Don Hale Blog

NWRRC athletes braved the heat at Aldi Chester 10k - and hosepipe came to the rescue of all runners...   Report by Don Hale   Several North Wales athletes turned out at the Aldi Chester 10k road race last Sunday despite a heat wave, and social distancing restrictions, within a massive turnout of nearly 3,000 runners. Newcomer  Jamie Tharme  was the first club man home in 50 minutes 51 seconds in 430th place from 1,633 male runners. He was followed by  Cai Roberts  in 55.49 in 676th place, with local soccer referee  Charlie Owen , a highly creditable 1,225th in 77.34. *Charlie  and Mandy Owen sizzled at the Chester 10k *Vicky Taylor had another good run at Chester in the heat Kelly-Marie Alford  led the ladies back home with another good run as 137th female out of 1,165 finishers in 55.06. And  Vicky Taylor  was another runner in fine form and following on from last week’s fell race, finishing as 239th female in 58.54, with  Mandy Owen  301st female in 60.49. Afterwards, Kelly confirmed

*A plucky performance from Vicky Taylor at the Tal y Fan fell race Age category placing for Vicky Taylor in Tal y Fan fell race Report by Don Hale. Photographs by Steve Jeffery and Jonathan Kettle   Three NWRRC members took part in the gruelling Ras Tal y Fan fell race at Rowen last Saturday in very hot and humid conditions, with plucky Vicky Taylor snatching 2nd place in her respective age category. Said to be one of the toughest runs on the local North Wales fell racing circuit, the race is staged over varied terrain with nearly 800m of ascent and offered a stern challenge to all competitors over an 8-mile plus course.  The first two miles are said to be the most difficult, and host organisers, Club Rhedwyr Eyri Harriers, stated that entrants needed be able to navigate their way around the course, as although marshalls are at the checkpoints, and at the various gates and stiles around the course, the route is unmarked, and prior fell running experience is recommended. This year, with

*Martin Green came 2nd in his age category at Wilmslow Mixed fortunes for Martin and Jonathan at Wilmslow 10k   Report by Don Hale. There were mixed fortunes for two of North Wales Road Runners’ top athletes in last Sunday’s Wilmslow Summer 10k race with  Martin Green  claiming a 2nd place in his M45 age category, and  Jonathan Kettle  having to withdraw due to a persistent injury. In hot and humid conditions  Martin  continued his excellent form to finish 25th overall out of an amazing 2,545 other runners.  Competing under social distancing restrictions in England, Martin maintained a good pace throughout despite some tough additional races of late, and finally finished in 33 minutes 7 seconds for a silver medal podium cat place. He later confirmed: ‘ Pleased enough. It was going really well until 7k, then my legs fell off (or someone poured cement inside them). Last week’s half still there, but still very happy with how I felt up to that point.’ And  Jonathan , who has been strugglin

(Pictured above) Martin Green in NWRRC vest dipped under 16 minutes and claimed new personal best time in the "Fast 5k" race at Wigan. Paul Freary is at the head of the pack Report by Don Hale. Photographs by John Earlston. North Wales Road Runner Martin Green recorded an incredible personal best time (PB) at Wigan last Tuesday night in a high-quality 5k race, and just dipped under 16 minutes for the very first time. This event marked a fabulous performance from Martin who quickly hit top gear and accelerated away from the “Green” flag and burnt some rubber on the five-lap, Three Sisters go-cart track, to register an official time of 15 minutes 59 seconds.  Martin accelerated from the "Green" flag on the Three Sisters go-cart track It was a proud moment for the talented veteran athlete and marathon star, who later confirmed: ‘It was a “Fast 5k” event and included 5 x 1k laps, which was ideal. A PB, and my first time under 16 minutes. I was well chuffed to be honest,

NICK BEER 10K SOLD OUT - NO MORE ENTRIES AVAILABLE - BUT STILL A 1K CHILDREN'S FUN RUN Report by Don Hale The ever-popular Nick Beer 10k race has now SOLD OUT with no more places available, but entries still remain for the 1k children's FUN RUN (*See below). Joint race organiser Kay Hatton said today that they have now reached their 500-limit, and added that Matt Clowes, a previous winner, has entered and is predicting a sub-30!’  Race entries for the 10k closed on Tuesday 5th July when the final seven entries were received for the event on  Sunday July 18th (10am start) which always  attracts hundreds of runners from across the UK, and beyond, to enjoy the scenic splendours of a challenging course around Llandudno’s Great Orme.  Starting and finishing opposite the Imperial Hotel and at the REVISED START TIME OF 10am, this will be the 29th annual run to help commemorate the life of a well-known former local athlete, Nick Beer, who sadly passed away in 1992, aged just 27, afte

