donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2026

*Pictured above - Rachel Morris proudly displays her London Marathon medal. The unique challenge of the London Marathon - four brave athletes recall their personal dramas... Introduction by Don Hale and reports directly from the athletes concerning their own personal journeys as mentioned via Facebook.   This is a special page to acknowledge the brave and dedicated efforts from just a few of the many North Wales based runners who successfully tackled this year’s London Marathon, with some also raising thousands of pounds for charity and worthy causes.    This is a summary of their dramas and memories from this iconic event.   RACHEL MORRIS: TCS London Marathon 2026  completed in 5hr 15min 04 seconds. I came away with a PB after knocking off 8 minutes from my last London Marathon. Absolutely loved it, so well organised, and the spectators were amazing I had loads of shout-outs due to my name and the Welsh Dragon being on my top  Thanks to all of you who hav...

*Pictured above left - Josie Davies with Mandy Owen in Manchester. Some Happy Faces at the Manchester half-marathon. Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 North Wales runners Josie Davies and Mandy Owen  took part in the  Manchester half-marathon  on Sunday.  For Josie in particular, it was an emotional event after losing her husband Gethin earlier this year, and this challenge was part of her prolific fundraising plan for the Happy Faces Cancer Charity, Josie confirmed:   “The biggest thank you to Mandy and Charlie Owen  for today, 1 for taking us, and 2 for Charlie “Daddy Day Care” services for looking after the boys for me to take part in the race.  “Quite a stressful time getting ready to run, and the organisation was far from the best race I’ve taken part in, and the finish wasn’t much better, but the actual run I really enjoyed. “It was my first half-marathon since the Cardiff Half last October, and I did pretty much the same tim...

*Pictured above left - Josie Davies with her daughter Nikki in London. Josie's prolific fundraising activities for the Happy Faces Children's Charity... Special report and introduction by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Josie Davies is a keen and very popular social runner, who is also a prolific charity fundraiser for the Happy Faces Children’s Charity which supports sick, disabled and disadvantaged children across North Wales. This incredible and locally based organisation first began in 2003, and they have since raised over £1M and provided twelve specially adapted school minibuses for over 5,000 children, in addition to specialist equipment for more than 700 children in North Wales. Josie has taken part in various marathons and numerous demanding events over the years for this particular organisation, and her happy and smiling face can often be seen running up and down Llandudno prom, or around the local area, whilst training hard for her next venture.  And despi...

*NWRRC athlete Gwen Charlton (*above right), heads towards the finish line at the London Marathon. Some personal stories by North Wales athletes in the London and Manchester Marathons... Special Marathon’s sporting feature: Introduction by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   This is a brief sporting spotlight featuring a number of the many North Wales based athletes who took part in last weekend’s London or Manchester Marathons, with a few even overcoming personal tragedies in order to compete, and most also raising some much-needed funds for local charities. It would be impossible of course, to mention everyone who took part, but this article will at least give a voice to some key individuals who have made a determined effort with hard training throughout the winter to ensure they were ready to start and finish one of the most gruelling races ever, over 26.2 miles.  This is a summary of their personal challenges: Fast time at London for Martin Green. Martin Green, ...

Llandudno prom Santa Dash success as hundreds of people enjoyed a 5k charity run and children's race... Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery. Hundreds of runners, children, and dogs took part in the children's fun run and the 5k Santa Dash along Llandudno promenade last Saturday morning which also raised plenty of funds for local charities. Starting on North Shore by the pier, entrants journeyed down the pier before dashing down towards the paddling pool and the RNLI base before returning to the finish. As this event was not listed as a competitive race, the organisers confirmed that although there was an electronic timer at the finish, there were no chip times recorded. *Rob Fryer from NWRRC (*above) at the finish of the Llandudno Santa Run and (*below) Josie Davies with her young dasher who sprinted around the course.

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 be...