Don Hale Blog

MENTAL ELF – Festive Fun Run. Sunday 30th November at 11am for Conwy Mind at Eirias Events Centre. Put on your Elf hat and join our Festive Fun Run. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   There are two choices to choose from: - A 5k Mental Elf, or a 2k Mini Elf.   Join us on Sunday 30th November 11am at Eirias Events Centre, Colwyn   Bay  for a day of fun and fundraising.  Walk, jog, skip or run while soaking up the festive spirit and supporting Conwy and Vale of Clwyd Minds. Together, we can go the extra mile for mental health! Mini Elf 2k Fun Run: A new event this year! Mini elves can join in the fun too with a 2km fun run packed full of all the jingling fun. A Free National Trust pass for every participant*   This year, Mind is partnering with the National Trust. If you take part or volunteer in a local  Mental Elf event, you’ll receive a free family access pass to National Trust sites! It’s our way of thanking   you for supporting mental health ...

*Pictured above - Sharon Hutchings (*second from the left) with her Welsh team colleagues. Competing in Masters athletics by an extraordinary Welsh field athlete Sharon Hutchings... Special  report by WMAL webmaster Juliet Sidney with Sharon Hutchings. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk I have been competing abroad since 2022 at the European Indoor champs, Braga. Restarting after having my left knee replaced in 2021 due to osteoarthritis.  During this time of recovery, I had a lot of thinking time, and I’d always regretted giving up athletics aged 25 as good shot putter, discus thrower whose pb’s were 12.24m and 33.50m with a highest British ranking of 6 for shot put aged 16. I started collecting all my old newspaper cuttings, British ranking books, memories and reminiscing about how much I enjoyed throwing in those days. During this time a good friend Ann Thatcher who was my friend and colleague at Newbury AC years ago mentioned masters athletics th...

North Wales Cross Country League: Race No 2 at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay... Message about this Saturday's latest XC fixture and some previous photos courtesy of Bernie Jones. www.donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 The second David Alun Williams North Wales Cross Country League of the season will take place at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay(Ll29 7SP) this Saturday, 25th October 2025.  If you’re selected and have any additional runners to register please let me have them asap an no later than Thursday am.  We’re on the usual Eirias Park course with the Junior races starting at 10-30am and the Senior races at 1pm. Big thank you in advance to Colwyn Bay for hosting.  See you on Saturday  Bernie Jones, Secretary, NW XC League.

*Gwen Charlton (*above left) with Kevin Higgins and Kevin Slattery at the Abergele races last weekend. Quality competition at the Abergele 5k and 10k races. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   There was a massive turn-out of over 500 quality athletes for the Abergele 5k and 10k races held on the town’s promenade on Sunday, which was well organised by RunWales. Despite some wind and rain, both events attracted a wealth of elite, club, and social runners and the 5k race set a hot pace with the first 15 finishers all dipping under the 20-minute mark including the first two female athletes! And just 20-seconds separated the first six finishers! In the 10k race, the first 14 athletes ran under 40-minutes, with some close times between the top six places, and the first female athlete was almost three minutes ahead of her nearest rival. The first finisher overall at the 5k event was  Huw Gwynn  (Eryri Harriers) with a good time of 16 minutes and 37 seconds,...

*Harry Driscoll (*pictured above) from Meirionnydd RC was second at Conwy. Some fast times and good attendances at many North Wales parkruns - full results round-up... Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Sam Griffiths  was the runaway first finisher at the  Conwy parkrun  last Saturday where they welcomed 209 club and social athletes, including many visitors from around the UK. Sam had an outstanding run in just 16 minutes and 42 seconds, with  Harry Driscoll  (Meirionnydd RC) second with a great new PB of 17.51, and visitor  John Brogan  (RC Warriors) took the third spot on his debut in 18.06. *Vicky Cole  (GOG Triathlon) was the first female finisher (16th overall), and she ran the course with her husband  Simon Cole , and claimed a new PB in 20.38, with  Ellie Evans  (Cybi Striders) second (34th) with a PB in 22.10, and  Katherine Gregson  finished third (38th) in 22.26. *Pictured above - Husb...

Notice of Annual General Meeting on Saturday 22 November 2025 at 11:00am by Zoom...                     Urgent Reminder:   donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the British Masters Athletic Federation will take place on  Saturday 22nd November 2025 .   The meeting will be held on “Zoom” and joining details will be circulated later. The Agenda for the meeting will be circulated at a later date.   Any items for the Agenda should be submitted to the Hon. Secretary as soon as possible.   The BMAF Executive intend to include a motion on the agenda to allow BMAF to be wound up and its activities and objectives be transferred to a new company BMAF Holdings Ltd.     You support is requested for the meeting. We need new blood among our elected officers and volunteers to allow the Federation to continue to provide Championships and competition. If you can hel...

*Steve Gardner is pictured (*above left) on the podium at the European Masters event. Prestigious Silver medal for Steve Gardner at European Masters Champs...plus a new PB and a new Welsh track record! Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Welsh Master Steve Gardner came home with a prestigious silver medal after competing in the European Masters Athletics Championships in Madeira last week and said that competing successfully at this level had been like a dream come true. The North Wales Road Runner  was representing Great Britain once again in the 2000m steeplechase event, and he finished second following a highly competitive encounter against some of the world’s top track athletes, yet he recorded a great new PB and claimed a new Welsh Masters record! Veteran Steve was one of 4,200 masters athletes from 33 European countries at this top Euro Masters track championship event, and he praised his North Wales endurance coach  John Mussum  for his h...

SYNAESTHESIA ELIZABETH HAINES October 18th - November 22nd, Oriel Q Gallery, Narberth. Special Coast and Country Arts Feature.                 Report by Don Hale.   donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Elizabeth Haines has developed a distinctive voice that balances observation, poetry, and imagination. Her work straddles the boundary between representation and abstraction: drawing from the landscapes of Wales, informed by years sketching from nature, yet transformed through memory and dreams. Elizabeth's art is rich in texture, colour, and inner space. Her studio practice is deeply connected to her surroundings: the rugged terrain, changing light of Pembrokeshire feed her work, but so too do poetry and music Her paintings invite the viewer in: at first through colour, surface, and form; then deeper, toward architecture, trees, or horizons suggested rather than stated. https://www.orielqnarberth.com/synaesthesia-elizabeth-haines   Gallery Opens...