*Course PB times for  both  Mandy and Charlie Owen in the heat at Southport half-marathon (*Pictured above) Incredible 11-minute PB for Mandy Report by Don Hale   Five determined athletes from North Wales Road Runners braved extreme temperatures and made another border crossing to the seaside town of Southport last Sunday to compete in the half-marathon. Staged in very hot and humid weather, this popular event attracted 1083 finishers for the half-marathon race, and nearly 400 more for the 10k dash, yet despite the heat, two NWRRC athletes still celebrated course PB times. Stuart Culverhouse  was the first club man home in 127th place in a superb time of 1 hour 34 minutes and 37 seconds,’ but afterwards Stuart admitted: ‘I really struggled out there today in the humid conditions.’                                    *Stuart Culverhouse Kelly-Marie Alford  continued her return to form in 614th position overall in 2.02.17. She was also affected by the heat and humidity and explained: ‘It

*Josh Keogh dashes across the Great Orme in the fell race Road Runners competed in Great Orme fell race   Report by Don Hale. Photo by Steve Jeffery.   Three members of North Wales Road Runners were amongst the seventy-five finishers at last Tuesday night’s spectacular Great Orme fell race. Held in bright, warm sunshine, over a tough course with some incredible scenery, the event attracted several top athletes from many parts of the UK including Wrexham, Ilkley, Liverpool, Lymm, Calder, and even from Manx Fell Runners in the Isle of Man.  In addition, there was a good number of local fell runners from all ages, representing GOG Triathlon, Denbigh Harriers, Buckley Runners, Prestatyn RC, and Eryri, amongst many others, with the latter club entering nineteen members. *It was tough at the top for runners including Charlotte-Rose Wilton-Jones NWRRC had three runners taking part with  Josh Keogh  the first club man home in 15th place in 35 minutes 53 seconds.  Karl Morris  who loves the Wel

Announcement from Parkrun HQ (Wed 16th July) Start of Parkruns pushed back again... Following the announcement this week from the Prime Minister, confirming a delay to Step 4 of the Roadmap until Monday 19 July 2021, it is now our intention that 5k events in England will restart on   Saturday 24 July. A huge amount of work has been done in recent weeks to ensure we have permission to return from the large majority of landowners. Whilst this delay is disappointing, we respect the fact that a significant number of these permissions were contingent on the country moving into Step 4, and   we will therefore target a new reopening date of Saturday 24 July. *NOTE:   Last week Parkrun UK suggested a date of 10th July for Parkruns in Wales to possibly re-start on 10th July. In view of this latest update relating to Parkruns in England, it looks as though it will now be pushed back to a similar start date of 24th July. We will just have to wait and see whether the Welsh Government make any furt

    *Ben Hudson ran the furthest distance in the relay   Club runners complete 15-hour ultra-challenge in heatwave Twelve hardy athletes from North Wales Road Runners set a blisteringly hot pace during a unique ultra-distance race despite the scorching conditions last Sunday in the Builth and District 15-hour relay challenge. In this third virtual event organised by the ambitious Builth Wells based running club in Powys, where the previous competition attracted about 100 teams, and nearly 2,000 entrants, the aim was to run as far as possible within the permitted time frame, which began at 5am and continued until 8pm. *Steve Poupart enjoyed a good run in the sun The NWRRC team eventually ran a total of 96.12 miles, with Steve Poupart running a one and half hour slot, Ben Hudson a two-hour run, and Helen Hannam completed a remarkable two and a half-hour trot from 2.30pm, at probably the hottest part of the day. *Helen Hannam ran for the longest time Rachel Morris also made a welcome come

Latest Parkrun updates globally - from Parkrun HQ Provisional date of 10th July set for Wales Last weekend saw 700 events take place across seven countries, with more than 62,000 participants enjoying the magic of free, community-led, outdoor, social physical activity opportunities. It is so encouraging to see these events welcomed back by local communities, and to see our  COVID-19 Framework  in action and working well. This COVID-specific framework sits alongside individual local risk assessments, and was developed last year to document the necessary changes and mitigations volunteers at a local level need to be aware of and follow when delivering parkrun events whilst Coronavirus is still in circulation.   Reassuringly, more than 14,000 events at over 800 locations have now been delivered in accordance with this framework, with over 250,000 different people walking, jogging, running and volunteering more than 1.5 million times. We support track and trace in every region we operate i

BOOST FOR NICK BEER 10K RACE FOLLOWING LIFTING OF OUTDOOR SPORTS RESTRICTIONS IN WALES Report by Don Hale. Most photographs by Steve Jeffery.   **NEWS FLASH: Welsh Athletics award Nick Beer 10k a race certificate (9/6/21). The popular Nick Beer 10k road race re-scheduled for Sunday July 18th received a welcome boost this week, when the Welsh Government finally lifted a number of Covid-19 restrictions, to allow more people to both attend and compete in outdoor sports events. Race directors, John and Kay Hatton, say that in view of this welcome boost, they remain extremely confident that this year’s event will now go ahead as planned with a ‘live’ run starting and finishing on Llandudno promenade.  Entries remain open for this major race which always  attracts hundreds of runners from across the UK, and beyond, to enjoy the scenic splendours of a challenging course around the Great Orme.  Starting and finishing opposite the Imperial Hotel and now at the REVISED START TIME OF 10am, this w