THERE were mixed emotions for several members of the North Wales Road Runners Club (NWRRC) team who tackled the varied challenges of the ever-popular London Marathon last Sunday (April 23).

Heavy rain and damp conditions caused a few problems for the 49,000 mixed ability entrants.

Martin Green celebrated his hard preparatory work for this race with a tremendous run finishing in 152nd place in two hours, 30 minutes and 43 seconds.

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North Wales Road Runners tackle number of marathon challenges

He also claimed the third spot in his MV45 age category, leading home a team of nine fellow club runners.

Josh Keogh was another on top form, and he too had an excellent run, finishing 836th in 2.43.21.

Mal Preece claimed a superb new PB of 3.28.45 (8,203), and Charlotte-Rose Wilton-Jones was another runner on fire, and she too claimed a marathon PB in 3.37.02 (10,475).

Steve Mason was a key member of the team who suffered badly from cramp and lost a lot of time whilst trying to tackle his ongoing problems.

Despite all this, Steve still recorded a very good result finishing in 3.43.16 (12,284).

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Helen Hannam was another PB winner (30,368) in 4.41.29, and Kelly-Marie Alford successfully survived her marathon challenge, and even wore a charity costume, as part of her impressive fundraising plan.

Despite running in the Manchester Marathon last week, Kelly still ran home in 5.21.31 (39,642).

Rachel Morris successfully overcame a host of problems during her London Marathon preparations, including a broken leg, to eventually triumph, with a great time of 5.27.38 (40,686).

Cai Roberts – another Manchester marathoner – finished well in 5.40.40 (42,628).

Other race results

*Magaluf, Spain: Kevin Higgins finished in two hours, 11 minutes and 28 seconds in the Maguluf half-marathon race last Sunday.

Afterwards, Kevin said: “Very hot conditions but I was happy with my time.”

*London Docks: Steve Mason ran in the Victoria Dock parkrun last weekend amidst more than 700 athletes in preparation for his London Marathon race and finished in 186th place in 24.25.

*Coed y Brenin: Lesley Goodson took part in the Goldrush Trail race last Saturday on a 14k+ course and completed her run in one hour and 32 minutes.

Jonathan Kettle back to his best at Conwy parkrun

Road Runner Jonathan Kettle recovered from injury and soon claimed the top spot at Conwy parkrun last Saturday (April 22), finishing more than a minute ahead of his nearest rivals.

Jonathan shook off a recent knee problem to quickly set a fast pace over a hard, dry, but challenging 5k course, and recorded an excellent time of just 17 minutes and 47 seconds.

He easily won his MV45 age category, but he was chased all the way by visiting athlete Gethin Owen, who set a new PB in 19.05, with Andy Jones (GOG Triathlon) a mere 17 seconds adrift, despite another new PB of 19.19.

There were 238 finishers including many visiting club and social runners.

The first female finisher was SW20 athlete Ffion Roberts in 27th place overall in 22.33, with Lianne Stevenson in close pursuit in 29th place, and the first SW25 runner in 22,51.

Veteran NWRRC member Kay Hatton finished as the third female, and she was also the first VW60 cat winner in 37th place overall in 23.13.

NWRRC entered 17 members and claimed 10 podium placings, including eight age cat wins.

Jonathan Kettle led the club team home with Tony Price-Jones next in 21st place in 21.53, and he won his MV35 cat.

Youngster Joe Culverhouse ran with his father Stuart, and he was another deserved winner of his JM11 cat in 34th place in 23.03, with Stuart one place and two seconds behind.

Steve Roberts continued his recovery from injury in 36th place in 23.12, and talented veteran duo Kay Hatton and Cheryl Frost enjoyed another cat and mouse encounter, with Kay finishing 37th in 23.23, and won her MV60 age cat.

Cheryl also performing well and finished just one place behind, but won her VW55 age cat in 23.23.

Richard Scamans finished in 47th place in 23.59, and Gethin Wyn Jones was back on form and turned in another determined display to claim the 55th spot in 24.47, with veteran runner Barrie Wells winning his MV65 age cat in 24.51 in 59th place.

Sion Thomas was 68th overall in 25.27, whilst veteran Rob Fryer was 78th and second MV65 cat in 26.13.

Dave Spofforth ran with his son Ben, and the fast-improving junior finished in 84th place and won his JM10 age cat in 26.22 and shared the exact same time as his father.

Master vets Mark Mason and Don Hale claimed the first and second places in their respective MV70 age category, with Mark 93rd in 26.50, and Don 132nd in 28.17.