Don Hale Blog

*Martin Green (*above), crosses the finishing line at Colwyn Bay. Great performance by Martin Green to win the Pier2Pier half-marathon...and some other excellent club results... Report by Don Hale. Photos by John Hatton and Dave Jones. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com *The NWRRC team (*above) at Colwyn Bay for the Pier2Pier half-marathon.   North Wales Road Runner Martin Green quickly bounced back to top form last Sunday to win the new Pier2Pier half-marathon race following a close a battle with his club colleague Jonathan Kettle and the third placed finisher Chris Pownall. Martin, who has only just returned to racing following a period of ill health, looked comfortable all the way along this challenging promenade course from the Eirias Park Stadium to Llandudno Pier and back, despite a blustery wind, and dodging the aftermath of storm damage. He was one of ten NWRRC members who competed in this well organised event by RunWales, and he was pleased with his time of 1 hour 17 minutes and

*Carolyn Arber pictured above at Colwyn Bay after winning her age cat. Welsh Masters newbie Carolyn Arber celebrates Metric Marathon race success on former home patch. Intro by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It’s always good to receive notifications from Welsh Athletics members, and this week I was pleased to read a note from  Carolyn Arber , who is a WMAL newbie, who coincidentally took part in a longer version of the same Metric marathon, and half marathon races as myself, last weekend organised by RunWales. The following report is based on her own personal experiences.   Running down Memory Lane by Carolyn Arber:   I am a new member of Welsh Masters and last Sunday I ran in the Colwyn Bay Metric Marathon. I was born in Colwyn Bay but live in Cheshire so was determined to have a medal and T shirt with my place of birth on.  It was a windy old course to Penrhyn Bay, twice, but was lovely to take a trip down Memory Lane. Starting in Eirias

*Pictured above  - popular charity fundraiser and event promoter John Hatton. John Hatton's great support for local charity events. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Charity organiser, promoter and popular NWRRC official  John Hattton,  who has been involved with the organisation of two major fundraising events recently for local deserving causes, confirmed this week that £4.5k was raised on Sunday at the  Mental Elf 5k fun-run , and that a further £14k was raised at the recent  Conwy Dark Run  in October for  Ty Gobaith , which utilised the Conwy parkrun course from the RSPB centre. John praised the generous public support for both events, and from numerous volunteers and marshals, and  confirmed: “ The  Mental Elf 5k fun run  was a fantastic event, twice around the Eirias Park track in Colwyn Bay, then down to, and along the prom to the Toad, where turn-around Bob was there.  “I helped   Mind   charity to organise it, and we ma

  **URGENT NOTICE **CANCELLATION** NORTH WALES CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE - COLWYN BAY Note from Bernie  Jones- secretary of the NW XC league. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay is flooded and with the rain and storms forecast to continue until tomorrow morning (Sat 21st October), Conwy Council have taken the decision to cancel our fixture tomorrow. The car parks are already flooded and as most of you know the park itself is one of our wettest courses so with all the rain its not surprising that the course, car parks and surrounding areas are flooded. I can only apologise to everyone for the cancellation, but hope you understand. We are reliant on the goodwill of landowners and we have to work with them to ensure the safety of everyone. **PLEASE CAN YOU LET YOUR CLUBMATES AND EVERYONE KNOW

  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com Mental Elf Festive 5k Fun Run – Sunday 26th November at 12-noon.   Come and join in the fun and take part in a special Festive Fun Run to help raise funds for Conwy Mind. Organisers have arranged for a 5k Fun Run from  Stadiwn CSM  (Eirias Park), at Colwyn Bay, on Sunday 26th November 2023, starting at 12-noon.    *Tickets are now available starting from £10. Please register in advance. Please see the website:  conwymindmentalelf.co.uk    

* Nicola Wylie (*above) in blue top, leads the fun runners out of Llandudno. Beer 2 Beer supporters 10k social fun run to help promote local Tap Rooms. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk About forty people took part in an unusual Beer 2 Beer social fun run over the weekend to help promote local beer production and Tap Rooms.  Starting from the Wild Horse Brewery in Llandudno, via the Craft Beer Cave at Penrhyn Bay, to the finish at the Black Cloak Taproom at Colwyn Bay, runners were able to enjoy a welcome drink at each stop to help quench their thirst in the extreme heat. Two NWRRC members  Helen Hannam  and  Nichola Wylie  and their friend Nia, were amongst the group who ran the initial 10k route from start and finish, before later retracing their steps back to Llandudno to record a half-marathon distance. It was not a race as such but just for fun, Nicola Wylie was the first female finisher and Steve Roberts

*Dan Willings (*pictured above) was the first GOG member home. Ten GOG Triathlon members competed at the North Wales Cross-Country league meeting at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, last Saturday despite a very muddy and challenging course, where once again, veteran athlete Ann d’Alburquerque was the star of the team winning her veteran age category. It’s the first time since October 2010 that this senior league fixture has been staged at this venue, and the tough course certainly brought back many mixed memories for experienced athletes, and the event probably attracted a few more local club runners than expected due to the Conwy parkrun being cancelled just a few hours before due to a heavy frost. *Ann d'Alburquerque (*above) won her FV70 age cat at Eirias Park. Ann soon showed many of her rivals a clean pair of heels despite very challenging conditions and ran home an easy winner of her FV70 age cat in just 46 minutes and 12 seconds in 92nd place overall, and  Helen MacArthur  also cla

GRAND PRIX EXPRESS:  “David Alun Williams”  NORTH WALES CROSS COUNTRY SENIOR LEAGUE.  Special report  courtesy  of Bernie Jones, the secretary/referee from the meeting at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay on Saturday 21st  January 2023.  (*Bernie Jones is pictured below).     A big thank you to Russell Godwin, Crispin Backshall, and to all of the Colwyn Bay marshalls and volunteers who helped set up the course in difficult conditions, and put on a great penultimate  David Alun Williams  North Wales Senior Cross Country League for 2022/23.  Whilst the youngsters were back at Eirias Park last year, it was fantastic to see the senior league back in Eirias Park, and I have a few special memories of my own running on the fantastic course.  Yes, it may have been a slightly different course (and a bit longer than indicated on the course maps!!) but for those with good memories the senior league was last at Eirias Park on  10th October 2010,  but Eirias Park will always be a testing course regardless of

*Some members of the NWRRC team at Eirias Park (l-r) Gwennan Charlton, Tessa Bushnell, Mike Hayton, Kay Hatton, Helen Hannam and Nicola Wylie. Two podium places for the Road Runners at rare NW cross-country fixture...plus 3rd place cat win for Kelly at Heaton Park half-marathon. Report by Don Hale. Most photos by Steve Jeffery. The Road Runners claimed two excellent podium places at the North Wales cross-country league meeting at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, last Saturday, despite a very muddy and challenging course. It’s the first time since October 2010 that this senior league fixture has been staged at this venue, and the tough course certainly brought back many mixed memories for experienced athletes. The event probably attracted a few more local club runners than expected due to Conwy parkrun being cancelled due to heavy frost just a few hours before. NWRRC entered eleven members and  Josh Keogh  was the pick of the team in the Senior Men’s race, finishing 5th overall out of 122 quali