.25. *And a huge well done to Llandudno athlete Mandy Owen, who bravely ran this difficult course, and she was pleased to finish in 6.30.52 as the 751st female.
*GOG Triathlon had four members competing in the Eryri Marathon with Aled Hughes their first finisher in 46th place in 3.09.40, with Graeme Tunstall 142nd in 3.26.29, and Steven Owen 195th in 3.35.14, and plaudits to Steven’s daughter Caitlin Owen who completed her debut marathon run in style as the 704th female in 6.03.59.
*This is the link to the provisional results:
https://www.tdleventservices.co.uk/en/results-embed.php?event=4172#1_6DFEA4
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