Don Hale Blog

*Pictured above - Master Veteran David Gibson celebrates after winning a silver medal at the New York Marathon to complete a unique hat-trick of World Major Marathon Championship awards. Introduction by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Welsh Master David Gibson has completed winning a unique hat-trick of silver medals in three World Major Marathon events this year! This is an incredible achievement for this extraordinary Master Veteran, who competes for Wales Masters and his club Tri Hard Harriers, and has recently returned home following his latest success in the New York Marathon. www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk This is David's exclusive story: As a Welsh M70 Master, I competed in the 2025 Age Group World Marathon Championships at the recent 2025 New York Marathon and came away with the M70 category Silver Medal.  Tackling this race just six weeks after getting another M70 Silver Medal at the 2025 Berlin Marathon, and four weeks after a M70 win in the 2025 Cardi...

  South African puzzle book author Val Crowson publishes a fascinating new SEARCH FOR THE WORDS book...  And a special note from the author's daughter in law Mariska Crowson... Coast and Country online magazine promotion. 🧩  Can you say these WORDS really fast?     🐺  Wolf Flow   😴  Sleep Peels   🚚  Deliver Reviled   🏌️‍♂️  Flog Golf   🏆  Drawer Reward   🍰  Stressed Dessert   ⚔️  Raw War   ☕  Faced Decaf   🎨  Decal Laced   They might twist your tongue but in Val Crowson’s new wordsearch puzzle book, you can take your time to find them!  😉   Search for the Words is a fun and challenging wordsearch book created by South African author Val Crowson, designed to test your mind, improve your focus, and bring a smile while you play.     🧠  Perfect for puzzle lovers, teachers, book club readers, or anyone who enjoys a good brain workout!  ...

  South African puzzle book author Val Crowson publishes a fascinating new SEARCH FOR THE WORDS book... And a special note from the author's daughter in law Mariska Crowson... Coast and Country online magazine promotion. What do many retired teachers do when they finally have time for themselves? Some rest. Some travel. Mine? She wrote a book and not just any book.   💛 Meet Val Crowson , my mum, a lifelong teacher who turned her love for learning into something extraordinary: with her brand-new puzzle book called Search for the Words , now live on Amazon.   🧩  Inside are 200 unique wordsearch puzzles that do more than pass time, they train your mind, test your focus, and reveal a hidden answer once you have found every word.   Each puzzle has a secret waiting to be discovered... if you are curious enough to look.  😉  It’s such a beautiful reminder that creativity doesn’t retire, it evolves.  And Val has just proven it. 🌼   📚   Now a...

Val Crowson publishes a fascinating new SEARCH FOR THE WORDS book... Coast and Country - a North Wales online magazine  promotion.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 The author of this brand new  Search for the Words  puzzle book is Val Crowson , a retired teacher, who previously used word searches in the classroom to help promote the learning of topics and vocabulary extension.  Val lives in South Africa and she is married with three children and six grandchildren, and now retired, she has collated and created several new wordsearches with the idea of publishing them within this exciting new book.  NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON:   https://amzn.to/4qH1IqC   ABOUT THE NEW SEARCH FOR THE WORDS BOOK by Val Crowson. A collection of 200 distinctive and individually created wordsearches just for you to enjoy! Words can be found horizontally, vertically or backwards, but not diagonally.  The letters that make up these words can be used more than once and can ...

*Jonathan Kettle (NWRC) finished third at the Conwy parkrun last week. Wet and windy parkruns - but they still attracted plenty of tourists...full results round-up... Report by Don Hale donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 It was another wet and windy day for most North Wales parkrunners last Saturday morning, yet it still failed to deter a wealth of keen visitors and participants to many a ‘splash and dash’ 5k course. Conwy was no exception where 225 hardy entrants braved the elements and the waterlogged riverside route to record some exceptional times given the circumstances. The first runner home at Conwy however, remained unknown at the time of writing, but there was just six-seconds between the second and third finishers, which included visitor  Jonty Brown  (Buxton AC) on his debut in 18 minutes and 13 seconds, with  Jonathan Kettle  (NWRRC) third in 18.19. Visitor  Beatrice Cordingley  (Sale Harriers) was the first female finisher (7th overall) with a new P...

