Don Hale Blog

*Gareth Southworth  and his wife Kath inside the stadium in Melbourne. North Wales athlete and parkrunner Gareth went ‘Down Under’ to compete in the Melbourne half-marathon...plus parkrun results round up... Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Popular North Wales athlete and parkrunner Gareth Southworth continued his running exploits in Australia over the weekend by competing in the Melbourne half-marathon on Sunday. Gareth, who was representing   Cybi Striders , is enjoying a break ‘Down-Under’ with his wife Kath and enjoyed a good run in 1 hour 43 minutes and 56 minutes, and he was 15th in his VM60-64 age cat (1773rd) overall amongst over 12,154 finishers. This event was part of the  Melbourne Marathon Festival  and after his run, Gareth commented: “It was an unreal experience to finish inside the iconic MCG Stadium.” This latest result followed his performance the day before in the  Parkville parkrun  in Princes Park, Melbourne, wher...

*Pictured above - Kay Hatton and Mike Hayton both won their age cats. Visiting athlete smashed the female course record at Penrhyn parkrun, plus other results and reports... Report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   Penrhyn Castle parkrun attracted 317 entrants last Saturday including visiting athlete Sara Ismail-Sutton (Durham City Harriers), who was not only the 1st finisher overall, but she also smashed the female course record on her debut in 17.45. Despite the cool and blustery conditions Sara beat all her male rivals with ease, and was eventually followed by  Aidan Thomas  in 18.30, and VM60 veteran  Graham Bale  (Plymstock RR), who gave Aidan a hard chase in 3rd spot in 18.33. Quite remarkably, the first three female finishers were all debutants, and with Sara taking the top-spot overall, the 2nd female place was taken by  Anna Patrickson  (City of Salisbury), in 21.56, with  Patricia Ronksley ( Stragglers), 3rd in 23.09....

*Pictured above - Martin and Carla Green at the 5k international Masters race. North Wales athletes starred for Wales against England Masters Report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   A large number of North Wales based athletes formed part of the Welsh Masters team that competed at the Shrewsbury 5k Running Festival last Saturday against England Masters. Meirionnydd RC  had two members in the top ten finishers including  Rhodri Owen , who was 3rd overall out of 331 elite runners in 14.57, with  Tomos Roberts  7th in 15.11, and former  NWRRC  member  Martin Green , a top veteran, now with his new first claim club, also enjoyed a great run in 53rd place in 16.53.   *Will Williams (*above left), with Cheryl Frost and Karen Butler. North Wales Road Runners  had five members involved with the famous red vest, and they all recorded good times with  Will Williams  104th in 18.12,  Steve Gardner  140th in ...

*Pictured above - five members of the NWRRC team at the XC champs at Bangor (l-r), Michael Finnie, Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton, Gwen Charlton, and Karen Butler; and (*below), four NWRRC team members who competed in the Men's Senior Race (*l-r), Will  Williams, Iwan Evans, Stuart Culverhouse, and Steve Gardner.   Five podium places and two gold medals for the Road Runners in XC champs at Treborth, Bangor. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk Nine members from the North Wales Road Running Club competed in different races during the NW Cross Country Championships at Treborth Track, Bangor, last Saturday, and claimed five podium places, including two age category wins. In the senior/master women’s race,  Karen Butler  won a deserved gold medal after finishing 1st in her W65 age cat following a great run in 39th place in 37 minutes and 30 seconds. The NWRRC team packed well with veteran  Cheryl Frost  on form again in...

*Pictured above - a splashing start for the leaders at last Saturday's Conwy parkrun. Keen competition at Conwy parkrun despite the challenging conditions... Report by Don Hale. Photos by John Hatton. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Numbers were down at Conwy parkrun last Saturday morning due to the Christmas shopping rush, combined with some very challenging weather conditions. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the riverside course was flooded again and resembled a cross between a swamp and a tough 5k cross-country course, yet it still created a great festive atmosphere, with many of the near two-hundred mixed ability entrants wearing their traditional fancy dress outfits. Despite a strong blustery wind and drizzly rain there were still some good times recorded and the first athlete back was  Morgan Kendall  (Meirionnydd RC), dressed in his famous Banana-man kit once more, and he faced a keen battle with rival  Cai ...

*NWRRC members are pictured above with their trophies. (*Photo John Hatton). Glittering annual trophy afternoon for North Wales Road Runners... Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   It was a glittering afternoon of trophies and celebrations for members of North Wales Road Runners at Colwyn Bay Cricket Club last Sunday following the club’s annual festive handicap race at Rhos on Sea. Kay Hatton  was this year’s MC, ably assisted by her colleague  Cheryl Frost,  with all the prizes awarded following an excellent carvery lunch.  One of the very first awards went to Mike Hayton and Kay Hatton , who were the winners of the earlier Christmas handicap  race at Rhos on Sea. *Club veterans Mike Hayton and Kay Hatton (*above), were the Christmas handicap race winners from earlier in the day The first male awards  went to the individual group winners and included: Group C –  Rob Fryer , and runner-up  Daniel Hennell .  Steve Mason ...