Don Hale Blog

* Bryn Woodall  (*in white vest) just ahead of Steve Mason. Top marks to American student Bryn Woodall as he celebrated his 100th parkrun on a very heavy Conwy course... Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery.   Colwyn Bay athlete Bryn Woodall was the first runner back at a very heavy Conwy parkrun on Saturday, where the talented teenager celebrated another superb result and his 100th parkrun, during a break from his studies and running adventures in America. Bryn also won his SM18 age cat and incredibly, he dashed around this saturated course in just 15 minutes and 38 seconds - which is the third fastest time ever - and he finished the best part of three minutes ahead of his nearest senior rival  Jonathan Kettle  from  NWRRC , who finished 2nd overall in 18.21, with JM15-17 runner  Ciaran Keyworth , 3rd in 18.59.  *Bryn Woodall (*above left) with Jonathan Kettle, who ran very well but had to settle for second place to Bryn. The first female runner was  Kirsty Stevenson  (Stone Ma

*(PICTURED ABOVE): The NW Road Running team at Lake Vyrnwy (*back row l-r), Sue Smith, Kevin Higgins, Ben Hudson, Stuart Culverhouse, and John Dalzell, and (*front row), Nicola Wylie, Mandy Owen, Kelly Alford and Sarah Hudson. Fast times by Road Runners at Lake Vyrnwy half-marathon - plus other race results... Report by Don Hale.   Nine Road Runners tackled the revised Lake Vyrnwy half-marathon last Sunday with many athletes amongst the 800 plus entrants celebrating superb times in near perfect conditions. Endurance star  John Dalzell  was the first club man home in 122nd place in 1 hour 28 minutes and 36 seconds, closely followed by  Stuart Culverhouse , who was thrilled to go sub-90 minutes after his 37th attempt, finally finishing in 125th place in 1.28.47.  Ben Hudson  also had a good run out and finished in 158th place in 1.32.33, but his wife  Sarah Hudson  was the outstanding star of the team knocking an amazing nine-minutes off her previous best time. Sarah later admitted that

*Pictured (above) Ben and Sarah Hudson, who are preparing for two ultra-challenges to help fundraise for the British Heart Foundation. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery and Sarah Hudson.   Betws-y-Coed bed and breakfast owners Ben and Sarah Hudson are planning to run two ultra-marathon challenges during 2022 to help raise essential funds for the British Heart Foundation and in memory of Sarah’s late father. The couple, who are both keen endurance runners and members of North Wales Road Runners, intend to tackle both the 50-mile and the 100-mile events in Chester next year, and have only recently returned from a spell of warm weather training in Cyprus, where they also took part in the Cyprus Marathon. *Ben Hudson pictured during a race at the Marsh Tracks in Rhyl. *Sarah Ferguson Hudson (above) in action during an endurance race. Sarah unfortunately lost her father in October and said that he too was a former athlete and now hope to cover some of the same picturesque routes t

*Ben and Sarah Hudson pictured in the sun before the Cyprus downpour. Report by Don Hale. NWRRC Husband and wife team Sarah and Ben Hudson expected a run in the sun during the Cyprus marathon but instead faced a constant downpour and were thankful to avoid being struck by lightning! Despite the unexpected and very soggy conditions Ben still recorded his second fastest marathon time finishing 77th overall out of 238 visiting runners in 3 hours 39 minutes and 47 seconds, whilst Sarah continued her excellent form and said she was over the moon to just dip under the four-hour barrier. *(Pictured left) Ben ran his second fastest marathon despite the very wet conditions, and (*below) sheer joy for Sarah after recording a sub-4 marathon time. Sarah finished in 121st place overall, and she was the 14th female athlete in a superb time of 3.58.47. Afterwards, she confirmed: ‘Cyprus marathon done and dusted. North Wales you have been “out rained,” and I was relieved not to have another close enco

*A great London Marathon debut and a new PB for Steve Bozier. North Wales marathon runners provide welcome boost for charities...report from London, Chester and Chester Metric, Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery, John Hatton, and others.   Marathon mania affected a host of North Wales runners last weekend with some superb performances at the London Marathon, and at both the Chester Metric and Chester Marathon events, with many athletes recording personal best times over the full 26.2-mile distance. NWRRC had two runners in the mass London Marathon race, and one master veteran member who completed the event virtually on Llandudno promenade.  Steve Bozier  (*pictured above) ran an incredible time on his debut in the capital and claimed a massive 41-minute PB to finish in the official time of 3 hours 2 minutes and 4 seconds amongst more than 40,000 runners, with so many obviously delighted to be able to run in London and were fundraising for essential charitable causes following

*Jonathan Kettle recorded a great new PB at Rhyl FAST TIMES AND AGE CATEGORY WINS AT MARSH TRACKS 5K AT RHYL Report by Don Hale. Photographs by Steve Jeffery.   Six members of North Wales Road Runners travelled to Rhyl last Saturday to compete in the second Welsh Athletics fixture of a series of 5k races on closed road circuits, with two male athletes claiming age category wins, and the four others finishing second in their respective categories. Held on the go-cart and cycling course at the Marsh Tracks, the event gave many athletes their first taste of live race action for about 15-months and provided a fast, flat, but twisting course in warm and humid conditions. * Ben Hudson (pictured above) with Jonathan Kettle (below) Jonathan Kettle  was the pick of the NWRRC team with a new personal best time of 16 minutes 30 seconds for 3rd place and he was 1st M45 cat winner in this high-quality field of top local runners. He was pleased with a great showing, but later admitted: ‘ Pain, pain,

    *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