Don Hale Blog

*Some of the NWRRC team at the Eryri Marathon (*l-r), Kelly Alford, Steve Bozier, Karl Morris, Stuart Culverhouse, Cai Roberts and Vicky Taylor. A dozen hardy Road Runners competed in the tough Eryri Marathon...plus Mark Davies seen near the start line! Report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com *Some other Road Runners (*above), with their friends and supporters. A dozen hardy and determined North Wales Road Runners competed in the popular Eryri Marathon last Saturday and additionally celebrated news of seeing their club colleague Mark Davies positioned near the start line following a serious accident earlier this year. This extremely tough encounter was run in very good conditions and attracted 2,228 endurance athletes, including many from top fell running and mountain racing clubs, with entrants all praising the incredible support from marshals and volunteers enroute, together with the spectacular scenery. *Pictured above (*left), Sarah Fergie Hudson and her husband Ben,

*Pictured above - Mark Davies from NWRRC and Welsh Masters Athletics, received life threatening injuries after being hit by a drunken, hit and run female driver in January. The Daily Post have just reported on the initial court case (17/8/23) involving hit and run victim Mark Davies, a Welsh Masters Athlete, and a popular North Wales Road Runner. Mark was also an award-winning mountain racing champion, who suffered life threatening injuries due to the actions of a drunk driver. This report is presented courtesy of the newspaper:  My previous blog articles contain further information: *Blog post 27/3/23: Don Hale Blog: Positive news about award winning mountain racer M...  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/positive-news-about-award-winning.html?spref=tw   *Blog post 6/2/23: Don Hale Blog: Mountain runner Mark Davies continues his battle f...  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2023/02/mark-continues-his-battle-for-life-at.html?spref=tw   *Blog post 31/1/23: Don Hale Blog: Special f

*Karl Morris (*pictured above) made a brave effort to tackle a 100-mile race. North Wales endurance runner Karl Morris forced to quit Snowdonia 100-mile race when his trainer fell apart. Special report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   North Wales endurance athlete Karl Morris made a brave effort to tackle the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100-mile race last weekend but unfortunately, he was forced to quit after about 32-miles when one of his trainers started falling apart. The NWRRC member and talented Welsh Master athlete who began his tough challenge last Friday lunchtime confirmed, that the UTL 100-mile event is a very serious race, with 30,000ft of climbing and includes the majority of the major peaks of Northern Snowdonia.  At the start of the event, Karl said he was hopeful of completing this gruelling challenge but explained: “The odds are against me on this one, but I’ll give it a go. Anyone that knows me, knows that I don’t quit easily.

Positive news about award winning mountain racer Mark Davies following a devastating hit and run incident last January… *Special report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   Thankfully, there has been some positive news this week about the award-winning mountain racer and fell runner Mark Davies who was seriously injured during a devastating hit and run incident close to his home near Llandudno last January. *Mark in yellow vest (*above) pictured with fellow competitors in the Swiss Mountain 360 race. Mark (48), who is a member of the North Wales Road Running club, and is also a top Welsh Master ultra-distance competitor, has faced extensive medical treatment at a specialist injury hospital in Stoke following the incident on 28th January, when he was in collision with a VW Polo. This led to a lengthy period in a coma, and an operation on his legs, and during this period, Mark’s friend Darrel Lewis launched a special fundraising appeal via a GoFundMe page which raised over £2

Mountain  runner  Mark Davies continues his battle for life at specialist injury hospital...and fundraising appeal reaches £20k. Report by Don Hale.   Award winning ultra-distance mountain runner Mark Davies continues his battle against life-threatening injuries following a hit and run accident at Llanrhos on Saturday Jan 28. North Wales Road Runner Mark (48), who is currently receiving extensive medical treatment at Stoke hospital, is also expected to have an operation on his legs this week. *Award-winning mountain racer Mark Davies (*pictured top and above). A fundraising appeal launched last week by Mark’s friend Darrel Lewis on a special GoFundMe page has so far raised £20k. Mark is self-employed, and Darrel explained that he was trying to raise funds for Mark’s wife Leanne and his family. Confirmation of Mark’s accident was also mentioned at the Conwy parkrun last Saturday by NWRRC official John Hatton, who later confirmed that you could have heard a pin drop when he made the anno

Special fundraising page for hit and run victim Mark Davies – an internationally acclaimed ultra-distance mountain runner.   Report by Don Hale.   Mark Davies a long serving member of North Wales Road Running Club was the unfortunate victim of a hit and run accident close to his home at Llanrhos last Saturday night (28th January) and is currently fighting for his life at Stoke Mandeville Hospital after suffering life threatening injuries. The talented endurance athlete is an internationally acclaimed award winner who just a few weeks ago won a prestigious Special Achievement prize at the Sports Conwy Awards ceremony for his exceptional performances both overseas and in the UK for his ultra-mountain running exploits. Mark, however, is self-employed, and obviously at present, he is unable to work, so his friends, supporters, and clubmates at NWRRC, have just set-up a special GoFundMe page to help raise some money for his family. Mark (48) and his wife Leanne are both well-known around Ll

Welsh fell runner Mark Davies wins ‘Special Achievement’ award for tackling the daunting Swiss Peaks 360 mountain race…   Introduction by Don Hale. Photos by Mark Davies.   North Wales Road Runners were successful in three separate categories at the Sport Conwy awards night on (25/11/22) including endurance athlete Mark Davies who won the ‘Special Achievement’ award for his incredible performance in the Swiss 360 mountain ultra-running race. Earlier this year I asked Mark if he would recall the highlights from his epic challenge. Mark now provides an exclusive, unique, and very personal account of his incredible challenge, and it is understood that he was the first Welshman and UK based finisher in this race. I entered this race ten-months ago as I needed a massive challenge, the distance (236 miles), elevation (83,000ft), so the difficulty of the course ticked all the boxes.  I'm now lying in my bed however, with legs like an elephant, and wondering what had just happened, and how

North Wales fell runner Mark Davies (*above) tackled the daunting Swiss Peaks 360 race. Mark now provides an exclusive, unique, and very personal account of his incredible challenge, and it is understood that he was the first Welshman and UK based finisher in this race. Photographs also courtesy of Mark Davies.   I entered this race ten-months ago as I needed a massive challenge, the distance (236 miles), elevation (83,000ft), so the difficulty of the course ticked all the boxes.  I'm now lying in my bed however, with legs like an elephant, and wondering what had just happened, and how the hell I managed to finish! It all started at midday on a Sunday in Oberwald. The first couple of climbs teased and went relatively fast both just up 2,000 ft, then dropping 2,000ft to a Valley’s below; the third climb started to show you what was coming. It was a 4,300 ft climb up to an 8,850 ft col, but at the top 100/1,500 ft, I started to feel altitude effects for the first time. I was weak, wi