THE Holyhead Breakwater five-mile race attracted a talented mix of more than one hundred elite and club runners for another exciting event following a three-year absence due to COVID-19.

North Wales Road Runners Club (NWRRC) entered 19 members and celebrated six podium places in the main race.

This included two first places in their respective age categories for Steve Forsyth (M40) and Kay Hatton (F50); in addition to four second places for Richard Eccles (M50), Iwan Evans (M40), Cheryl Frost (F50), and Don Hale (M70).

The icing on the cake included a healthy hoard of some 15 medals in the North Wales RAC five-mile championships, with NWRRC winning seven golds, four silvers, and four bronze medals in the combined male and female age categories.

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Richard Eccles was the first NWRRC athlete home in fifth place overall and second in his M50 cat in 29.51, with three other talented club runners also taking the next three positions with just a few seconds separating each runner.

They included Steve Forsyth (6th and 1st M40 winner in 30.17), with Iwan Evans 7th and 2nd M40 cat in 30.26, and Will Williams 8th and 3rd M40 cat in 30.28.

Gethin Wyn Jones finished 18th in 32.24, with Steve Roberts 34th overall in 34.18, and Jamie Tharme 37th in 34.55.

Kay Hatton ran extremely well again to finish as the sixth female and in 54th place overall, and she also won her F50 age cat in a fast time of 37.15.

Her club colleague and training partner Cheryl Frost gave Kay a hard chase in 54th place, as the eighth female runner, but she had to settle for second spot in the same age cat in 37.19.

Veteran Rob Fryer finished in 70th place overall in a good time of 39.36, with Kevin Higgins running home in 73rd spot in 39.59.

Nicola Wylie was 81st and the 17th female in 41.47, with vet Don Hale celebrating his 70th birthday on the day of the race and finishing 86th and 2nd M70 cat in 42.50.

Vicky Taylor enjoyed another good performance in 88th place in 43.06, and Len Jackson was 92nd in 44.10.

Rachel Morris ran well and knocked about a minute and a half of her previous run over this distance to finish in 98th place in 48.01.

Sue Smith was 101st in 49.39 with her husband Mike Smith 107th in 56.49, and Zoe Roberts 110th in 59.02.

This is the provisional results list for the TDL Holyhead Breakwater five-mile race: www.tdleventservices.co.uk/event-results/events?event=3802.

Close finish for top two athletes at Conwy parkrun

More than over 200 runners took part in Saturday (July 30)’s Conwy parkrun, with the leading pair of elite athletes battling all the way for the top spot, and they were only separated on the line by just one second on this challenging 5k course.

Rivals Adam Jones and James Yarwood (Abergele Harriers) raced nip and tuck throughout, with Adam eventually finishing first with a sprint finish in 16 minutes and 57 seconds.

James, despite recording a great new PB, had to be content with second place in 16.58.

In another quick dash event, the first nine runners all dipped below the 20-minute barrier, and three out of the first four finishers recorded new PB times.

North Wales Road Runners only entered four members this week due to several fixture clashes but still recorded three podium age cat places, including two excellent first place victories.

Gethin Wyn Jones celebrated a superb run to finish ninth overall, and he won his MV35 age cat in 19.59, with Will Williams 24th and third in his MV45 cat in 22.01.

In addition, Jamie Tharme finished in 59th place in 24.16, with veteran Rob Fryer again winning his MV65 cat finishing 74th in 25.23.

This is the link to the provisional results from Conwy parkrun: www.parkrun.org.uk/conwy/results/latestresults.

Other race results:

*Seaford, Sussex: Mike Hayton finished second in his MV70 age cat in the Seaford Beach parkrun last Saturday. He was 105th overall on a flat, out-and-back course, in a time of 28.02.

*Colshaw Hall: Three NWRRC members ran in the Colshaw Hall 10k in Cheshire last Sunday with Cai Roberts recording 53.50 in 220th place amongst nearly 600 runners.

Kelly-Marie Alford finished in 227th place in 57.46, with Mandy Owen back in club colours again, and running well in 274th place in 57.46.