IT WAS another memorable morning at the Conwy Half Marathon last Sunday (November 19) as 2,513 runners battled against storm-force blustery winds and driving rain.

North Wales Road Runners Club (NWRRC) entered 24 athletes, who beat the weather to celebrate some excellent finishing times.

Jonathan Kettle was the first club runner home in 10th place overall in 1.19.25, and he was 2nd in his M45 age cat.

Tom Aindow was next in 78th place (83) in 1.29.29, with Will Evans narrowly dipping under the 90-minute mark to finish 85th (91) in 1.29.42.

Stuart Culverhouse was in good form again in 165th place (176) in 1.35.42, with Ben Hudson 218th (231) in 1.37.40, whilst Ben’s wife Sarah Fergie Hudson ran well again as the 41st female athlete in 1.44.14 (415), and she was 6th in her F45 age cat.

Steve Poupart was back in action in 401st place (448) in 1.45.11, with birthday boy Dave Jones enjoying his day out in 458th place (512) in 1.46.40.

Sion Thomas braved a niggling knee injury to finish in 507th place (574) in 1.48.09, and he was followed by Charlotte Rose Wilton-Jones, who was another runner in form.

She was pleased with her performance as the 79th female finisher (635) in 1.49.26 (gun 1.49.49); with the ever-green Cheryl Frost, finishing as the 96th female (713), and 3rd in her W55 age cat in 1.48.52 (gun 1.51.42).

Steve Roberts had a steady run dedicated to his late father and he was 660th (765) in 1.50.46, with Adam Lemalle 761st (901) in 1.56.00, with experienced pacer Jon Evans on time again in 865th place (1051), in 1.58.23, and he was closely followed by Tony Gibson, who made a rare race appearance in 869th place (1056), in 1.58.31.

Richard Scamans finished 943rd (1167), in 2.01.23, and Kevin Higgins was 957th (1184), in 2.02.41. Meanwhile, Carol Moss was the 307th female finisher (1407), in 2.06.38, whilst newcomer Sarah Jones and Daniel Hennell ran the course together with Sarah the 366th female, and Daniel was 1,177th (1543), in 2.08.19.

And it was good to see Helen Hannam back in race action again as the 399th female (1611), in 2.10.52, with master veteran Mark Mason quickly recovering from a recent fall to finish in 1,317th place (1833), in 2.17.31.

Gwennan Charlton continued her rapid race progress as the 545th female (1882), in 2.19.12, and Rachel Morris utilised her recent marathon success to finish well as the 780th female athlete (2241), in 2.34.54.

Other race results:

*Clowne: Kelly Alford and her partner Cai Roberts travelled to Derbyshire on Sunday to compete in the Clowne half-marathon, with Kelly finishing 323rd in 1.55.42, and Cai recording 2.01.46 in 391st place overall.

*Stamford: Richard Scamans won his VM50 age cat at the rather hilly Stamford parkrun where he finished 19th in 25.08, and said he was the first NWRRC to take part at this venue.

*Beacon: Steve Forsyth was another travelling Road Runner who recorded a good time of 20.21, to finish in 11th place at the Beacon parkrun, and he was 2nd in his VM40 age cat.

*Betws-y-Coed: Gwennan Charlton ran in the Betws-y-Coed 10k trail race last Saturday and finished 98th overall in a chip time of 1.22.20.

Road Running quartet amongst winning North Wales Cross-Country team

Four NWRRC remembers swapped their trainers for spikes and competed in the combined Welsh Inter-Regional cross-country championships held at Dolerw Park, Newtown, last Saturday.

The quartet, which included Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton, Will Williams, and Steve Gardner, were eventually part of the overall winning team that finished ahead of rivals West Wales, East Wales, and South Wales, to take the deserved plaudits.

North Wales ladies won the female team prize with 121-points, whilst the male team finished 3rd, yet the overall points tally confirmed that North Wales were the outright team victors of this prestigious challenge competition.

This was a unique cross-country event which included juniors aged from 13 upwards to master veterans in varied races over different distances, where athletes could compete individually, and in a team for their respective Welsh Regions in the Inter-Regional Championships.

Cheryl Frost had an excellent run, and she was perhaps the pick of the NWRRC entrants and finished 9th in her MW55 age category, in 32 minutes and two seconds, as the 4th counter in the gold medal winning female team.

Kay Hatton also put in a determined performance and ran well in 33.12, and she was 15th in the same MV55 age cat as Cheryl over the very muddy but quite flat course.

Will Williams was 95th in the male veteran’s race, 18th overall in his MM45 age cat in 41.49, and he was also the 6th finisher in the NW team; whilst club colleague Steve Gardner also enjoyed a good run to finish 133rd overall, and he was 15th in his respective MM55 cat in 44.37.

Bernie Jones, the secretary of the North Wales Cross-Country League, and one of the hard-working team officials, was naturally delighted with the performances of all the athletes at Newtown, and with winning the overall team prize.

He said: “A big thank you to everyone, athletes, parents, coaches and especially out fantastic team managers, John Messum, Crispin Backshall, Eric Campbell, and Mike Robbins.

“The results will be posted on the Welsh Athletics website but without even seeing them I can say we had probably the best ever day we’ve had at the Inter-Regions. And the best news is that North Wales won overall!”

Bumper turnout at Conwy parkrun on saturated course

10 Road Runners were amongst a bumper turn-out of over 300 entrants at the Conwy parkrun last Saturday with the usual numbers boosted due to a local half-marathon event the following day.

This popular annual race always attracts a massive following and ensures this particular parkrun date records one of the busiest days of the year, as many athletes utilise this event as an ideal warm-up.

NWRRC members were restricted again due to additional competing fixtures, and with others possibly saving their energy for the Sunday race, yet the club still claimed one PB, two age category victories, and one second placing.

Jonathan Kettle led the team home after completing an easy run in 25th place, and he was 4th in his VM45 age cat in 23.29. Next back was youngster Joe Culverhouse, who ran with his father Stuart, and Joe finished 38th in 24.31, and won his JM11-14 cat, with Stuart 42nd in 24.42.

Master vet Don Hale finished in 54th place with his second fastest time this year in 25.38, and he also won his VM70 cat, with veteran Rob Fryer 59th, and 2nd in his VM65 cat in 26.05.

Ceri Jones enjoyed a solid run in 71st place in 26.39, with Gethin Wyn Jones building back towards full fitness with an improved performance in 75th place in 26.52, and Steve Mason, who ran with Gethin finished just one place and one-second behind him.

Samantha Williams was another runner battling to regain fitness and she finished well in 113th place with a new course PB of 28.47, but veteran John O’Shea was hot on her heels, and he was only one place and three-seconds adrift of Sam.