Don Hale Blog

Covid restrictions prevented Conwy parkrun from celebrating their 7th anniversary. Report by Don Hale. Most photos by Steve Jeffery. Welsh Government and Covid-19 restrictions unfortunately prevented the organisers of the Conwy parkrun from celebrating seven years since staging their very first event.  Although the junior parkrun has continued and seems to be going from strength to strength, the adult participation has been halted by a limit of just 50 participants for all outdoor sports events in Wales.  It’s a ruling that has caused extreme controversy within the running fraternity and seems in stark contrast to identical events in all other parts of the UK, with English ministers even querying the validity of this ban, and the impact on both mental and physical health. The restrictions have also somewhat dampened the spirit of parkrun of late, and it is hoped that further meetings this week with the Welsh Government, Parkrun UK, and Welsh Athletics will help to rectify the problem.

Kay Hatton (*pictured above) was the pick of the trio at the Tatton Park 10k. Report by Don Hale. Photos by John Hatton.   Three North Wales Road Runners crossed the border into England last Saturday and celebrated with some very good performances in the Tatton Park 10k race in Cheshire, including Kay Hatton who won her respective veteran age category. With parkruns and most other races currently prohibited, or severely restricted in Wales, due to Welsh Government and Covid-19 restrictions it meant another long trip for three notable club athletes who had to battle strong winds, cold temperatures, and rain over a challenging but picturesque course. Harry Driscoll  (*pictured above) was the first NWRRC member home in 19th place in 39 minutes 51 seconds, with  Iwan Evans  31st in 41.43 and 4th in his MV40 age cat, whilst  Kay Hatton  was the pick of the trio, and continued her excellent form to win her VW55 age cat in a superb time of 48.03, finishing 109th overall and the 13th female ru

Road Runner Elizabeth Driscoll was 1st lady at Falkland Islands parkrun. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Elizabeth Driscoll.   NWRRC athlete Elizabeth Driscoll competed in her first parkrun of the year, this time many thousands of miles away from her home patch in Conwy, when she took part in the rather bleak and windswept Falkland Islands event last Saturday. The experienced runner, who is also an Air Traffic Control officer at RAF Valley on Anglesey, is currently on secondment overseas, and finished 5th overall in the 5k event from a field of twenty-one other runners and she was the 1st female finisher.  Afterwards, Elizabeth said: ‘Not wishing to make any of you jealous but I have done my first parkrun of the year at the most southerly in the world! Cape Pembroke Lighthouse Parkrun, Stanley, on the Falkland Islands. ‘Not the quickest course, very rough ground, and extremely windy (+40 mph) but I came 5th overall, 1st lady in 27.04 (there were only twenty-one runners, but you have to b

*Course PB for Mark Jessett at New Year’s Day parkrun in Kent. Report by Don Hale. Some photos by Steve Jeffery.   Mark Jessett was up bright and early on New Year’s Day to take part in the Bexley parkrun at Sidcup in Kent and was rewarded with a great new course PB of 18 minutes 26 seconds. The NWRRC athlete was 3rd overall out of 271 finishers, and he also won his MV35-39 age category. Mark also recorded his third PB out of his last four outings at this parkrun and knocked eleven seconds of his previous performance in Kent. The event was won by James Macdonald (Cambridge Harriers) and 1st MV40 cat in a fast time of 17.10, with Alexander Barber, SM25-29, 2nd overall in 18.00, with Mark  Jessett 3rd. *Mark Jessett in action at a previous Conwy  Parkrun. Tour De Llyn Llydaw race. Well known local athletes   Nic Brook   and his partner   Gemma Brown   competed together in the Tour De Llyn Llydaw fell race on New Year’s Day. The experienced endurance runners completed a tough 5-mile cours

*Troy Kettle ( above) and pictured  crossing  the line at the Meerbrook 15k race won the North Wales “Best Young Athlete of the Year" award. Report by Don Hale.   NWRRC runner Troy Kettle has won the “Best Young Athlete” of the year award following a superb performance for the North Wales County team in the Inter-Counties match at Meerbrook. Student Troy made his debut in the 15km race and excelled in the famous orange and green strip and knocked five minutes off his previous time at the open race in Staffordshire in 2019, this time finishing 27th overall in 69 minutes 49 seconds, and helping his team secure the runners-up spot. *The overall competition winners for the Men were Shropshire with 20 pts, with  North Wales  2nd with 29 points, Staffordshire 3rd with 36 pts, Cheshire 4th with 74 pts, and Derbyshire 5th with 84 pts. This included:  2. Ryan Davis 52:44; 3. Scott Nixon 52:47; 8. Joel Gomes 54:27; 16. Phil Pumford 57:35; 24. Jez Brown 62:04; and 27.  Troy Kettle 69:49. *Fo

*Club chairman Kevin Slattery (above) won the age percentage handicap race. Report by Don Hale. Photos Steve Jeffrey. Statistics by John Hatton. Club chairman Kevin Slattery was the overall winner of the recent NWRRC club handicap age percentage analysis race, with Kay Hatton finishing in second place, and Sean Butler third. Kevin (aged 67) recorded an amazing 77.69%, with Kay (58) 75.64%, and Sean (63) 72.14%. *Kay Hatton finished second in the club handicap age percentage race. Run from Llandudno’s West Shore to the former WW2 gun site and back over a challenging four-mile plus course including a section of the Great Orme, the special Christmas race attracted twenty-two club athletes, and statistician John Hatton compared the actual finishing times and the handicap time applied, against the ages, resulting in an percentage analysis of their performances. *Race official and statistician John Hatton (left) with veteran athlete Don Hale. It made for some very interesting comparison, wit

*Pictured (above) Ben and Sarah Hudson, who are preparing for two ultra-challenges to help fundraise for the British Heart Foundation. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery and Sarah Hudson.   Betws-y-Coed bed and breakfast owners Ben and Sarah Hudson are planning to run two ultra-marathon challenges during 2022 to help raise essential funds for the British Heart Foundation and in memory of Sarah’s late father. The couple, who are both keen endurance runners and members of North Wales Road Runners, intend to tackle both the 50-mile and the 100-mile events in Chester next year, and have only recently returned from a spell of warm weather training in Cyprus, where they also took part in the Cyprus Marathon. *Ben Hudson pictured during a race at the Marsh Tracks in Rhyl. *Sarah Ferguson Hudson (above) in action during an endurance race. Sarah unfortunately lost her father in October and said that he too was a former athlete and now hope to cover some of the same picturesque routes t

* A festive run  in  the winter sun at Conwy  Parkrun for the final event of 2021. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery. Conwy parkrun was a festive feast of colour last Saturday morning with most runners and volunteers joining in the fun to celebrate Christmas at this final event of the year. Youngster  Sion-Kelly McIntosh  was the first athlete home overall and the 1st SM20-24 age cat winner, completing this 5k challenge in just 18 minutes, with rival  Matthew Baker  sixteen-seconds adrift in 18.16 and finishing 2nd in his own SM30-34 cat, whilst  Pete Vale  (Bromsgrove) was a further two-seconds behind in 3rd place, but won his MV45-49 cat in 18.18. *Conwy  Parkrun  volunteers prepare for the Christmas 5k dash. The event attracted 217 runners and despite many wearing a variety of costumes, it still proved to be a fast and furious run, in cold, but very bright and breezy conditions, with many runners recording personal best times, and the first fourteen men all dipping under t