Don Hale Blog

*Gareth Southworth  and his wife Kath inside the stadium in Melbourne. North Wales athlete and parkrunner Gareth went ‘Down Under’ to compete in the Melbourne half-marathon...plus parkrun results round up... Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Popular North Wales athlete and parkrunner Gareth Southworth continued his running exploits in Australia over the weekend by competing in the Melbourne half-marathon on Sunday. Gareth, who was representing   Cybi Striders , is enjoying a break ‘Down-Under’ with his wife Kath and enjoyed a good run in 1 hour 43 minutes and 56 minutes, and he was 15th in his VM60-64 age cat (1773rd) overall amongst over 12,154 finishers. This event was part of the  Melbourne Marathon Festival  and after his run, Gareth commented: “It was an unreal experience to finish inside the iconic MCG Stadium.” This latest result followed his performance the day before in the  Parkville parkrun  in Princes Park, Melbourne, wher...

  *Pictured above - Father and son - Stuart and Joe Culverhouse at Ruthin. North Wales parkruns battered by Storm Amy but Ruthin survived! And news from Gareth and Kath Down Under. Special report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Storm Amy forced the postponement of numerous parkruns throughout the UK last Saturday with North Wales events in particular badly affected by course flooding, heavy rain and gale force winds. Regular events at Newborough Forest, Nant y Pandy, Wepre, Penrhyn Castle, Conwy, Llangollen, Prestatyn, and Wrexham’s  Park in the Past parkruns  were all affected, with the Ruthin Memorial parkrun one of the few survivors. The Ruthin event on the Memorial Playing Fields, attracted 146 hardy runners including 74 visitors, with many travelling from far afield after searching hard to find a live parkrun, and despite the challenging conditions, ten people still recorded some very worthy personal best (PB) times. At the time of writing the name ...

*Stuart Culverhouse (*right) ran well with Darren Dentith at Ruthin. Good results and keen competition at various North Wales parkruns...results round up... Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Some very good results including numerous personal best (PB) times at various parkruns across North Wales last weekend, with some keen competition for placings, particularly amongst the ladies, and well done to JW11 athlete Martha Brown at Nant y Pandy, who finished a close second overall, and the first female finisher in 19 minutes and 18 seconds.   *Conwy:   GOG Triathlon athlete  Simon Cole  was the first finisher at the  Conwy parkrun  with a very fast finish in just 16 minutes and 52 seconds, and  Elin Jones  took the first female finisher place with a new PB in 20.40. * North Wales Road Runners included  –  James Singleton  59th in 24.51, with master vet  Rob Fryer  84th in 26.38, and he also won his VM70 a...

*P ctured above - Former ex-pat and popular Australian author Joy Bloumis has just missed out on a prestigious final book awards short list. North Wales produced and promoted story was nominated for a prestigious Australian Jewish book award. The Storms You Walk Through:  A Memoir of Roza Hamer by ex-pat author Joy  Bloumis.   *This book is now available on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4lXUnzo Exclusive report by Don Hale . Promoted by Coast and Country online magazine. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025     An exciting new book written by an Australian author and promoted by North Wales based Coast and Country online magazine in conjunction with publishers Bookpublishing4u, has narrowly missed out on a prestigious top Jewish Book Award in Australia after reaching the final cut of nominations. Ex-pat and octogenarian  Joy Bloumis , who now lives in Victoria, Australia, has written a fascinating new book about a mysterious and dramatic episode in her life that f...