Don Hale Blog

* *Welsh master Martin Green (*above) at the Chester 5-mile race. Cold, wet, and windy at the Chester Spring 5-mile midweek race... Report by Don Hale. Photos by   Bryan Dale.   Nine Road runners braved the cold, wet, and windy conditions during the Chester Spring 5-mile race last Wednesday evening and remarkably claimed four podium places. Despite the challenging conditions, including some partially flooded country lanes, the event still attracted some 465 quality club runners over a fast and flat course. Welsh master Martin Green  led the NWRRC team home in 19th place and he was 2nd in his MV45 age cat. The results confirm the relevant gun and chip times for each athlete and Martin ran extremely well again in 27 minutes and 32 seconds (27.31).   *Karl Morris (*above left) with Mal Preece at Chester. Richard Eccles  enjoyed another competitive race finishing 63rd and he was 3rd in his MV55 cat in (31.41/31.39), with  Mal Preece  129th and winning his MV60 age cat in (35.35/35.30).  K

Martin and Carla Green (*pictured above) starred for Wales at Great Bristol 10k Report by Don Hale.   Talented husband and wife Road Running duo Martin and Carla Green were selected for Wales last Sunday in the Great Bristol 10k and competed against quality international opposition. In a very fast race Martin was pleased with his performance and finished 22nd overall in a superb time of 33 minutes and 16 seconds to claim 4th place in his respective age category. Carla also enjoyed another excellent run finishing 218th overall and the 51st female athlete in a time of 39.55 and 6th place in her age cat.  Former NWRRC member  Gemma Moore , now with Eryri Harriers, was also selected for Wales in the same race and she finished 177th overall in 39.15 as the 35th female runner and 8th in her age cat. *Pictured above - Martin Green (*centre) with Carla Green (*left) and Gemma Moore at the international Great Bristol 10k race. Other Race results: * Peris Horsehoe:  Accomplished endurance and fe

*Endurance runner Karl Morris ran 83-miles last weekend at Pen Llyn race. *Pen Llyn:  Brave NWRRC endurance athlete  Karl Morris c ompleted the  Pen Llyn 75-mile  race over the weekend, but said he made a few errors and ended up doing 83 miles instead! Karl eventually ran 83.53 miles in 21 hours and 21 minutes and his challenging route including 3,386m of elevation. He later explained; “I forgot an honesty book page, so I had to track back a mile, and then had to hunt for toilets in Nefyn.   “I even managed to get lost in a farmer’s field. Oh well, a great day and I got to run along some of the best coastal path routes anywhere in the UK. Finished 7th in the end. The marshalls’ and volunteers did a great job.”  *Great work from Elizabeth Driscoll at the Llanrwst Sprint Triathlon. *Llanrwst:  NWRRC athlete  Elizabeth Driscoll  competed at the  Llanrwst Sprint Triathlon  on Sunday and easily won her F50 age cat with a stunning performance at her first event with a new carbon bike.

*Josh Keogh (*above) ran a great new PB at Conwy for 2nd place overall. Bright and breezy but a fast finish at Conwy parkun. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery.   It was bright and breezy at the Conwy parkrun last Saturday where over two-hundred finishers enjoyed the exceptional conditions and picturesque route to record a host of PBs and fast times, with the first nine finishers all dipping under the twenty-minute barrier. Road Runner  Josh Keogh  ran his socks off and claimed a deserved new PB, but he still finished a few seconds adrift of the overall winner, teenager James Smith, who also recorded a PB in 17.00, with another young runner Peter Cotterell, finishing 3rd in 17.28. Josh  was one of three NWRRC members who won their age categories, and yet, amazingly a further eight club runners all finished second in their cats! He led home a team of eleven seniors and one junior in 17.13, and was 1st in his SM30-34 age cat.  Jonathan Kettle (*above left) with Will Williams (*a

Course record broken at Conwy Fell Race. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery.   It proved to be a very fast finish for the first two Welsh International runners at last Saturday’s Conwy Fell Race with Matthew Roberts breaking the 2019 course record to win in 41 minutes 30 seconds, and he was just one second ahead of the previous course record holder Gavin Roberts in 41.31. *(Pictured above) A good run from Josh Keogh at the Conwy fell Race. Matthew (CUPR) also won his MV40 age cat, with Gavin (Calder Valley Fell Runners) winning his MO class, and Joel Gomes (Wrexham) finishing in 3rd place and 2nd in his M40 cat in 43.53. The first female was Katie Davies (Staffordshire Moorlands), 24th overall in 43.53. *A determined effort from Karl Morris (*above) at Conwy. North Wales Road Runners  entered two athletes with  Josh Keogh  finishing 10th in 48.33, with  Karl Morris  38th in 58.44. The event was run over a challenging 5-mile course with 1650ft of elevation and attracted seventy

*Karl Morris (*above) performed well in the Pen Llyn Ultra run over 37.5 miles. Tough running at Pen Llyn Winter Ultra event. Report by Don Hale.   Three NWRRC endurance athletes competed in the gruelling Pen Llyn Winter Ultra trail race last Saturday.  Run over a challenging and undulating 37.5-mile course out and back from Pwllheli golf club, with over 5,000 ft of elevation, the event attracted 218 intrepid starters and 129 hardy finishers. Local runners included  Marc Davies  finished 14th overall and he was the 12th U50 cat in 6 hours 35 minutes 37 seconds, and  Karl Morris  was 33rd and the 26th U50 runner in 7.08.56, with  Jon Dalzell  67th overall and the 40th U50 cat in 7.55.18. After the race, Karl Morris confirmed ‘A great route with a fair-few climbs. I ran a strong race – all 37-miles of it! Thanks to Huw Williams and all the team for putting on a great race.’ And his colleague Jon Dalzell described the event as ‘brutal.’ *The race winner was Jon Shield in 5.25.19, with 2nd

*Karl Morris overcame numerous problems at the Peris Horseshoe race. Brace chef Karl nearly in stew at Peris Horseshoe fell race. Report by Don Hale. Brave local chef Karl Morris nearly ended up in a stew on Saturday when he became lost and slightly disorientated in thick fog during the highly challenging Peris Horseshoe fell race.  The NWRRC athlete bravely persevered however, and despite taking a couple of wrong turns, running a considerable extra distance, and helping a damsel in distress, he still managed to complete the race in style.  Karl however, had the  courage  and  determination to eventually conquer the tough Full Peris event, running more than twenty miles, and nearly 9,000m of ascent in total from Llanberis, to finish 49th overall in a time 6 hours 35 minutes and 38 seconds On reaching the finish line,  Karl  admitted: ‘A great day out running my first Peris Horseshoe fell race. The route is as tough as they come, and with heavy fog navigation it was always going to be a

Youngest ever runner Troy Kettle finished 10 th  in Cybi Coastal Marathon. Report by Don Hale.   Teenage endurance athlete Troy Kettle finished a magnificent 10th overall in the highly challenging Cybi Coastal Marathon last weekend. The North Wales Road Runner completed this gruelling trail course in just 4 hours 1 minute and 56 seconds and is understood to be the youngest ever finisher. He also beat his more experienced club colleagues  Karl Morris  and  Steve Bozier , despite both runners having excellent runs. *Steve Bozier pictured en-route by the South Stack lighthouse. *Karl Morris ran well in the Coastal marathon last weekend. *Running buddies Karl Morris and Steve Morris pictured after completing their race. Troy was one of 144 finishers who took part in this extreme event, which followed a very difficult but partially way marked route along paths, tracks, beaches, and the coastline of the Welsh National and Anglesey Coastal Path.   The  entire route passed through magnificent