Don Hale Blog

*Pictured above left - Charlotte Rose Wilton Jones with her running friend Tanya Beattie after completing the challenging Delamere trail half marathon. Charlotte braved the ice and mud in the Delamere Forest half marathon...plus a night out at the Conwy Urban race. Report by Don Hale. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   NWRRC member Charlotte Rose Wilton Jones competed in the tough Delamere Forest half marathon trail event last weekend in her first race back after having her twins. Charlotte ran with her running friend  Tanya Beattie  and recorded a good time of 2 hours 14 minutes and 40 seconds over a very icy, muddy, and slippery course, and after the race she confirmed: “Last Sunday,  I ran the Delamere Half Marathon. My first race back since having my twins in August last year. It felt great to be back racing, even though the cold, icy and muddy conditions made it tough, and my legs struggled at times.” And last Thursday night,  Charlotte quickly recovered to ta...

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

Conwy Urban Night Score – Explore the Medieval streets of Conwy – NOW RE-ARRANGED DUE TO THE WEATHER -Thursday 15th 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 15th 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 Onl...

*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 and below - Cheryl Frost and Kay Hatton North Wales Road Running duo completed the gruelling Sea to Summit Challenge... Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Two top veteran female athletes from North Wales Road Runners completed the gruelling Sea to Summit Offa’s Dyke Challenge on Sunday. This was a very demanding race for Welsh international, club colleagues and friends  Cheryl Frost  and  Kay Hatton , as the event covered 14-miles and some 3,700ft of ascent, and took the pair 3 hours and 40 minutes! After the event, Kay said:  “Cheryl and I have just finished the Challenge. It was a race, but most of us either ran/walked as there were numerous steep gradients and was very muddy! ”        

*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...

A very challenging and muddy course at the Bala cross country fixture in the latest NW XC League event... Report by Don Hale.  Match report and photo courtesy of Bernie Jones donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 It was a good turn-out at Bala despite the weather and some very challenging and muddy  conditions which tested runners to the limit. In the Senior Men's race Andrew Moore (Bangor University) was the first man home in 31 minutes and 12 seconds, but he was only 13-seconds ahead of his keen rival Rhodri Owen (Meirionnydd RC) in 31.23, and Rhodri's clubmate Daniel Kashi in 31.44. The Meirionnydd team packed well and they had five members in the top 10 finishing places and topped the team table ahead of Wrexham AAC and Buckley, who were both within a whisker of each other. *There were 144 finishers. In the Over 65 race, Graham Jones (Shrewsbury AC) was the overall winner and he also took the 1st MV 65 prize in 24.22, with Andy Clarke (Oswestry) second in 24.23, and 2nd...