Don Hale Blog

*Pictured above left - Rhian Roxburgh with her Great Britain  team just after being  pulled from their tough endurance race. Drama for North Wales athlete Rhian Roxburgh and Team GB in Sweden... Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com North Wales athlete Rhian Roxburgh and her colleagues who were representing Team GB in Sweden last week during the demanding 'One Water Race,’ were forced to pull out of the competition along with eight other international teams, due to time delays and freezing conditions, which  forced multiple medical evacuations – including two by helicopter! Rhian, who is a popular and well-known local triathlete, coach and endurance athlete with GOG Triathlon , was selected by  Team Great Britain  to take on this extraordinary challenge for the first time ever, with fellow experienced athletes  Gaz Roberts, Chris Goodfellow  and support from  Mike Alexander. They were pitched against nine other rival teams from Aust...

*Pictured above - Rhian Roxburgh prepares for the race with her team mates. Rhian Roxburgh competes for Team GB in the World's Toughest Challenge...with $100,000 prize money. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   Top North Wales triathlete and coach Rhian Roxburgh has been selected to represent Team GB as part of a four-person team to compete this week in the ‘World’s Toughest Challenge,’ and she could win a share of a $100,000 reward. The Llandudno based award-winning all-round endurance athlete is currently travelling to Sweden to take part in the  One Water Race  against nine other rival teams from Australia, France, Canada, Sweden, plus other combined nations teams from 19-21st August, during a gruelling event that will last for about 60-hours non-stop over 5 varied stages The race covers a distance of about 250 km, the equivalent of 6 marathons, and is split up into approximately 200 km running, and 50 km swimming events. The running takes place...

*NWRRC athlete Gwen Charlton (*above right), heads towards the finish line at the London Marathon. Some personal stories by North Wales athletes in the London and Manchester Marathons... Special Marathon’s sporting feature: Introduction by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   This is a brief sporting spotlight featuring a number of the many North Wales based athletes who took part in last weekend’s London or Manchester Marathons, with a few even overcoming personal tragedies in order to compete, and most also raising some much-needed funds for local charities. It would be impossible of course, to mention everyone who took part, but this article will at least give a voice to some key individuals who have made a determined effort with hard training throughout the winter to ensure they were ready to start and finish one of the most gruelling races ever, over 26.2 miles.  This is a summary of their personal challenges: Fast time at London for Martin Green. Martin Green, ...

*Stuart Culverhouse and his son Joe (*above) competed well at Conwy parkrun. Two-hundred parkrunners tackled the challenging  and waterlogged 5k course at Conwy. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmasters.co.uk Over two-hundred entrants, including two-dozen North Wales Road Runners, tackled the waterlogged conditions at Conwy parkrun last Saturday, before discussing a controversial decision taken by the organisation’s HQ this week to remove all male, female, and age category records. The dreadful puddle-filled, muddy, and challenging 5k course took quite a beating during the previous few days, with strong winds, and torrential rain making everyone wish they had been wearing flippers, or wellies, rather than expensive training shoes. Stuart Culverhouse  though led home a team of twelve NWRRC athletes home, who secured four age cat wins, and four second placings, and he finished 6th overall, and claimed 2nd place in his VM50 age cat in a fast time of 2...