Don Hale Blog

*Pictured above - Dougie Graham battled injury and he is now ready for action. Dougie builds back his fitness for Happy Faces charity bid at the London Marathon... Special report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Popular runner and charity fundraiser Dougie Graham has faced a problematic time battling with injuries over this past year, but he has been steadily building back his fitness in readiness for another attempt to run the London Marathon for a worthy cause in 2026. His heroic efforts were unfortunately curtailed earlier this year when he collected a niggling injury that sidelined him for many months, yet this didn’t stop him from volunteering and marshalling at many local parkruns and other events. Now a member of  Dalzell Runners ,  North Wales Road Runners , and still a member of Black Cloak Runners, Dougie is making a slow but steady comeback attempt, and he has been using a treadmill at times to ease his pain, before completing a few test events, inc...

*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, ...

*Pictured above - Sarah Ferguson  Hudson at the finish of her marathon. Sarah beats the bug and completes the famous Boston Marathon in style... Report by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com North Wales Road Runner Sarah Ferguson Hudson has finally completed a lifelong ambition to take part in the famous Boston Marathon in America. The popular ultra-distance veteran runner who had to overcome illness last week battled her way around this challenging course to record an excellent time of 3 hours 59 minutes and 27 seconds.  Sarah was absolutely delighted to dip under the four-hour mark and after her race she confirmed: “I am o ver the moon after my bug last week! Had to cling on for dear life to get that! It was super-hot too, and hilly but such an amazing experience. I Loved it! “Still can’t quite believe that I have run the Boston Marathon, Crazy! I need to work on shorter runs again now and will try and pick up some pace again. Way off my marathon PB pace, but I think ...

*Pictured above (l-r): Pete Brocklehurst, Jon Hayward, Dougie Graham and Dylan Williams, outside the Happy Faces charity store at Rhos on Sea.   NW Running quartet prepares for the London Marathon and Happy Faces children’s charity appeal…   Special sporting feature: Introduction by Don Hale. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com   This is another special community-based story within a new series of unique features looking at the life, careers, hopes and ambitions, of many talented and dedicated athletes, sports people, and fundraisers within North Wales.   This particular feature highlights the dedicated training and fundraising activities of four popular North Wales athletes who are currently preparing to run the iconic  London Marathon  next month, whilst hoping to raise thousands of pounds for  Happy Faces,  a local charity based in Rhos, that raises funds to support sick, disabled and disadvantaged children in North Wales.  The four charity r...

Ultra athletes Ben and Sarah Hudson quit the rat-race to enjoy some extraordinary new adventures in North Wales   Special Coast and Country feature: This is the first of a new series of special features looking at the life, careers, hopes and ambitions, of many talented and dedicated athletes and sports people in North Wales.   Introduction by Don Hale.   https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com This feature highlights the extraordinary life and careers of popular husband and wife couple, Ben and Sarah Hudson, who are both keen runners and obviously love a challenge, both in life and in athletics, and regularly take part in varied events ranging from parkruns to marathons, to long-distance and ultra races, often raising thousands of pounds for charities. They gave up the rat-race in London a few years ago to move to North Wales, where they quickly created a thriving local business in Betws-y-Coed, before opting to enjoy some exciting new adventures in this stunning region, a...