Don Hale Blog

*Martin and Carla Green (*above), were welcomed back to Conwy parkrun. The Green duo welcomed back at Conwy parkrun in cool, blustery but relatively dry conditions... Report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk It was another good turn-out at Conwy parkrun last Saturday as nearly 300 athletes of mixed ages and abilities enjoyed an unusually dry 5k riverside course, yet they still had to contend with a rather cool and blustery wind. The event welcomed back  North Wales Road Runners  Martin and Carla Green  following a period of absence, and this formidable duo formed part of a club team of twelve entrants, who collected two age category wins, three second places and two third. They both took it steady, like many other runners this week, due to additional race commitments the following day, with  Martin  finishing 6th overall, and he was 2nd in his VM45 cat in 20 minutes and 39 seconds, whilst  Carla  won her VW50 cat in 62nd place in 25.05.  Wil

Crazy weekend and results round-up as Road Runners battled against the elements... Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk It was a super-crazy, and very busy weekend for a host of North Wales Road Runners last week, as many were winding down their marathon training plans to concentrate  on a few varied distance  races, only to be hit by Storm Kathleen, and faced a succession of gale force winds, and driving hail, or rain. Tom Aindow faced mixed weather on the coast at  Brighton where despite an injury collected near the start of his full marathon race, but he bravely continued to record a decent finishing time. And plaudits too, to Jon Evans at the Berlin half-marathon, where he too faced his demons following a debilitating illness, to complete his 'target race' in a good time. Ben and Sarah Hudson , also faced a tough encounter from strong winds, with Sarah also collecting some unwanted blisters just weeks before her London marath

*Pictured above - Jonathan Kettle at Conwy parkrun. Conwy parkrunners battled against Storm Kathleen. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It was wild and extremely windy at Conwy parkrun last Saturday as nearly 300 mixed ability athletes braved Storm Kathleen on this blustery riverside 5k course. Once again, this popular event attracted a host of visiting runners from across the UK, but they all faced the usual swamp-like, waterlogged course, following several days of heavy and unrelenting rain, combined with 40-mph plus head and side winds! North Wales Road Runners  entered eleven members and J onathan Kettle  led the team home with an amazing performance considering the atrocious conditions under foot to finish in 3rd place overall, and he also won his VM45 age cat in just 18 minutes and 19 seconds. Will Williams  was also in good form, and he won his VM50 cat in 6th place in 19.02, with  Steve Mason  10th in 19.45, and 3rd in his VM

*Pictured above and below - volunteer and photographer John Hatton captures the unique atmosphere as the  large number of runners begin their Easter dash at Conwy parkrun last Saturday morning. Bumper Easter turn-out at Conwy parkrun boosted by a host of visiting UK club and social entrants. Report by Don Hale. Main photos by John Hatton. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It proved to be another bumper Easter attendance at Conwy parkrun last Saturday as some 435 entrants from all parts of the UK, tackled  the   picturesque  but soggy 5k riverside route to help celebrate the Bank Holiday weekend, and they  just missed out on setting a new attendance record! Parkrun official Mark Jessett  confirmed: " Saturday was our second highest attendance, and our highest since we restarted post-2020. Our highest attendance was at Easter in 2019.  "Overall, across the UK, parkrun saw its highest attendances since the restart. Many parkruns in North Wales (D

*Adam Lemalle (*above) was the first NWRRC club runner at Conwy parkrun. Fast times and a good turn-out at Conwy parkrun despite the cold and blustery conditions... Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmasterathletics.co.uk   Despite a bitterly cold day, and a strong blustery wind, nearly two-hundred entrants still braved the elements and recorded some fast times over the challenging but relatively dry 5k course at Conwy parkrun last Saturday morning. The event once again attracted a large number of visiting club and social runners from across the UK and Ireland, as part of an early Easter break, and plaudits were again handed to NWRRC member and parkrun volunteer  John Hatton , for his sterling efforts to help improve part of the start area. GOG Triathlete  Simon Cole  was the first runner home with an impressive time of just 17 minutes and 35 seconds to additionally win his VM40 age cat, and at the time of writing, the second placed runner remained unknown, b