A TOTAL of five members of North Wales Road Runners Club (NWRRC) entered the first North Wales Cross-Country League fixture of the season last weekend.

This took place at Treborth, near Bangor, last Saturday (October 14), and was staged over a rather muddy, hilly, and challenging series of varied courses.

With different distance routes offered in respect of ages, and male and female races, ranging from juniors to masters, the general feedback was most encouraging with many runners welcoming a positive return to some sort of normality following an enforced period of uncertainty.

NWRRC members ran in either the senior women’s race, or the senior men’s event, over approximate distances of 3.5 miles, or 5.5 miles respectively.

Will Williams and Stuart Culverhouse ran in the senior race, with Will running very well on his cross-country debut, finishing 50th overall out of 163 entrants in 38 minutes and seven seconds, and was fourth in his MV50 age cat.

Stuart, meanwhile, also enjoyed a determined performance with a strong finish in 41.47, and he was 87th in 41.54, and finished 10th in his MV50 cat.

Cheryl Frost, Kay Hatton and Gwennan Charlton represented the NWRRC ladies, and battled well against the tough conditions in the near 3.5-mile race.

Cheryl quickly recovered from last week’s Chester Marathon, where she represented Wales, to tackling the Bangor hills and mud, finishing 77th overall out of 154 entrants, in a time of 29.57, and she was seventh in her FV55 cat.

Kay Hatton was also in form again, and finished 85th in 30.40, and she was sixth in her FV60 age cat, with Gwennan Charlton enjoying her run in 137th place overall in 37.37.

Other race results

*Oswestry: NWRRC’s Jonathan Kettle had a great run at the Oswestry 10k on Sunday as he represented the North Wales Regional Athletics team against Shropshire.

Jonathan finished in 10th place overall and he also won his MV45 age cat in 35.09.

Afterwards, he confirmed: “I was very happy with my run, but the course was not very flat at all.”

Kelly Marie Alford and her partner Cai Roberts both competed as individuals at the same Oswestry 10k race and ran together throughout, with Kelly maintaining her impressive form to finish in 179th place.

She also knocked about three minutes off her previous best time in 48.42, with Cai just one second and two places behind her.

*Amsterdam: NWRRC’s Jamie Tharme took part in the Amsterdam Marathon last Sunday (October 15) and recorded an excellent new marathon PB of three hours 38 minutes, with a strong run, despite battling a hailstorm, heavy rain, and sunshine.

*Pont Y Bala: Steve Bozier returned to action after injury, and finished sixth at the Pont Y Bala parkrun last week.

He also won his MV45 age cat in 19.17, dipping under 20 minutes for the first time this year.

Cheltenham: NWRRC veteran Tony Gibson came third in his MV65 age cat at the Winchcombe parkrun near Cheltenham last Saturday, finishing 178th out of 536 entrants, with a good time of 25.30.

After the parkrun, Tony Gibson said: “Finished third in my age cat, so chuffed.

“All on grass, so hard work after torrential rain, but glad the sun came out. All the volunteers had tambourines or gongs, and it was a brilliant atmosphere.”

Wild, wet, and windy at a waterlogged Conwy parkrun

It was wild, wet, and windy for nearly 200 entrants at Conwy parkrun last Saturday as they braved hailstones and driving rain at the start, and then faced a challenging waterlogged course full of puddles.

This seemed in stark contrast to the previous week when unusually barmy temperatures led to a very dry, bumpy, yet enjoyable route for a variety of mixed ability runners.

NWRRC had depleted ranks this time due to the start of the cross-country season and other competing fixtures, with just eight members tackling the unpredictable elements.

Dave Jones was the first club finisher in 23rd place overall with a fine run despite the soggy conditions underfoot in 22.46.

He was followed by young Joe Culverhouse and his father Stuart, who both ran together, with Joe winning his JM11-14 age cat in 40th place in 24.11, with Stuart one place and one second behind.

Master veteran Don Hale continued his recovery from injury with his best time of the year finishing in 65th place on his 180th parkrun in 26.12, and he also won his MV70 age cat.

Veteran athlete Carol Moss continued to impress with another good run in 73rd place in 27.10, and she was second in her VW55 cat.

Rob Fryer was back to form again this week with a positive performance in 83rd place in 27.49, and he was third in his MV65 cat, with fellow vet John O’Shea 87th in 28.16.

Master vet Mike Hayton made made a welcome return to parkrun, and he finished 91st in 28.30 and claimed the second spot in his MV70 cat.