Don Hale Blog

*The NWRRC team on tour at Newborough Forest, Anglesey, (*pictured l-r), Harry Driscoll, John Hatton, Mike Hayton, Carla  Green  and Liz Driscoll. North Wales athletes on the run as tourists. Report by Don Hale. Most photographs by Steve Jeffery.   The start of the half-term break saw many North Wales athletes travelling far afield this week to sample a variety of races at Liverpool, Leeds, Bangor, Newborough, and Newent Park in the Forest of Dean. Five NWRRC members ran in the Newborough Forest parkrun on Anglesey last Saturday, and a further twenty tackled the muddy and windswept Conwy parkrun, with two more at Newent Park. Carla Green  celebrated her performance along the challenging trails at Newborough by claiming the 1st lady spot, an age category victory, and a parkrun PB, finishing 11th overall from 141 entrants in 20 minutes 24 seconds. *Carla Green (*above) was the 1st Lady at Newborough and claimed a new PB, and (*below) Harry Driscoll continues to improve with a positive pe

*Helen Hannam and her family celebrated an extraordinary race day.   Helen Hannam and two of her brothers won podium positions in the Middlesbrough Race for Life 5k and 10k events last Sunday.   The popular NWRRC athlete finished 2nd overall and she was the 1st female in the 5k race with a time of 24 minutes 31 seconds, but her brother  Thomas Rapson  won this event in 22.40.  And on a remarkable, if not extraordinary day, Helen’s other brother   David   also finished 1st in the 10k race, running home in 45 minutes 1 second, whilst her sister, mother, and nieces walked the 5k course and finished in 45-minutes. She was obviously thrilled by their efforts and said: ‘It was a proper winning family day at Race for Life at Albert Park in Middlesbrough, with my brother Thomas and me finishing first and second in the 5k Race for Life, and my other brother David won the 10k event, and my sister, mum and nieces walked the 5k.’ *Pictured (above)  Helen  Hannam and her brother Thomas Rapson, who

Ian Turner completes his Virtual London Marathon charity run on Llandudno prom. Report by Don Hale. Photographs by John Hatton. Master veteran runner Ian Turner completed his Virtual London Marathon charity challenge on Llandudno promenade last Sunday morning supported by a host of NWRRC club members, who either ran part of the course with him, or were available as a back-up team with drinks and refreshments. Ian, who was running in support of “Breast Cancer Now,” was aiming to try and raise at least £1,000 for this charity, eventually completed his gruelling attempt by running numerous laps up and down Llandudno promenade.  And to help pace him throughout his marathon, which included the full 26.2 distance, Ian was joined by club colleagues and friends, Don Hale, Richard Scamans, Helen Hannam, Steve McCarten, and Kay Hatton, who completed varied distance legs. *Ian Turner crosses the finishing line on the prom after completing his marathon. John Hatton took some excellent commemorativ

*A fast paced start for Jonathan Kettle as he heads away from the Castle. Podium finish for Jonathan Kettle at Caernarfon half-marathon. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Paul Brooks and Mick Hall. * Some of the NWRRC members before the start of the Caernarfon half-marathon (pictured l-r) Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts, Stuart Culverhouse, Helen Hannam, Jamie Tharme and Vicky Taylor. Seven members of NWRRC entered the new Caernarfon half-marathon last Sunday with two club runners finishing in the top-ten, and Jonathan Kettle enjoyed a podium finish in 3rd place. Jonathan also won his VM45-49 age category and confirmed a steady performance to clinch his bronze medal placing in 1 hour 17 minutes and 22 seconds. He was closely followed by  Llyr ApGeraint-Roberts , who was back on his home patch again and finished 5th overall and 2nd VM45-49 in 1.21.43. *Jonathan Kettle with leading runners at the Caernarfon half-marathon. Stuart Culverhouse  ran very well and was 24th in 1.30.51, and  Steve Roberts  

*Martin Green leads the chasing pack at the Helena Tipping 10k race. Heat and humidity took its toll on North Wales athletes at Helena Tipping 10k   Report by Don Hale   There was a strong turn-out of North Wales Road Runners despite the heavy heat and humidity for the re-scheduled Helena Tipping 10k race at Wrexham on Sunday with ten members competing amongst 927 finishers. This well organised event attracted a strong field of elite athletes and club runners for one of the first few major races to be allowed in Wales due to Covid-19 restrictions, and  Matt Clowes , who was last week’s  Nick Beer  10k winner in  Llandudno , was again the victor, this time dipping under 30-minutes in this flat and fast race on a new course. Martin Green  made an excellent start but like several club colleagues, he suffered in the clammy heat and humidity, and eventually had to settle for a highly respectable 23 rd  position, but he also claimed 2nd  place in his M45 age cat award with an impressive time

*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,

*Kelly Marie Alford and her partner Cai Roberts with their young son Noah ATHLETES ON THE RUN Kelly and Cai beat the heat in “Secret” half-marathon   Both Kelly-Marie Alford and her partner Cai successfully completed a virtual half-marathon event last Saturday as part of a special “Secret Half” challenge. This was an invite only event from Cardiff half-marathon organisers HOKA One-One. The invites were offered to the top twenty non-elite finishers from the 2019 race, plus the top performers from certain age categories. The pair, however, were unable to run together due to work commitments, so Cai ran his race from 12-noon, whilst Kelly completed her challenge in the evening after work.  Cai also had his child-minding duties to undertake, so he pushed their young son Noah on a tough course around the Great Orme, with the youngster strapped firmly into his buggy. He finished in 2 hours 46 minutes, and Kelly – without a buggy – ran home in 2.03.28. Afterwards, a relieved Kelly said: ‘I am

    *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