Don Hale Blog

RLNI Llandudno 5K & 1K Fun Run Sunday 28th September 2025 Join Us to Support RNLI Llandudno! https://rnli.niftyentries.com/RLNI-Llandudno-5K-1K-Fun-Run-2025 https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com Be part of something special and help save lives at sea by signing up for our  first-ever charity run ! 🏃‍♂️  5km Run  – Open to all ages and abilities 👟  1km Fun Run  – Perfect for children and newbies to running This exciting event is the first of its kind hosted by  RNLI Llandudno , and  your support will make a real difference . Every step you take and every pound you donate helps our volunteer lifeboat crews continue their vital work— saving lives and keeping people safe along the beautiful North Wales coast . 🌊 Together, we can make our shores safer. 💙 Sign up today and be a lifesaver! Description :  A fast and flat course for both distances. The race starts and finishes on Llandudno Promenade, close to the Lifeboat Station. Entries are limited to...

*Pictured above - some members of North Wales Road Runners at the Dash. Sizzling success for children’s cancer charities and runners at the Deganwy Dash/Rohan’s Run... Report by Don Hale.  Photos courtesy of Zoe Roberts, Stuart Culverhouse and Michael Finnie. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com *Also check out Ken Poulter’s amazing drone video from the start of the Dash: https://www.facebook.com/ken.poulter.3/videos/1004385718349663/ *Further Dash photos Caitlin Faye are available on this link: https://www.facebook.com/100070394586779/posts/729637179392762/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=k99W8YFezewHuQtI   *The race leaders (*above left) on the way out and (*right) the eventual race winner Simon Cole from GOG Triathlon.   It was hot and humid with a light breeze at last Friday night’s 5-mile Deganwy Dash – also known as Rohan’s Run – with many runners setting a sizzling pace and helping to raise thousands of pounds for children’s cancer charities. The event proved to be very succe...

*Pictured above - Jonathan Kettle one top form at Chester. Superb PB for Jonathan Kettle at the Chester half-marathon. Report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   North Wales Road Runner Jonathan Kettle returned to action at the weekend with a superb performance and claimed a new course PB despite the heat at the Chester half-marathon, finishing 23rd out of 6.539 other runners. After his race he confirmed:  “The Chester half-marathon may have not been my fastest, but I was pleased with a course PB of around one minute, and I didn’t expect it at all.  “I said to someone before the race that you have to go hard enough to risk blowing up to know what you really have on the day, and today I did that, and I didn’t blow up, absolutely loved the pain of the race.”   *Stuart Culverhouse (*above left), with Helen Hannam and Adam Lemalle. Jonathan was one of eight NWRR members who faced the hot dash at Chester and master veteran  Kevin Slattery  was ...

*Pictured above - Paul Stroud and his son Leo are shown in the Tower race. The Tokyo Tower Climb: A distinct and unique challenge! Introduction by Don Hale.  This report includes a unique and exclusive   account of how ex-pat and enthusiastic  veteran runner and language teacher  Paul Stroud, tackled the famous Tokyo Tower Climb in Japan last  December - and is now all set to do it all again with his son and daughter in June! Ex-pat Paul Stroud is a prolific author and an excellent language teacher who originally hails from Brighton in the UK. He is also an enthusiastic runner, and a keen football fan, and now lives and works in the thriving Japanese city of Tokyo.  Paul moved to San Francisco when he was just 22, then relocated to Tokyo when he hit 40. He worked in a typical language school from 2000-2008 before going his own way and eventually opened the current family-owned language school with his wife Marie.  In August this year, they will ce...

*Pictured above - Conwy runners and volunteers at the Nova event. Prestatyn’s Nova parkrun proved popular again with Conwy tour members...plus other results round-up. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Gwyn Williams at Nova and Mike Finnie at Penrhyn. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com *Conwy parkrunners on tour at Nova (above l-r): Darren Dentith, Don Hale, Liz Evans  and John Stallard. The Nova parkrun at Prestatyn was one of the best attended local parkruns last Saturday morning with 285 entrants including local club athlete Tom Carter, who was the first finisher with a new PB in 17 minutes and 15 seconds, with the first three finishers all recording new course PBs. Tom however was pushed all the way by rival Matthew Baker, and he was just 4 seconds adrift, with JM11-14 junior Seth Williams 3rd in 19.00. *The first female was SW20 athlete Eve Manifold (23rd), with a PB in 21.23, with Abbey Young 2nd, (29th), with a new PB in 21.58, whilst teenager Erin Thinas (34th), finished in 2...