Don Hale Blog

*Endurance runner Karl Morris ran 83-miles last weekend at Pen Llyn race. *Pen Llyn:  Brave NWRRC endurance athlete  Karl Morris c ompleted the  Pen Llyn 75-mile  race over the weekend, but said he made a few errors and ended up doing 83 miles instead! Karl eventually ran 83.53 miles in 21 hours and 21 minutes and his challenging route including 3,386m of elevation. He later explained; “I forgot an honesty book page, so I had to track back a mile, and then had to hunt for toilets in Nefyn.   “I even managed to get lost in a farmer’s field. Oh well, a great day and I got to run along some of the best coastal path routes anywhere in the UK. Finished 7th in the end. The marshalls’ and volunteers did a great job.”  *Great work from Elizabeth Driscoll at the Llanrwst Sprint Triathlon. *Llanrwst:  NWRRC athlete  Elizabeth Driscoll  competed at the  Llanrwst Sprint Triathlon  on Sunday and easily won her F50 age cat with a stunning performance at her first event with a new carbon bike.

*NWRRC athlete Carla Green (*above right) with her international colleague Ann d'Albuquerque from GOG Triathlon at the Home Nations race at Tenby. Carla Green starred for Wales in Home Nations 10k race at Tenby and finished 2nd in her age category. Report by Don Hale.   Road Runner Carla Green starred for Wales in an international 10k race last weekend and finished 2nd in her respective age category during a controversial Home-Nations tournament at Tenby Carla turned in a spectacular performance and put her recent injury woes behind her to claim 2nd place in her FV50 age category, whilst club colleague  Richard Eccles  unfortunately   faced disqualification along with others following a mix-up over an alleged misdirection claim towards the finish of his 5k race, with much criticism later aimed at the event organisers. Carla Green  ran home in 53rd place overall and she was the 13th female in the 10k race in 41 minutes 42 seconds amongst 388 entrants, whilst her husband  Martin Gree

*Some of the NWRRC team prior to the start of the Fairy Freckled Cow race (*pictured l-r) Stuart Culverhouse, Helen Hannam, Kevin Higgins, Hannah Griffiths, Don Hale, Mike Hayton and Nicola Wylie. Podium places and NW medals for Road Runners at Fairy Freckled Cow Trail race. Report by Don Hale.   It was a great turnout of experienced club athletes and a few social endurance runners at the very tough Fairy Freckled Cow 10.7k trail race last Sunday morning. The Road Runners entered eight members and collected four podium places and a few PBs, in addition to several North Wales Trail championship medals, at one of the most challenging trail races in the region around Alwen Reservoir. Despite spectacular views, this race followed a gruelling and very hilly course, with the event eventually won by  James Yarwood  (Abergele Harriers) in 40 minutes 21 seconds. He was followed by  Stephen Skates  (Prestatyn RC) in 41.15, and  Ian Edwards  (Eryri Harriers) 3rd in 41.24. The Ladies race was won

Steve Forsyth (*above) finished 1st at a bright and breezy Conwy parkrun. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery.   It was bright and breezy for 179 finishers at Conwy parkrun last Saturday with numbers heavily depleted due to several fixture clashes, or athletes recovering from some midweek exertions. Ten Road Runners took part with  Steve Forsyth  the 1st placed finisher in 18 minutes dead, to additionally claim the top-spot in his MV40 age cat. Steve just managed to hold off a strong challenge from promising youngster  Math Thomas  (Menai Track & Field) who was the runner-up with a fine performance in 18.23, and the winner of his JM15-17 cat, with  Dave Hughes  3rd with a PB in 18.30. *Will Williams (*above) had a good result, finishing 5th at Conwy. The NWRRC team  claimed three other age cat wins and  Will Williams , who finished 5th overall, also won his MV45 cat with a new PB of 18.54. And  Steve Mason  was back on home ground again and finished 8th overall and 3rd in h

*Iwan Evans, Gethin Wyn Jones and Rory Middleton at the start of the race. Bumper turn-out at Felinheli for return of the 10k race. Report by Don Hale.  Photographs by Natasha Kettle and Gwyl y Felinheli Festival.   The Ras Gwyl Felinheli Festival 10k race returned with a bumper turn-out last Wednesday as nearly 250 top club and social runners took part in this challenging event on a warm and near perfect evening. Delayed since 2019 due to numerous pandemic restrictions, this is probably one of the toughest half-marathons in North Wales with competitors having to battle a very challenging course and run mainly off-road, and along numerous steep trails, and through dense woodland. The overall race proved very tight at the sharp end with  Adam Jones  from event hosts Eryri Harriers, eventually taking the honours to win in 32 minutes and 57 seconds, with  Tomos Jones  (Meirionyydd RC), 2nd in 33.14, and  Ifan Dafydd  3rd in 32.26. The Ladies race winner was  Anna Bracegirdle  (Sale Harrie

*Andrew Hale (*pictured above) is preparing for his tough challenge. Fundraising charity walk up Kinder Scout for Bluebell Wood Hospice. Report by Don Hale. My eldest son Andrew Hale is fundraising for Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice . Check out their @JustGiving page and please donate if you can. Thank you! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/halopeaks?fbclid=IwAR2NQHTIKyLhRhvmIuWg1Vg_WukYg7mQjXZb0FgLqZGYqoVEvs0ohlbUYKY On Friday (July 1st) Andrew and some colleagues will be helping to raise money for Bluebell Wood Hospice by walking up Kinder Scout (Highest Peak in Derbyshire) with colleagues.  Bluebell Wood is an amazing place for families who need care and support at the most difficult times in their lives.  *If you have 5 minutes read some of the stories here: https://www.bluebellwood.org/Listing/Category/stories  it  really brings home what they do! So please help me and all my colleagues raise a huge amount of cash to help keep the hospice open for many years to come! h

Tired legs but four age cat wins for Road Runners at Conwy parkrun - plus other race results. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery.   There were many tired legs at the Conwy parkrun last Saturday with numerous Road Runners and other local athletes still recovering from their Friday night 5-mile charity ‘Dash’ at Rohan’s Run in Deganwy. Despite being something of a recovery run, eight seniors and two junior members of NWRRC still turned out amongst the 168 finishers and collected four age category wins.  And it proved to be a memorable occasion for young  Alfie Shiland  (Colwyn Bay AC) who claimed his first ever parkrun victory with a great new PB over the 5k course in 17 minutes 39 seconds and 1st place in his JM11-14 age cat. Alfie was always in the mix with club rivals and eventually outsprinted the field to celebrate his win after four previous efforts as a runner-up.  The Ladies title went to the very talented  Alice Johnston  (Les Croupiers) with a great new PB of 19.19, ju