Don Hale Blog

*Carla Green (*pictured above) won her FV50 age cat at Conwy. Course and car park swamped by downpour at soggy Conwy parkrun... Report by Don Hale.    https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   More than 300 entrants took part in a very soggy Bank Holiday parkrun at Conwy last Saturday which attracted numerous visiting club and social runners. On a challenging 5k course that more resembled a cross between a lake and a swamp following a heavy overnight and early morning downpour, participants even had to negotiate a flooded RSPB car park (*see below) before starting their run. Despite numerous weather-related problems, the first two finishers were still able to splash their way around this picturesque route, with both recording extremely fast times, including   Adam Jones   who claimed 1st place in only 17 minutes and 17 seconds to win his SM2-29 age cat.   He was closely followed by rival  Hamish Morton  (Cambridge & Coleridge AC) in 17.30, who was 2nd in th

*Pictured above - Martin Green who enjoyed another solid international performance for the Welsh Masters team v England at the Mid-Cheshire 5k. Fast and furious for elite NW athletes at Mid-Cheshire International 5k challenge. Report by Don Hale.  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It was another fast and furious encounter at last Friday night’s Mid-Cheshire Summer 5k Dash with the first 43 runners all dipping under 15-minutes, and just 5-seconds separating the top three male finishers. This very popular event, staged on an established ultra-quick course, also included an exciting international match between Welsh Masters and England Masters, with two North Wales Road Runners in  Martin Green  and  Kay Hatton  selected to proudly wear the red vests of Wales. *Kay Hatton (*above left) ran well for the Welsh Masters team, and (*right) Will Williams claimed another 5k PB at the Mid-Cheshire 5k. The overall race was won by  James West  (Tonbridge AC) in a ve

*NWRRC trio (*above) Cai Roberts, Kelly Marie Alford and Vicky Taylor. NW Road Running trio tackled the tough Ras Y Mynydd midweek race... Report by Don Hale.   https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk Three NW Road Runners took part in the rather challenging Ras Y Mynydd multi-terrain fun-run last Wednesday night amidst a generous entry of some seventy-two hardy athletes. Cai Roberts  was the first club athlete home of the trio in 53rd place in 44 minutes 31 seconds and the race was competed over an undulating, yet picturesque 4.6-mile (7.3km) course, with Cai’s partner  Kelly Marie Alford  very close behind in 56th place in 45.07, and  Vicky Taylor  ran well and finished in 53.54. This race was perhaps a tough task for the NWRRC team as it came within a couple of days of them all tackling the Caernarfon 10k, last Sunday, where Kelly admitted to fatigue, but nevertheless, they all performed well and seemed to enjoy the run despite the course. It also meant a re

*John Dalzell (*pictured centre ) with club mates Karl Morris and Steve Bozier. Plenty of warm tributes to North Wales Road Runner John Dalzell following his sad loss. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   Plenty of warm tributes have poured in for popular North Wales Road Runner John Dalzell, who sadly lost his life last week in the most tragic of circumstances. John (48) was a former rugby player and a keen endurance athlete, who represented the club in numerous ultra-distance events, and competed in a variety of challenging races across the UK, including a remarkable 53-mile Highland Fling event in Scotland, where he smashed records as the first Welsh athlete. The news of John’s loss both shocked and saddened the running community, with NWRRC official and Conwy parkrun MC,  John Hatton , announcing the news at last Saturday’s parkrun, where fellow runners gave John, (aka Jon Doe), a generous 30-seconds applaus

*Jonathan Kettle (*above) won a NW Regional 10k gold medal. Five gold medals for the Road Runners at Caernarfon 10k during the Regional Championships. Report by Don Hale. Most photos by Steve Jeffery. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It was bright and breezy last Sunday for just over two-hundred runners at the Caernarfon 10k race, which also included the North Wales Regional Championships, where NWRRC collected five prestigious gold medals. The conditions allowed for a fast encounter with many runners recording personal best (PB) or much improved chip times, with the event eventually won by  Scott Nixon  (Wrexham AAC) in 33 minutes 31 seconds, with  Gavin Stuart  (Cybi Striders) 2nd in 33.53, and  James Yarwood  (Wrexham AAC) 3rd in 34.05. The first female athlete was  Alison Campbell  in 36.43, and she was followed by  Amie Smith  (Cheshire Dragons) in 38.47, with 3rd place,  Anna Drinkwater  (Eryri Harriers) finishing well in 39.48. North Wales Road

  *Pictured above - John  Dalzell  - who tragically lost his life this week. Emotional morning as Conwy parkrunners paid tribute to North Wales Road Runner John Dalzell. Report by Don Hale. Photos by Steve Jeffery. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com www.welshmastersathletics.co.uk   It was a rather sad and emotional parkrun at Conwy last Saturday morning as participants, club colleagues, officials, volunteers, and friends, paid tribute to North Wales Road Runner John Dalzell, (48), who sadly died earlier in the week. This shock news had been the main topic of conversation for a few days as people in the running community came to terms with this devastating realisation.  John, a popular family man and a successful ultra-distance veteran athlete, was a regular supporter of parkrun, particularly at Conwy, where he made sixty appearances amidst a total of one-hundred and one other parkruns, including some at Walsall Aboretum, where he used to live, and it was only a couple of weeks since he

*Sir Michael Parkinson (*above) with Don Hale OBE at an awards ceremony in London. My awards night with Sir Michael Parkinson at a star-studded presentation event in London. https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com It was sad to hear of the loss of Sir Michael Parkinson this week. I was fortunate to have met Sir Michael, some time ago, and he was a keen follower of my former justice campaign. He presented me with a top award when I was Journalist of the Year for the first time in about 2001. I was on the top table with him at an awards do, we chatted about lots of things and afterwards, he presented my wife Kath with the table flowers. It was a great star-studded evening at some rather posh place in London. RIP Parky!

*Pictured above - Mark Davies from NWRRC and Welsh Masters Athletics, received life threatening injuries after being hit by a drunken, hit and run female driver in January. The Daily Post have just reported on the initial court case (17/8/23) involving hit and run victim Mark Davies, a Welsh Masters Athlete, and a popular North Wales Road Runner. Mark was also an award-winning mountain racing champion, who suffered life threatening injuries due to the actions of a drunk driver. This report is presented courtesy of the newspaper:  My previous blog articles contain further information: *Blog post 27/3/23: Don Hale Blog: Positive news about award winning mountain racer M...  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/positive-news-about-award-winning.html?spref=tw   *Blog post 6/2/23: Don Hale Blog: Mountain runner Mark Davies continues his battle f...  https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2023/02/mark-continues-his-battle-for-life-at.html?spref=tw   *Blog post 31/1/23: Don Hale Blog: Special f