Don Hale Blog

Rhos on Sea 5k Your Way Move Against Cancer parkrun on Saturday 27th December. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Tomorrow (Saturday 27/12) is a very special  Y Promenâd parkrun, Llandrillo-yn-Rhos  — our monthly  Rhos-on-Sea: 5k Your Way, Move Against Cancer  meet-up, and the reason this parkrun began here. Please do join us to help raise awareness of 5K Your Way Move Against Cancer, a welcoming community for anyone affected by cancer who would like to enjoy the fresh air, move at their own pace, and connect with like-minded people.  Meet at 8:45am by the 5KYW flag as shown in the picture.  *Everyone is welcome. * *Read about the Christmas Day parkrun. Don Hale Blog: Massive Christmas Day attendances at Rhos and Nova... https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025/12/massive-christmas-day-attendances-at.html?spref=tw

NEW UPDATE: Lovely black and white cat returned to owners - thanks to Wilfred and Friends Wilfred & Friends Good news, the owner has been found and the cat collected safely and gone back home. Thanks to Wilfred and Friends for a great and quick service. Previous message: LARGE WHITE CAT WITH BLACK PATCHES LOOKING LOST ON OUR GARDEN IN DEGANWY, NORTH WALES...Photos taken at dusk last night. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Attention all cat owners - IS THIS YOUR CAT - CALLED QUEENIE - has anyone mislaid a lovely big white cat with some black patches in the Deganwy district near to High Pastures Nursing Home and Bwlch Farm Lane?  We have a stray cat who has been camped on our garden for a week or so, and is always starving hungry. The cat has a distinctive squeaky meow, a black patch across one ear and is nearly all white with a black tale.  Very friendly but it seems lost and is in urgent need of attention and constantly demands food. *If this is your cat can you please send ...

Conwy Urban Night Score – Explore the Medieval streets of Conwy – 8th January 2026. Unique orienteering event. By Gwennan Charlton. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   For anyone who’s been thinking of doing one of the Orienteering Urban Night races, we’re coming to Conwy on the 8th of January! Link for more info/entries here:   https://facebook.com/events/s/conwy-urban-night-score/1186436856278025/ *Gwennan Charlton (*above left), is helping to promote the Conwy event, with Lizzie Bennett, who is a keen urban orienteer. Get ready for the first orienteering event of 2026!  We're exploring the medieval streets of Conwy for this one. And it's going retro- pen, paper and clues only! No map run.   I've got a series of clues- both educational and non-educational for you to gather around town. Think treasure hunt, but the pot of gold is a lamp post!   Entries are open online at :   https://pre-entries.co.uk/dl/events Online entries shut at 8pm on 7th January so ...

*Pictured above - a previous 10k start on the Goodwood Race Circuit. BMAF 10km championships - Goodwood Motor Racing Circuit at Chichester 1st February 2026. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 In its eighth year based at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, the 2024 race attracted a huge field of athletes, including some of the best masters athletes in each age group from across the UK.   We have already 63 entries for the BMAF 10k Championships to be promoted on Sunday 1st February 2026 at the Goodwood Motor Circuit, Chichester, Sussex.  Due to parking limitations at the venue, the event does have a strict entry limit.  Those 63 entries wanted to be the very first to enter before we announced there were only 600 race bibs left. The race organiser says they could all go before the end of the year.   So if you want to be part of a 5 Star competitive 10k experience on a traffic free fast course  please act fast.   We are awarding medals on this occasion based on chip timin...

