A TOTAL of five North Wales Road Club Runners (NWRRC) members braved the Conwy Fell Race last Saturday afternoon (February 3) in cold, drizzly conditions which tested stamina to the limits.

Adam Lemalle was the first NWRRC man home in 71st place in 71 minutes and 15 seconds, with Charlotte Rose Wilton Jones second in 87th place overall in 85.46.

She was closely followed by Nicola Wylie in 94th place in 89.45, with Nia Lister 104th in 123.38, and Helen Hannam 105th in 130.05.

After the event, they all revealed mixed emotions following their efforts, with most runners making their debuts at this highly competitive, gruelling, and perhaps specialised event.

Adam Lemalle admitted: “It was brutal, and I’ll be having nightmares about those climbs tonight.”

Helen Hannam also claimed it was brutal, but with a true fell running attitude, she remained determined to finish, and confirmed: “I came last. I moaned and I cried a lot! I wanted to quit but I didn’t, thanks to the amazing, and very tolerant tail runner.”

Nia Lister added: “Who said it was going to be fun? Sliding on my bum down a mountain so I can climb back up it!”

Nicola Wylie said: “That was some experience. I was 3rd in my age cat. It was very hard, but somehow, I enjoyed it!”

Road Runners claim top three places at Conwy parkrun

A hat-trick of NWRRC members celebrated after claiming the first three places at last Saturday’s Conwy parkrun, which included another bumper attendance of nearly 300 entrants, despite the blustery and damp conditions.

Josh Keogh and Jonathan Kettle battled for glory throughout this challenging 5k dash amidst a route that was splattered with mud, deep puddles, along a narrow out and back course, and led home a strong team of 18 club members.

Josh eventually finished first, but he was only 22 seconds ahead of his cub rival Jonathan, who had just returned to Conwy following his amazing half-marathon win in Cyprus last weekend.

He also won his SM30 age cat in just 17 minutes and 28 seconds, with Jonathan winning his VM45 cat in 17.50, and Will Williams additionally ran well again, and he finished third overall, and won his VM50 age cat in 18.42.

Jamie Tharme finished in 15th place in 21.55, and he was third in his VM45 cat, and Steve Mason was 18th in 21.55.

Endurance athlete Karl Morris was on top-form, and he finished 27th in 22.59, and claimed the second place in his VM40 cat.

Kelly Marie Alford added another deserved PB to her recent career best, taking another 18 seconds off last week’s previous PB to finish in 45th place, as the sixth female, in 24.26, and she was second in her VW40 age cat.

Sion Thomas was 53rd, and he was third in his VW40 cat in 24.55, with Carla Green jogging around in 67th place in 25.42, and she won her VW50 age cat.

Master veteran Don Hale finished second in his VM70 age cat, finishing 71st overall in 25.53, with Gethin Wyn Jones 79th in 26.18, and vet Rob Fryer confirmed his steady recovery programme to finish 87th overall in 26.44.

Sarah Jones enjoyed a steady run in 97th place in 27.03, with Daniel Hennel 100th in 27.10, and Hannah Griffith finished well in 113th place in 27.39, and she was third in her VM50 cat.

Meanwhile, Nia Lister also took things easy in 164th place in 30.30, with Vicky Taylor 184th in 31.23, and Rachel Morris continued her marathon training build-up to finish 217th in 33.46.

*MC John Hatton told parkrunners about the funeral details for the late photographer Steve Jeffery, who lost his life last week.

He confirmed: “For those who are interested, Steve Jeffery’s funeral will be held at St Asaph crematorium on February 9 at 4pm, then onto Bod Erw, St Asaph.”

Other results:

*Manchester: Kelly Marie Alford and her partner Cai Roberts took part in the breezy Manchester Winter Warmer 10k race last Sunday, with Kelly finishing second in her F40 age cat in 49th place overall in a chip time of 50.12, whilst Cai was 77th in 53.18.

*Cardiff: Lesley Goodson made her debut at the Cardiff parkrun last Saturday and claimed third place in her VW55 age cat in 25.28.

Afterwards, she confirmed: “It was a lovely run along the river and very busy. I was 293rd out of a field of 931 parkrunners, the 50th female, and third in my age category.”

*Newborough: Richard Scamans and his dog Freddie enjoyed their debut in the Newborough Forest parkrun last weekend finishing 20th in 23.02, and he also won his VM50 age cat.

After the run, Richard confirmed: “Another amazing PB for the Fredster, running two-minutes faster than his previous PB, and he was the third dog home! And a kipper for dragging me out at 7.45am!”