Don Hale Blog

Sad loss of outstanding Welsh Master athlete Glyn Pugh. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Rod Davies from Welsh Masters Athletics has confirmed some important news. He has confirmed: “We have a rather sad post for the website. One of our throwing stalwarts, Glyn Pugh, has passed away. This is our statement from WMAL.” Welsh Masters Athletics are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Glyn Pugh of Rhondda AC on Tuesday 20th February. As well as a dedicated supporter of WMAL. including representing the club in inter area matches over the years, he was a well-respected lynchpin of Rhondda AC and of Welsh Athletics in general, especially the throws.  He will be greatly missed by his many friends in Masters Athletics. Somehow the throwing events will not be quite so much fun. Our thoughts go out to his many friends, his family, and those at the King George Track for which he worked so hard. *A full obituary can be found on the Welsh At

*Oshi Adey (*above) completed a  gruelling  100k  charity  run in North Wales. Talented teenage student Oshi Adey completes 100k track challenge for charity... Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   A talented teenage student from Colwyn Bay raised thousands of pounds for charity last weekend by completing a gruelling 100k ultra-marathon challenge (62 miles) around the Eirias Park athletics track. Oshi Adey, an eighteen-year-old student, who is currently at  Warwick University ,  studying politics, philosophy, and economics, has since received numerous deserved plaudits, and earned huge respect from fellow members of the local running community for his brave and determined effort. It was last Saturday morning at precisely 7am, that he first began his extraordinary fundraising challenge for the  Kitchen Table Charities Trust  (KTCT) , which included running 250 laps of the track for nearly ten-hours and pushing him close to his mental and

*Some of the NWRRC team at Wrexham (l-r): Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton, Kevin Slattery, and Gwennan Charlton, with Richard Scamans at the back. Welsh cakes and fast times at the Village Bakery half-marathon...plus other results. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   The well organised and very popular Village Bakery half-marathon race attracted a massive entry of over 1,700 runners, at Wrexham last Sunday morning, and included numerous elite and club athletes, in addition to a plentiful amount of fun and social runners. On a fast, and relatively flat course, many runners were able to celebrate personal best (PB) times and raised funds for local and national charities. North Wales Road Runners  entered fifteen members and collected three prestigious age category awards. The first club man home again was  Jonathan Kettle  in 75th place with a new course PB in 1.15.52, followed by  Iwan Evans  (281) in 1.24.44, and  Ben Hudson  (545) in 1.35.57

*Will Williams (*above), ran flat-out to finish second at Conwy. Perfect conditions for Will Williams amidst a bumper half-term crowd at Conwy parkrun...plus other results. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Conditions were almost perfect at Conwy parkrun this week with a remarkably dry course after several weeks of swamp-like conditions underfoot, with nearly 300 mixed ability club and social runners enjoying this picturesque 5k course. Boosted by the half-term holidays, organisers welcomed entrants from across the UK, and North Wales Road Runner  Will Williams , had to run flat-out to secure 2nd place overall, and he won his VM50 age cat, during another fast-dash event.  Will finished in a good time of 18 minutes and 54 seconds, but he was only 13-seconds ahead of the 3rd placed finisher, visitor  Richard Pollitt  (Horwich RMI Harriers), who won his VM45 cat in 19.07. The first male finisher was  Dave Hughes , who recorded a new cou

*Josh Keogh (*above left) on the podium with the race winner Aled Breeze and Tony Wood at the Winter Trail 7-mile race. Josh Keogh finished as runner-up at the tough Winter Trail 7-mile race. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk Three North Wales Road Runners were amongst 443 entrants at the Winter Trail 7-mile race at Coed-y-Brenin last Saturday morning, with Josh Keogh claiming a deserved podium place after finishing as the runner-up in a close finish. Josh ran home in just 48 minutes and 8 seconds over this tough and undulating course, whilst his colleagues   Adam Lemalle   and   Charlotte Rose Wilton-Jones   also ran well and were pleased with their performances in this challenging and very muddy event. Adam finished in 98th place overall in 1.07.09, and Charlotte was 122nd, and the 28th female in 1.09.40. *Pictured above left - Adam Lemalle and Charlotte Rose Wilton-Jones at the finish, and (*right), Josh Keogh  crosses the finishing

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 acorn, a