donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026

Kelly and Tristan Owen with some of their team at Tom Owen and Son.  Personal and professional care provided by Tom Owen and Son, independent family-run funeral directors in Llandudno, Conwy and Colwyn Bay A special Coast and Country online promotional  feature. coastandcountry.blog donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026   *Funeral Directors  Tristan and Kelly Owen at Tom Owen and Son. It Takes a Team - by Tristan Owen - a director of Tom Owen and Son. A special local business feature.   As a small family funeral directors, people often expect to see Kelly or me when they come to Tom Owen and  Son. In many ways, that is exactly as it should be.  Families place a great deal of trust in us, and being personally involved in the care we provide is something we take very seriously.  But no small family business can run well without good people around it.   A funeral home may look calm from the outside, but behind every funeral there are many quiet acts of ...

*A seahorse was on the  run at the  Llandrillo  yn Rhos parkrun. John’s water carriers came to the rescue at Rhos parkrun Report by Don Hale donhaleblog.blogspot.com coastandcountry.blog   There were scorching temperatures around the region last Saturday morning for all the North Wales parkruns, with some events and volunteers introducing water cups at the finish areas, together with some water pistols and water sprays en route to help keep everyone cool. At Llandrillo yn Rhos,  experienced volunteer and sports coach  John Hatton  - pictured right - came to the rescue and provided some large water carriers for all their runners after they completed their 5k promenade journey.  John confirmed:  “I decided to take lots of the water to Rhos, together with about 400 paper cups that I still had from the Deganwy Dash. They proved to be most welcome, and all the cups were used.”  And despite the soaring temperatures, one hardy entrant,  Ve...

Repeat performance by one man and his child buggy at Rhos parkrun - plus NW results round-up. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Michael (Pat) Finnie, and others. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog   It was very warm and very breezy for hundreds of runners and walkers at all North Wales parkruns last weekend, and the Llandrillo yn Rhos 5k event attracted another bumper attendance, where James Yarwood (*pictured right) once again finished first in 17.47, accompanied by his young twins in a child buggy! The Wrexham AAC runner was chased all the way though by young  Joe Culverhouse  (NWRRC), a talented soccer player and junior referee, who won his JM15-17 age cat with a determined effort in 18.19, with  Gemma Moore  (Eryri Harriers) the first female, and in third place overall in 18.30.  Abbie Robinson  was the second female in 21.30, with  Bethan Parry  third with a new course PB in 22.23.  *There were 468 finishers at Rhos. * N...

*Above and below - Ready for action - some of the hard working volunteers at the Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun last Saturday morning. Hot, humid and very busy at Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun Report by Don Hale. Photos by Michael  (Pat) Finnie. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026   The Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun proved to be the most popular North Wales event on a warm Saturday morning, which again attracted a host of runners and walkers from all over the UK, and even from Australia, including members from the 5k Your Way, Move Against Cancer group for their regular end of the month gathering. Nine out of the first twelve finishing places were taken by first time entrants with  Paul Jones ( Shrewsbury AC) the first athlete home, recording a new course PB in 16.38, and he was chased by newbies  Conor Davies  second in 16.56, and  Niall Simmonds  (Southampton AC) third in 17.53. And well done to  Iain Burgess,  who ran extremely well in 4th place, despite ...

*Pictured above - flashback to a previous start at the Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun. 10,000th finisher milestone possible at Rhos this week? donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026 coastandcountry.blog Report by Dave Munday, the organiser of the parkrun North Wales Facebook site.   As you all know this site is about promoting the 17 North Wales parkruns and especially the stats and figures that they produce. One thing other regions flag up is milestones on overall attendances since the parkrun started. In North Wales our highest overall attendance is Conwy parkrun with 111,614 finishers, it was such a shame that this site was not going for the 100,000th finisher, as that would have been great to capture that, and who was it that crossed the line, I will work it out and contact the Conwy parkrun team. This year, we will have different parkruns hitting different milestones and I will post up on here. The 1st one could be this weekend as  Y Promenâd parkrun, Llandrillo-yn-Rhos...

*Pictured above - the start of the Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun last Saturday. Valentine’s Day entrants beat the frost at Rhos and shared their love of running. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Michael Finnie and Bill Scriven. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026   Heavy overnight frost morning forced the cancellation of five parkruns throughout North Wales last Saturday morning, but the surviving  Valentine’s Day events proved a love of running, and especially at Llandrillo yn Rhos, where yet another bumper attendance created a tremendous atmosphere. Despite a rather sandy and challenging 5k promenade course, this event is proving to be a magnet each week for visiting runners – and particularly for elite club athletes - with debutants again accounting for seven out of the first ten finishers. Talented visiting athlete  Paul Jones  (Shrewsbury AC) was the first finisher at Rhos on his course debut in just 16 minutes and 50 seconds, but local footballer  Aaron Dodwell  ...