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Showing posts with the label don hale

My awards night with Sir Michael Parkinson at a star-studded presentation event in London.

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*Sir Michael Parkinson (*above) with Don Hale OBE at an awards ceremony in London. My awards night with Sir Michael Parkinson at a star-studded presentation event in London. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com It was sad to hear of the loss of Sir Michael Parkinson this week. I was fortunate to have met Sir Michael, some time ago, and he was a keen follower of my former justice campaign. He presented me with a top award when I was Journalist of the Year for the first time in about 2001. I was on the top table with him at an awards do, we chatted about lots of things and afterwards, he presented my wife Kath with the table flowers. It was a great star-studded evening at some rather posh place in London. RIP Parky!

Road Running duo fly the flag at Conwy parkrun...plus other results ... and Welsh Masters rankings.

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Road Running duo fly the flag at Conwy parkrun. Report by Don Hale. Due to the latest 5k club championship event being held at Ruthin last weekend only two NWRRC members remained to proudly fly the flag at the Conwy parkrun, yet both athletes ran well and won their age categories amongst another popular entry of 176 varied entrants. Despite very wet conditions underfoot with another puddle-filled and muddy course, Road Runner  Will Williams continued his recent good form to finish in 4th place overall and he was also the 1st MV50 cat in 18.55. *Will Williams (*above) back to his best at Conwy following a period of ill health. And master veteran athlete  Don Hale  celebrated a surprise return to the Conwy parkrun following serious injury, which has kept him out of action since July, by winning his MV70 age cat in 75th place overall in 27.15. Due to this long delay, this was Don’s first event in this new age cat. Afterwards Don admitted: “It’s a been a long hard recovery battle and altho

Road Runners struck Welsh Gold at Sport City indoor championships.

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Road Runners struck Welsh Gold at Sportcity indoor championships in Manchester. *The dynamic NWRRC duo Don Hale (left) with Pat Finnie at Sportcity. Veteran runners Pat Finnie and Don Hale swapped the great outdoors for the magnificent indoors last Saturday and struck gold at Sportcity during the North Wales Regional Championships. The two NWRRC athletes ran for the very first time on the superb and steeply banked indoor track in Manchester, which is often used for World, International, or for other national running finals. The meeting on Saturday had to be re-arranged due to fixture clashes yet it still attracted a host of top elite performers backed by a large vocal and enthusiastic support group from across the UK. In addition to recording massive PBs, both Welsh runners also collected prestigious gold medals for winning their respective age categories and time trials in the 200m and 600m track races, which has now propelled them into the top Welsh rankings over these distances. And

FAST TIMES AND AGE CATEGORY WINS AT MARSH TRACKS 5K

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*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,

Parkrun resumption delayed after fewer than half of venues approved return

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Parkrun will not resume on 5 June after fewer than half of its venues approved the return of the 5km runs. The community event was suspended in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.   Organisers need a significant number of landowners to give permission for races to return to avoid overcrowding at the mass participation event. Parkrun UK says it hopes to resume all 5k events across England on 26 June, with a decision to be made on 11 June. Although more than 250 events do have landowner permission to return, this falls far short of the critical mass needed to prevent overwhelming those that have been given the go ahead," a statement read. ‘Opening a small subset of Parkruns is not viable.’ It added that a number of landowners had "responded positively" to resuming at a later date. Culture secretary Oliver Dowden, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and World Athletics president Lord Coe has  backed the return  of the event. There are 729 different locations across the UK h

The future of Parkrun - An open letter from World Athletics President Sebastian Coe

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An open letter from World Athletics President Sebastian Coe in support of Parkrun. As much as I have always felt that sport is an incredible force for good, I know that it also provides an opportunity to heal: to make us better. Coronavirus has left us with deep physical and emotional scars. I have been inspired by the ingenuity and creativity of so many people over the course of the pandemic. Individuals and communities finding hope, laughter and positivity in the darkest of times. But there is no escaping the fact that the events of the past twelve months have been devastating in so many ways. Of particular concern to me is the fact that inequalities in health and wellbeing have been exacerbated. We desperately need to find ways of getting fitter, stronger and more resilient. And we need to do it in a way that embraces and includes as much of the population as possible. As we tentatively look forward, and take those first steps back to normality, grassroots sport can, if we let it, o

Carla Green galloped home at Aintree races

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Carla Green galloped home at Aintree races Report by Don Hale. Photographs by John Hatton. North Wales Road Runner Carla Green galloped home in style and marked her return to “live” racing last Sunday with a superb performance in the Run Aintree half-marathon, claiming a new personal best (PB) time and also won her F45 age category award. Carla was the 3rd female finisher amidst a high-quality field of nearly 500 mixed entrants and completed her run around a blustery racecourse route in just 1 hour 25 mins 52 seconds, confirming an amazing 5-minute PB. This result also created a cause for family celebration, with her husband Martin finishing 3 rd  in the 5k race. *Members of the successful North Wales Road Runners team at Aintree A strong team from NWRRC travelled over the border to England with nine athletes in the half-marathon, and two more in the 5k race. The event included “live” starts that were socially distanced due to Covid-19 restrictions. This option though remains in stark

