IT PROVED to be another bumper Easter attendance at Conwy parkrun last Saturday (March 30) as 435 entrants tackled the picturesque but soggy 5k riverside route.

North Wales Road Runners Club (NWRRC) entered 15 athletes and won three age cats, three second placings and two thirds.

Josh Keogh was the first man back in just 17 minutes and 18 seconds, his fastest time this year, to additionally win his SM30-34 age cat.

Will Williams continued with his good form to finish ninth in 18.58, and he was second in his VM50 cat, with Steve Gardner 14th, and the winner of his VM60 cat in 19.33.

Sion Thomas finished well in 37th place in 21.32, and Adam Lemalle recorded another course PB after finishing 40th in 21.39, with Steve Roberts 54th, and second in his VM55 cat in 22.25.

Jamie Tharme returned from his recent marathon duties in Rome to enjoy a good result in 66th place in 23.03.

Newcomer Sandy Johnston celebrated his club debut, following his recent move from the Les Croupiers club, to win his master veteran’s VM70 age cat in 82nd place overall in 23.54.

Fellow master Don Hale finished second in the same cat in 25.55, in 125th place.

Veteran Rob Fryer was 142nd in 26.43, and Sarah Jones and Daniel Hennell ran the course together with Sarah 175th in 28.10, and Daniel just one place and one second behind.

Hannah Griffith also ran around with a family member, and she finished 184th in 28.26, and claimed the third spot in her VW50 age cat.

Master veteran Mark Mason finished 3rd third his VM70 age cat in 186th place in 28.31, and his result also ensured a clean-sweep of all the top-three positions in that same respective age cat, whilst Steve Mason ran with his dog Coco again as the appropriate tail walker.

Road Runners travel to various Easter parkruns

It was another very busy weekend, with many NWRRC runners travelling to take part in numerous parkruns around the country.

*Prestatyn: Carla Green was the first female finisher at the Nova parkrun at Prestatyn last Saturday, in 13th place overall, and she also won her VW50 age cat with another excellent performance in 21.39, and she was just 10 seconds off her PB.

This result mirrored her run the previous week at the Aberystwyth parkrun, where she also claimed the first female title, and she was 12th overall, in 21.05.

*Keswick: Ben and Sarah Hudson made their course debuts at the Whinlatter Forest parkrun near Keswick but faced mixed results on a very tough and challenging route.

Ben finished 21st overall in 25.54, and he was second in his VM45 age cat, whilst Sarah was disappointed with her time after a long hard training run the previous day, and eventually came home in 84th place in 35.16, but she claimed the 3rd spot in her VW45 cat.

*Penrhyn Castle: Kelly Marie Alford and Vicky Taylor joined their friend Mandy Owen at the Penrhyn Castle parkrun, with the trio running the course together.

Kelly was 207th in 32.25, with Vicky just one place and once second behind, and she shared the exact same time with Mandy.

*Newborough: Darren Griss and Kevin Higgins took part in the Newborough Forest parkrun on Anglesey.

With both members making their course debuts, Darren was happy with 155th place in 28.43, whilst Kevin finished 170th in 29.36.

*Stockport: Richard Scamans travelled to the Woodbank Memorial Park near Stockport on Saturday to make his debut in the Woodbank parkrun, and he finished in 42nd place overall in 24.57.

International call-ups for NWRRC athletes

NWRRC member Will Williams received a welcome Easter surprise this week with confirmation that he has been selected to represent Wales in two varied international distance races next month against England.

He is now one of three top-level club athletes who have recently had their talents recognised by the sporting authorities following some consistent and outstanding performances.

Will, who has just recovered from a niggling knee injury, confirmed that he will compete in the Masters’ International 10k race at Birmingham on May 5, and then again for the Masters’ International half-marathon event at Manchester on May 26.

This follows last week’s announcement that his club colleague Llyr Ap-Geraint-Roberts was selected for the GB team for next year’s Duathlon Championships, following his qualification success last week in Edinburgh.

NWRRC M60 veteran and track colleague Steve Gardner also received news of his own selection for the GB team after previously qualifying for this year’s European Sprint Distance Duathlon Championships at Coimbra, in Portugal on June 15.

Steve, however, has unfortunately had to decline the offer, as he is still recovering from injury, and explained that he needs more time to regain full race fitness.