Osian was the runaway winner at the Eirias Park NW cross-country league race. Report by Don Hale.  donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   It was another good turn-out with some excellent performances last Saturday by a host of experienced club runners at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, for the second highly competitive match of the season in the ‘David Alun Williams,’ North Wales Cross-Country League, sponsored by Grand Prix Express. Elite senior male athlete  Osian Perrin  (Menai T&F) was the runaway winner of the  Senior Men’s  race in just 26 minutes and 28 seconds, and he finished over a minute ahead of his nearest rival  Ed Slaughter  (Bangor University), who was second in 27.31, with  Dan Kashi  (Meirionnydd RC) third in 27.40.  *In the Male Over 65 race, this was won by  John Jones  (Shrewsbury AC) in 20.14, with  Andy Clarke  (Oswestry Olympians) second, and he was only four-seconds behind in 20.18, with  Dyla...

MENTAL ELF – Festive Fun Run. Sunday 30th November at 11am for Conwy Mind at Eirias Events Centre. Put on your Elf hat and join our Festive Fun Run. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025   There are two choices to choose from: - A 5k Mental Elf, or a 2k Mini Elf.   Join us on Sunday 30th November 11am at Eirias Events Centre, Colwyn   Bay  for a day of fun and fundraising.  Walk, jog, skip or run while soaking up the festive spirit and supporting Conwy and Vale of Clwyd Minds. Together, we can go the extra mile for mental health! Mini Elf 2k Fun Run: A new event this year! Mini elves can join in the fun too with a 2km fun run packed full of all the jingling fun. A Free National Trust pass for every participant*   This year, Mind is partnering with the National Trust. If you take part or volunteer in a local  Mental Elf event, you’ll receive a free family access pass to National Trust sites! It’s our way of thanking   you for supporting mental health ...

*Pictured above - Conwy Castle illuminated to highlight Ty Gobaith and Hope House and their Dark Run last Saturday night. Over £9k raised for Hope House and Ty Gobaith at the Conwy Dark  Run on a very  wet night... Introduction by Don Hale. Photographs by Caitlin Faye Photography. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 Despite the very challenging weather conditions last Saturday night with heavy rain and strong winds, over £9k was raised at the Conwy Dark Run for Hope House and Ty Gobaith Children’s Hospices. This popular event followed on from a very similar success – in better conditions – the previous Saturday at Penrhyn Castle Dark Run which raised about £10k for the same worthy organisation. John Hatton  (*pictured right), who was the MC at both fundraising events and was one of the event organisers confirmed: “ Conwy Dark Run. It was a very wet night, but it made £9k for Ty Gobaith. It was a very busy day, with the Penrhyn parkrun , rush home for lunch, then over to C...

*Pictured above - Sharon Hutchings (*second from the left) with her Welsh team colleagues. Competing in Masters athletics by an extraordinary Welsh field athlete Sharon Hutchings... Special  report by WMAL webmaster Juliet Sidney with Sharon Hutchings. donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2025 www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk I have been competing abroad since 2022 at the European Indoor champs, Braga. Restarting after having my left knee replaced in 2021 due to osteoarthritis.  During this time of recovery, I had a lot of thinking time, and I’d always regretted giving up athletics aged 25 as good shot putter, discus thrower whose pb’s were 12.24m and 33.50m with a highest British ranking of 6 for shot put aged 16. I started collecting all my old newspaper cuttings, British ranking books, memories and reminiscing about how much I enjoyed throwing in those days. During this time a good friend Ann Thatcher who was my friend and colleague at Newbury AC years ago mentioned masters athletics th...