Helen celebrated virtual London Marathon charity debut

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*Helen Hannam completed a successful charity marathon   Helen celebrated virtual London Marathon charity debut Report by Don Hale North Wales Road Runner Helen Hannam celebrated her marathon debut in style last Saturday in what she described as the ‘hardest day of her life,’ bravely running 26.2 miles for charity in the virtual London Marathon. Helen had hoped to run her first race at this distance around the streets of the capital but due to Covid-19 restrictions, she had to plod the roads and cycle routes around her Llandudno home, backed at times by the generous support of several club members. Facing warm and breezy conditions, together with a challenging route from Abergele, and running via Colwyn Bay, Penrhyn Bay, West Shore, Llandudno Junction before eventually finishing on Llandudno Promenade, the popular athlete finally completed her arduous task in 5 hours 36 seconds. Helen particularly praised the backing of colleagues Marina Abed, Nicola Wylie Davies, Llinos Davies, Ell Jay

Gold and silver podium places for North Wales runners in Welsh 10k virtual championships

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*NWRRC club chairman Kevin Slattery (pictured above) won gold again Gold and silver podium places for North Wales runners in Welsh 10k virtual championships Report by Don Hale. Most photographs by Steve Jeffery. Five North Wales Road Runners competed in the Welsh Athletics Spring virtual 10k championships last weekend, with three members claiming podium places, and gold and silver medal positions. The high standard of the 10k event was confirmed by the incredible finishing times and number of quality athletes taking part. 1 st  place overall went to U17M athlete Louis Lermite (Run Free Fell Runners) in an amazing time of 33 mins 26 secs, with 2 nd  Daniel James, the 1 st  M40 age cat winner (Run4All Neath RC) in 35.11, and 3 rd  place went to Ifan Lloyd (Swansea Harriers), who was also the 1 st  M60 vet in 35.46. And Amie Bagnall from Prestatyn was the 1 st  Lady finisher and 1 st  SW in 37.00. Some 248 entrants set a hot pace in this Covid-19 restricted individual race, with Masters’

Welsh Athletics time trials and road relays

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                                          Images (above) and (lower page) from the Conwy Parkrun Welsh Athletics time trials and road relays Entries remain open until February 11 th  for junior and senior club runners from North Wales to enter a selection of virtual and varied time trials, and/or road relay events for Welsh Athletics, with the winning seniors able to qualify for an International Home Nations challenge. For junior athletes, the schedule includes time trials for U11 boys and girls over a mile distance, an U13 boys and girls 2km time trial, plus an U15 boys and girls 3km time trial. And for the seniors, there is a great opportunity to take part in a virtual Welsh championship road relay competition during the same period.  The challenges must to be completed as individuals on a course of their choosing close to home and remain subject to Covid-19 restrictions and run between 12-15th February. Clubs must enter mixed teams, including four men and four women, and can enter a

North Wales runner wins gold in Welsh Championships

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North Wales runner wins gold in Welsh Championships Two NWRRC athletes braved freezing temperatures last weekend to compete in the Welsh Athletics Virtual Winter 10k challenge, with one runner claiming gold in his age category, whilst the other just missed out on a bronze award by 22 seconds.                                                                                        Don Hale Club veteran Don Hale finished as a surprise M65 category winner, and was 57 th  overall in 51 mins 5 seconds, claiming his age cat prize for the second time in four years, although the previous win was run as a live event. Helen Hannam unfortunately faced disappointment in her F45 age category when pipped to the bronze medal position by the finest of margins after holding a podium place for a couple of days. Helen ran extremely well though and finished in 65 th  place overall in 52.09.                                                                                    Helen Hannam All the runs had to be

Ghost and Mystery stories - WHEN CHARLIE LOST HIS MIND - By Don Hale

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When Charlie' lost' his mind - By Don Hale  IT was on the number 6 bus back from Eccles, near Manchester, on a bitterly cold, wet day, one November, that my friend Charlie first mentioned something about his amazing mind-reading claims.  We had been playing football against St Joseph's School at Monton - and won 3-2, - thanks to our centre forward Brian (Sniffer) Harris scoring a last minute penalty. The home side accused their goalkeeper of 'sleeping,' and of being 'nobbled,' as Sniffer struck home the winner.  Certainly the lad appeared to freeze, and made little or no effort to save the shot.  Charlie Cressbrook played on the left wing for our school team. On the journey home, as we celebrated a sweet victory with a packet of salt and vinegar crisps, some toffee cigarettes and a can of pop, he tried to tell the boys' about a dangerous trick he claimed to have mastered.  Charlie was a bit of a 'swank,' always boasting about something or other.