Don Hale Blog

*Pictured above - five members of the NWRRC team at the XC champs at Bangor (l-r), Michael Finnie, Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton, Gwen Charlton, and Karen Butler; and (*below), four NWRRC team members who competed in the Men's Senior Race (*l-r), Will  Williams, Iwan Evans, Stuart Culverhouse, and Steve Gardner.   Five podium places and two gold medals for the Road Runners in XC champs at Treborth, Bangor. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk Nine members from the North Wales Road Running Club competed in different races during the NW Cross Country Championships at Treborth Track, Bangor, last Saturday, and claimed five podium places, including two age category wins. In the senior/master women’s race,  Karen Butler  won a deserved gold medal after finishing 1st in her W65 age cat following a great run in 39th place in 37 minutes and 30 seconds. The NWRRC team packed well with veteran  Cheryl Frost  on form again in...

*Pictured above - a splashing start for the leaders at last Saturday's Conwy parkrun. Keen competition at Conwy parkrun despite the challenging conditions... Report by Don Hale. Photos by John Hatton. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Numbers were down at Conwy parkrun last Saturday morning due to the Christmas shopping rush, combined with some very challenging weather conditions. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the riverside course was flooded again and resembled a cross between a swamp and a tough 5k cross-country course, yet it still created a great festive atmosphere, with many of the near two-hundred mixed ability entrants wearing their traditional fancy dress outfits. Despite a strong blustery wind and drizzly rain there were still some good times recorded and the first athlete back was  Morgan Kendall  (Meirionnydd RC), dressed in his famous Banana-man kit once more, and he faced a keen battle with rival  Cai ...

*North Wales Road Runners are pictured (*above) just before the start of the festive handicap race on the promenade at Rhos on Sea. Christmas cracker at the NWRRC handicap race. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   Twenty-four members of NWRRC took part in the annual Christmas club handicap race, which this year was staged from the Rhos on Sea clock tower to the renovated far end of the promenade and back over a 4.5-mile course. Well organised with times recorded and verified by  Carla Green  and  Elizabeth Driscoll , with support from other members, the handicap rules this time included each runner having to hand in their watches and mobile phones, and the need to predict their finishing times, so that no one knew their exact pace, or whether their estimated times were likely to be accurate, until they actually reached the finish line. The top three female winners , who were the closest to their times included the winner –  Kay Hatto...

*Pictured above - some members of the North Wales regional team. Three Road Runners ran well in the Inter-regional cross-country champs at Newtown. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Three North Wales Road Runners competed well in the Inter-regional cross-country championships at Dolerw Park, Newtown, last Saturday, and each recorded some excellent times, with one member even winning a prestigious team medal. Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton  and  Steve Gardner  were selected to represent the  North Wales regional team  in the Senior Women and Senior Men’s Masters races, following some promising results in recent NW Cross-country league meetings.     *Steve Gardner (*above left), with Cheryl Frost and Kay Hatton. And at the weekend   Cheryl  formed part of a successful five-women squad that packed well and clinched the 3rd team spot in the Senior Women and Master Women’s race, finishing 105th o...

*Pictured above - four Road Runners at the  Anglesey 10k Trail Race at Newborough last Sunday morning (l-r), Kay Hatton, Carol Moss, Rob Fryer and Philip Moss. Top podium places for Kay and Rob at the Anglesey 10k Trail Race at Newborough Forest. Report by Don Hale. Newborough photos courtesy of John Hatton. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   A quartet of Road Runners competed in the challenging Altra Anglesey 10k trail race last Sunday morning at Newborough with two members winning their respective age categories amongst more than two hundred entrants. Philip Moss  narrowly missed out on a podium place after finishing 4th in his M60 cat despite a good run in 40th place in 55.45, but both  Kay Hatton and Rob Fryer  were worthy winners. *Kay Hatton (*above left) on the podium at Newborough, with Philip Moss, and Rob master vet Rob Fryer Veteran  Kay  won her F60 cat with another excellent display in 57th place o...

  *Some of the NWRRC team (*above) on the prom at Abergele. Hundreds of runners beat the storm at the Abergele races. Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   Hundreds of runners tried to beat the weather at the Abergele 5k and 10k races last Sunday morning as the prelude to Storm Ashley battered North Wales with heavy rain and gale force winds. Fortunately, the worst of these conditions didn’t prevail until later in the day, but entrants for the earlier 5k faced driving rain and gusty winds, whilst 10k entrants more than an hour later, still had some strong winds to contend with, but welcomed a brief spell of bright sunshine. The elements though failed to dampen the spirit of nineteen Road Runners who bravely took part in either one or both events. Fifteen NWRRC members ran in the 5k race and claimed five age category victories and several podium places, including some fast times, and four members ran in the later 10k race. Will Williams  led the team home ...

*Three members of the NWRRC team (*shown above), at the Wrexham cross country  fixture (*l-r), Kay Hatton, Michael Finnie, and Cheryl Frost. NW Road Running team  competed well in the NW cross-country league race at Wrexham... Report by Don Hale. Most photos by Iwan Evans. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com *Cheryl Frost (*above left), with Kay Hatton. Four Road Runners swopped their trainers for spikes last Saturday afternoon for the second fixture of the season in the NW Cross-Country League, with this week’s event taking place at Ysgol Morgan, at Llwyd, near Wrexham. Cheryl Frost  and  Kay Hatton  enjoyed unusually bright and warm sunshine as they competed in the senior women’s race, whilst  Iwan Evans  ran in the senior men’s race, and  Michael Finnie  took part in the Male over-65 event.    *Michael Finnie (*above left), with Iwan Evans, and Martin Green. I n addition,  Martin Green,  represented his new first claim clu...

*Pictured above - the North Wales Road Running quartet who performed well at the cross-country fixture at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, last Saturday; (l-r). Karen Butler, Kay Hatton, Gwen Charlton and Helen Hannam. Successful start to the NW Cross-Country League's first fixture of the season... NW Road Running quartet performed well at the first cross-country fixture of the season at Colwyn Bay, and Karen Butler won her age cat! Report by Don Hale. Photos courtesy of Lesley Goodson and John Hatton. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com It was good to see four North Wales Road Running ladies take part in the first cross-country meeting of the new season at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, last Saturday. Unfortunately this particular fixture clashed with so many other events during a rather hectic weekend of alternative road races at Chester, Bangor, and Cardiff etc, plus many parkruns, so the club numbers were somewhat restricted due to prior engagements. Nevertheless, the female quartet flew that ...