Don Hale Blog

*Karl Morris (*pictured above) made a brave effort to tackle a 100-mile race. North Wales endurance runner Karl Morris forced to quit Snowdonia 100-mile race when his trainer fell apart. Special report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   North Wales endurance athlete Karl Morris made a brave effort to tackle the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100-mile race last weekend but unfortunately, he was forced to quit after about 32-miles when one of his trainers started falling apart. The NWRRC member and talented Welsh Master athlete who began his tough challenge last Friday lunchtime confirmed, that the UTL 100-mile event is a very serious race, with 30,000ft of climbing and includes the majority of the major peaks of Northern Snowdonia.  At the start of the event, Karl said he was hopeful of completing this gruelling challenge but explained: “The odds are against me on this one, but I’ll give it a go. Anyone that knows me, knows that I don’t quit easily.

*John Dalzell (*above) led the North Wales Road Runners home. Hat-trick of age category wins at a bright and sunny Conwy parkrun...plus other race results. Report by Don Hale.   North Wales Road Runners entered thirteen athletes in last Saturday’s Conwy parkrun and claimed eight podium places including three age category victories. Blessed this week with bright sunshine and a light breeze, the event attracted over two-hundred runners of varied ages and abilities, and from different parts of the UK.  The first man back was  James Yarwood  (Abergele Harriers), the runaway leader who won his SM30 age cat with a fast time of 17 minutes and 32 seconds. The second spot remained undeclared, but the 3rd placed runner was  Matthew Young  in 19.09. The 1st Lady was  Anna Drinkwater  (Eryri Harriers) in 6th place overall in 20.00, with  Elisha Price  2nd in 23.26, and  Ffion Williams  3rd with a new PB in 24.47. The parkrun attracted 211 finishers. NWRRC endurance athlete  John Dalzell  led the R

Josie Davies receives a certificate and medal for her ultra-fundraising skin cancer charity run Report by Don Hale.   Ultra-runner Josie Davies this week received her deserved “Certificate of Appreciation” for completing 100.7 miles, and successfully fundraising for melanoma and skin cancer charities. Josie Davies (pictured above) and her certificate and medal (below) Last month, I covered part of her endurance challenge for such a deserving cause and appreciated her efforts to both raise awareness and much needed funds. At the end of her final run, she was very relieved to finish and confirmed: ‘That’s it all done. Over 100 miles completed in May for Melanoma Focus and SKCIN Charities. Thank you to everybody whose sponsored me so far. ‘I am forever grateful as we really need to make people more aware of the devastation of this horrible disease which can just creep up on you when you least expect it. Also PLEASE protect your kids out there and not just in the beautiful weather like tod

*Steve Bozier (right) descending the Orme with Richard Scamans STEVE COMPLETES ULTRA-MARATHON AROUND THE ORME FOR MUCH LOVED FISHERMEN Report by Don Hale North Wales Road Runner Steve Bozier battled strong gale-force winds and freezing hail showers to complete a gruelling six-laps of the Great Orme at Llandudno last Saturday to help raise funds in the search for three much loved local fishermen. Steve Bozier (third from left) with Richard Scamans, Lesley Goodson, and Karl Morris Steve, a popular local bus driver and keen endurance athlete from Llandudno, mastered about 33-miles (53.39 kms) and over 1,000 meters of climb, during his ultra-marathon run, supported by club colleagues, in his bid to help pay for an intensive search by deep sea experts to locate the missing fishing boat  Nicola Faith  and her crew of three. The boat disappeared suddenly at the end of January, and Steve, who is a long-time family friend of one of the missing men, Ross Ballantine, felt he needed ‘to do somethi

Report by Don Hale Conwy endurance runner, Josie Davies finally completed her gruelling virtual Everest 135-mile ‘Ultra-Everest’ challenge, and trebled her fundraising target for St David's Hospice.                                                                  Josie Davies A delighted Josie said: ‘I just can’t thank everybody enough for all the generosity and overwhelming support I have received whilst completing this challenge to raise funds for St David’s Hospice.  ‘As I completed the 135-miles quicker than expected, I decided to continue and see how many miles I could actually do in the time given, and finally ran 200.52 miles.                                                 Josie's endurance medal and fundraising certificate ‘I seriously couldn’t have done this without the support of everyone, your generous donations, the company of my special friend Gwenan Carter on some of my long runs, and my little boy Jordan, who also did his bit in keeping me company whilst chattin