Don Hale Blog

*The above photo including the bench is of the Tri Hard Harriers runners at the opening event, and is courtesy of Mike Roderick. The article author David Gibson is shown in a black top in the centre at the rear. New Welsh parkrun in Swansea Valley Report by David Gibson. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk The popularity of parkruns seems unbounded. With the flat and scenic Swansea Bay parkrun now often getting 500 participants, and sometimes going over 600, a new Welsh parkrun in the Swansea Valley is very welcome.    For parkrun tourists, the recent YouTube video about the  Swansea Bay Parkrun  and local sights by Harry Morgan of Jogon is well worth a watch -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MczE96cE9iQ   On 28th April, the Cycle Route 43, Ystalyfera parkrun ran its first event attracting 210 runners and walkers, including at least four who had run the London Marathon on the previous Sunday. 43 different clubs were represented and there were 26 volunteer

 *Pictured above and below - a delighted David Gibson at the end of his record run. Welsh Master vet David Gibson wins TCS London Marathon age cat and set the fastest time in the UK... https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Just a couple of weeks before his 72nd birthday, Tri Hard Harrier, and Welsh Master - David Gibson won the VM70 category at the TCS London Marathon held on 21st April, beating 198 other category participants.  With a personal best time of 3 hours, 13 minutes, and 31 seconds this is understood to be the fastest male 70-74 time in the UK, and the third fastest in the world this year to date! The 2024 TCS London Marathon was also the 2024 Welsh Road Marathon Championship race.  David had an operation at the beginning of January, and so he missed four weeks of training. Having had his training program cut from 16 weeks to 11, his aims were to finish, enjoy it, and to record a respectable time. Having achieved all that, he was somewhat surpris