Don Hale Blog

*Pictured above - the delighted NW trio of Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton and Karen Butler at the Inter-Counties XC at Newtown. Clutch of prestigious silver medals for Road Running trio at the Inter-Counties cross country champs at Newtown. Report by Don Hale. C omment  from Bernie Jones, and action photo by Andy Davies. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com Three top female veteran athletes from North Wales Road Runners exchanged their trainers for spikes on Sunday and competed in the Inter-Regional Cross Country championships at Newtown, and celebrated by winning a clutch of prestigious medals. The trio all performed well and enjoyed their runs on a very muddy but relatively flat course, and between them they collected several championships medals with  Cheryl Frost and Kay Hatton  winning team silver medals in the W55 event; and  Karen Butler  winning a team silver in the W65 event, plus an individual silver medal in her race. Their results were:  Cheryl Frost 29.5...

A very challenging and muddy course at the Bala cross country fixture in the latest NW XC League event... Report by Don Hale.  Match report and photo courtesy of Bernie Jones donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 It was a good turn-out at Bala despite the weather and some very challenging and muddy  conditions which tested runners to the limit. In the Senior Men's race Andrew Moore (Bangor University) was the first man home in 31 minutes and 12 seconds, but he was only 13-seconds ahead of his keen rival Rhodri Owen (Meirionnydd RC) in 31.23, and Rhodri's clubmate Daniel Kashi in 31.44. The Meirionnydd team packed well and they had five members in the top 10 finishing places and topped the team table ahead of Wrexham AAC and Buckley, who were both within a whisker of each other. *There were 144 finishers. In the Over 65 race, Graham Jones (Shrewsbury AC) was the overall winner and he also took the 1st MV 65 prize in 24.22, with Andy Clarke (Oswestry) second in 24.23, and 2nd...

Welsh Inter Regional Cross Country fixture at Newtown. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Report courtesy of Bernie Jones (NW XC League secretary). Please find below the timetable and course maps for the Welsh Inter Regional Cross Country at Dolerw Park, Newtown, on Saturday 29 November . As usual we will have the North Wales gazebo in situe from about 9am and you will be able to collect your race numbers from the gazebo. Don’t forget you need your North Wales vest to race in.

Osian was the runaway winner at the Eirias Park NW cross-country league race. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   It was another good turn-out with some excellent performances last Saturday by a host of experienced club runners at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, for the second highly competitive match of the season in the ‘David Alun Williams,’ North Wales Cross-Country League, sponsored by Grand Prix Express. Elite senior male athlete  Osian Perrin  (Menai T&F) was the runaway winner of the  Senior Men’s  race in just 26 minutes and 28 seconds, and he finished over a minute ahead of his nearest rival  Ed Slaughter  (Bangor University), who was second in 27.31, with  Dan Kashi  (Meirionnydd RC) third in 27.40.  *In the Male Over 65 race, this was won by  John Jones  (Shrewsbury AC) in 20.14, with  Andy Clarke  (Oswestry Olympians) second, and he was only four-seconds behind in 20.18, with  Dyla...

*Pictured above - Martin and Carla Green at Abingdon. North Wales couple celebrated great international marathon results...and an exclusive report about Martin Green's run. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   North Wales’ athletic couple Martin and Carla Green celebrated top marathon results last weekend whilst representing Wales in the Abingdon Marathon. The Welsh Master athlete   who is a member of  Meirionnydd RC  finished in 10th place overall and celebrated a great run in 2 hrs 36 mins and 26 seconds and also won his VM50 age cat. Martin later shared his joy with his wife and fellow star runner  Carla Green (NWRRC), was also in top form on the day, and she too was pleased with another good result in 3 hrs 23 mins. https://www.facebook.com/abingdonmarathon *Martin Green is shown above with the leading pack at Abingdon and (*below) the Welsh Masters team ready for the Marathon. After the run Martin exclusively confirmed:   “ Another...

North Wales Cross Country League: Race No 2 at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay... Message about this Saturday's latest XC fixture and some previous photos courtesy of Bernie Jones. www.donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 The second David Alun Williams North Wales Cross Country League of the season will take place at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay(Ll29 7SP) this Saturday, 25th October 2025.  If you’re selected and have any additional runners to register please let me have them asap an no later than Thursday am.  We’re on the usual Eirias Park course with the Junior races starting at 10-30am and the Senior races at 1pm. Big thank you in advance to Colwyn Bay for hosting.  See you on Saturday  Bernie Jones, Secretary, NW XC League.

*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  ...

NWCCL - St Asaph - CROSS COUNTRY RACES TO GO AHEAD. LATEST UPDATE:  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Well Storm Amy came as predicted and whilst it hasn’t totally passed through, it has calmed enough that WE WILL GO ahead with today’s races as planned. However, it remains windy and therefore would not suggest club gazebo’s being erected. There’s rain forecasted so be prepared for a ‘proper’ day of cross country. See you in a bit Bernie Jones  Secretary/Referee NWCCL St Asaph - Saturday 4 October 2025. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Report and photos courtesy of Bernie Jones. With Storm Amy predicted for Friday evening/night we will be doing a risk assessment first thing Saturday morning.  It is predicted that the storm will pass through by early Saturday morning and whilst rain is predicted it is hoped we will have avoided any storm damage.  At this stage we anticipate the races going ahead but if there is any change we will post here on the NWCCL Facebook page. First Fi...