*Pictured above - Run Directors Richard Peevor and Dougie Graham at Rhos. Festive demands and the weather kept numbers down at NW parkruns... Report by Don Hale. Rhos parkrun photos courtesy of Pat Finnie. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   It was a cool, damp morning at most of the local parkruns last Saturday, with numbers down at the majority of them, probably due to festive demands and the problematic weather conditions, with some flooding on numerous 5k courses. Conwy may have suffered the most, with entrants down for the third week on the trot, and only 80 determined athletes – including 24 visitors – who completed the swampy riverside route at the RSPB, whilst Nant y Pandy’s event was cancelled altogether! The new  Llandrillo yn Rhos parkrun  still remains a novelty but entrants were down from last week’s launch of 501 to 345, and the stats were very interesting with 240 first timers, and nearly half of the previous week’s entrants recorded new PB’s this week! *S...

*Pictured above - joint restaurant owner and athlete Dave  Hughes with his family at Conwy parkrun after completing his 100-mile fundraising race for charity. Joint restaurant owner Dave Hughes ran 100-miles for the Pancreatic Cancer charity.. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   Well done to popular local athlete and restaurant owner Dave Hughes who has completed an amazing 100-mile ultra running challenge to help raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer in memory of his father-in-law Alun Yu. Dave, who jointly owns the  Paysanne restaurant at Deganwy , finally achieved his mileage target at Conwy parkrun, where he was welcomed by family members on the finish line, with the exciting news that his sterling efforts are now close to raising nearly £1,000 via his JustGiving charity for this worthy cause. On his fundraising page he confirmed the reasons for his gallant efforts and explained:  “ This year, I lost someone special - my father-in-law – and it w...

*Pictured above and below - some of the fun runners at the Mental Elf events. Mental Elf 2k and 5k races proved a huge success at Eirias Park, Colwy Bay last Sunday... Report by Don Hale. Pictures by Caitlin Faye Photography. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 John Hatton, who was one of the charity event organisers at last weekend’s Mental Elf races at Eirias Park, was delighted by the fun frolics and the great public response, plus the generous funds raised for such a worthy cause. Sponsored by Jennings , participants were told that they could either walk, jog, skip or run whilst soaking up the festive spirit, and whilst supporting Conwy and the Vale of Clwyd Minds, with a Mini Elf 2k fun run, and 5k event. After the event, John confirmed:  “A massive thank you to all the volunteers last Sunday at the Mental Elf 2k & 5k, held at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay.  What a day, and it began at 8am setting up the course. It was white everywhere, and a hailstorm was incredible. “The weathe...

*Pictured above - the delighted NW trio of Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton and Karen Butler at the Inter-Counties XC at Newtown. Clutch of prestigious silver medals for Road Running trio at the Inter-Counties cross country champs at Newtown. Report by Don Hale. C omment  from Bernie Jones, and action photo by Andy Davies. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com Three top female veteran athletes from North Wales Road Runners exchanged their trainers for spikes on Sunday and competed in the Inter-Regional Cross Country championships at Newtown, and celebrated by winning a clutch of prestigious medals. The trio all performed well and enjoyed their runs on a very muddy but relatively flat course, and between them they collected several championships medals with  Cheryl Frost and Kay Hatton  winning team silver medals in the W55 event; and  Karen Butler  winning a team silver in the W65 event, plus an individual silver medal in her race. Their results were:  Cheryl Frost 29.5...

Llandrillo-yn-Rhos parkrun launch and North Wales parkrun results round-up.. Report by Don Hale https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   What a fantastic turn-out for the very first Llandrillo-yn-Rhos (Y Promenade) parkrun last Saturday, as over 500 mixed ability athletes travelled from near and far to help create and enjoy a spectacular occasion. Run directors  Richard Peevor, Sharon Hughes, Dougie Graham,  and Chris Spillane , together with their hard working support team of new volunteers and marshals, worked their socks off to produce an excellent event on a near perfect day - weatherwise - after recent storms had deposited a load of sand along the promenade course at Rhos on Sea. *Pictured above - three of the four new Llandrillo-yn-Rhos parkrun run directors (l-r): Dougie Graham Sharon Hughes and Richard Peevor, and (*below) some members from the 5k Your Way, Move Against Cancer Group at the start of the parkrun. The parkrun also welcomed m...