Don Hale Blog

Ultra athletes Ben and Sarah Hudson quit the rat-race to enjoy some extraordinary new adventures in North Wales   Special Coast and Country feature: This is the first of a new series of special features looking at the life, careers, hopes and ambitions, of many talented and dedicated athletes and sports people in North Wales.   Introduction by Don Hale.   https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com This feature highlights the extraordinary life and careers of popular husband and wife couple, Ben and Sarah Hudson, who are both keen runners and obviously love a challenge, both in life and in athletics, and regularly take part in varied events ranging from parkruns to marathons, to long-distance and ultra races, often raising thousands of pounds for charities. They gave up the rat-race in London a few years ago to move to North Wales, where they quickly created a thriving local business in Betws-y-Coed, before opting to enjoy some exciting new adventures in this stunning region, a...

*Pictured above (l-r): Ben and  Sarah Hudson with Mike Hayton. Road Running trio at the Ruthin 10k.   A trio of NWRRC members competed in the Ruthin 10k road race on Sunday and the pick of the team was Sarah Hudson who was 34th overall, the 3rd female finisher, and she was also 2nd in her F40 age category in 47.37.  And to add some extra icing to Sarah’s performance, she finished just ahead of her husband  Ben , who was 37th overall, and 5th in his M40 cat in 48.08, whilst master veteran  Mike Hayton  enjoyed another good run, and he was 102nd, and 4th in his M70 cat in 63.24. Sarah Hudson later confirmed:  “Great fun this morning running the “lumpy” Ruthin 10k, and over the moon to have come 3rd lady in 47.37, and to beat Ben!”   *Kevin Higgins also ran in the 5k race and he finished in 50th place in 28.48 in his first race since last September due to injuries.

  *Pictured above - Harry Driscoll (red vest),with Tony Price-Jones. Wild, wet, and windy with a bumper set of visitors at Conwy parkun...plus other results. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It was back to the usual wild, wet, and windy weather conditions at Conwy parkrun last Saturday morning, as another bumper entry tackled the challenging 5k course from the RSPB Nature Reserve. Many visitors travelled from far afield and utilised the parkrun as a pre-race warm-up for the Conwy half-marathon set for the following day, so consequently this popular event attracted a large number of travelling club and social runners. *Steve Roberts (*above left), with Stuart Culverhouse, and Don Hale. North Wales Road Runners  entered ten members, with some just taking it easy in preparation for either cross-country races, other events, or the half-marathon date.  Harry Driscoll  ran well again in 20th place overall, and he w...

*Pictured above -  Llyr ApGeraint Roberts - finished 3rd in the Duathlon Latest race results including the Llandudno Triathlon, Berlin and Loch Ness marathons, and other parkrun results... Llyr finished third in the tough Llandudno Duathlon Report by Don Hale   Road Runner Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts finished 3rd in the Llandudno Duathlon on Sunday following a tremendous performance over a very tough and challenging course, which included both a 5k and 10k run, interspersed by four bike laps around the Great Orme. Llyr’s impressive split times were: 18 mins and 13 secs for the 5k run. 1 hr 10 mins for the bike and 37 mins and 50secs for the final 10km run! After the event he confirmed:  “I came third in the Duathlon. Really chuffed, as it was a standard distance, which is basically two times the distance that I do in the sprint! So, I’ll take that in my first attempt at this event! Lots of support around the course from NWRRC members, and Carla Green on the Orme was immense!” ...

*Pictured above -  Road Runners Ben and Sarah Hudson. North Wales Road Running trio tackled the historic 100km Race to the Stones ultra-marathon. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Three North Wales Road Runners competed in the historic, tough, but prestigious Ridgeway Ultra-Marathon, Race to the Stones event, over the weekend and staged over a gruelling 100km course including parts of the oldest path in Great Britain. The talented trio of  Ben and Sarah Hudson , together with club colleague  Jamie Tharme  accepted this exceptional ultra-marathon challenge which was run in decent weather conditions and along a picturesque but undulating route. The event organisers claimed it was the UK’s biggest ultra-marathon, and challenged entrants to conquer  Britain’s oldest road, confirming that the  Ridgeway , followed the same route over high ground used by herdsmen and travellers since prehistoric times....

 *Pictured above - Mark Jessett had a close finish with the runaway leader. Busy in the drizzle for over two hundred parkrunners at the Conwy Nature Reserve...and a close finish for Mark. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Just over two-hundred entrants took part in a rather drizzly Conwy parkrun last Saturday morning at the RSPB Nature Reserve, which again attracted a good number of tourists and visiting club and social runners from around the UK. North Wales Road Runners  only had seven members in action this week due to holidays and other commitments, but they still recorded three age victories and two second place results.  Mark Jessett  was in good form and narrowly finished in 2nd place overall, but he certainly gave the runaway leader  Nathan Williams , a strong challenge from the turn-around point, and in the end, he was just 10-seconds adrift. Mark however, won his VM35 age cat in 18.22, with coll...

*Ben and Sarah Hudson - pictured above - at the 70-mile Wall challenge. Ben and Sarah beat ‘The Wall’ and the weather to complete their 70-mile challenge...plus results from the Salomon Trail half-marathon. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com Road Running couple Ben and Sarah Hudson beat ‘The Wall’ and the weather last weekend to complete a gruelling 70-mile ultra-marathon challenge from Carlisle to Gateshead, which covered some of the most spectacular, but difficult courses in the country. This dynamic duo, who are certainly no strangers to ultra events, began their efforts in the early hours of Saturday morning and eventually finished some 16-hours later.   The NWRRC pair ran together throughout the event, which included a tough journey via several notable north-eastern landmarks including Lanercost Priory, Walltown Quarry, The Sill, Hexham, and Newburn, before eventually crossing the finish line at Gateshead. The organisers claimed it was the UK’s most iconic ul...

*Back to their best - Martin and Carla Green (*above), performed well for the Welsh Masters team in the Great Manchester half-marathon last Sunday. Martin and Carla Green hit top form for the Welsh Masters team in the Great Manchester half-marathon. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   North Wales Road Runners Martin and Carla Green both celebrated excellent performances whilst representing Wales at the Masters half-marathon international race versus England last Sunday, incorporated within the prestigious Great Manchester event, which along with the 10k race attracted over 30,000 runners. The talented couple, who have only recently returned to major competition action following a period of ill health, both recorded incredible results, and they each finished in 1st place for Wales in their respective age categories. Martin crossed the line in 65.50 and finished 4th overall in his M45-49 cat, but he was the 1st Welsh runner home in that particular category, whilst ...