A TOTAL of three members of North Wales Road Runners Club (NWRRC) competed in the Race to the Stones event last weekend, staged across a gruelling 100km course including parts of the oldest path in Great Britain.

Ben and Sarah Hudson, together with club colleague Jamie Tharme, accepted this exceptional ultra-marathon challenge which was run in decent weather conditions and along a picturesque but undulating route.

Ben and Sarah ran the race together, and despite the fact that this latest run was only a few weeks after their gruelling ultra “Wall” challenge, they competed well in the “non-stop” race option, and eventually finished with superb chip time of 14 hours, 49 minutes and 16 seconds.

Ben was 462nd overall out of 1,029 finishers.

Sarah shared the exact same time as Ben, and she was 463rd overall, and 31st in her F40 age cat.

This ultra-pair set a new personal best over 50k during this race.

Sarah said: “Our feet are not overly happy with us now, but it was an amazing experience with stunning scenery.”

Ben added: “I went OK until about mile 40, then I flagged. The blister problem from the ‘Wall’ race re-appeared which didn’t help.”

Jamie Tharme also managed to run a good chunk of this same course and bravely completed 72.14kms in 10 hrs and 37 mins, before eventually having to pull out due to injury, blisters, and sheer exhaustion.

Jamie’s time over 50k, though, was his third-best time ever.

After the race, he admitted: “I’m not a fan of DNF but I physically can’t even walk never mind run. I’m a stubborn old goat, but I’m not stupid, and medical advice I will take!”

Schoolboy Charlie Sheen’s 75-mile charity run for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital

Rhos-on-Sea mum Rebecca Sheen is immensely proud of her 11-year-old son Charlie, who has been running 75-miles in stages, along the prom between Rhos and Llandudno over recent weeks to help raise funds for the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital charity in Liverpool.

She said: “This distance is equivalent to running nearly three London Marathons, and his motivation stems from his personal experience, as his sister was recently a patient and treated at the hospital.

“On Saturday, Charlie is hoping to be accompanied on his run by world champion boxer Natasha Jonas, and next Sunday, we have now decided to start at Llandudno Pier at 2pm, and to finish his fundraising campaign at the Coast Cafe in Rhos on Sea."

Conwy parkrunners greeted by warm sunshine and light winds

In stark contrast to the previous week, Conwy parkrunners enjoyed very warm conditions last Saturday morning with bright sunshine, light headwinds, and a limited number of puddles.

Nearly 300 mixed ability club and social runners from all over the UK took advantage of the mild weather at the RSPB Nature Reserve to record some excellent new PBs, many fast times and some notable age category wins.

NWRRC had a good entry of some 14 athletes in action this week and claimed three age cat victories, with four other members finishing in second places.

Alastair Canaway made a rare parkrun appearance but ran well in 5th place overall, and he was 2nd in his VM35 cat in 18.59.

Harry Driscoll also enjoyed a comfortable outing in 11th place, and he too was the runner-up in his SM20 cat despite a fast time of 19.49.

Newcomer Benjamin Brummit was 15th with a new course PB of 20.21, and Will Williams managed to shake-off his recent injury woes to finish just behind Benjamin in 17th place in 20.40, and 2nd in his VM50 cat.

Martin Green took it easy in 23rd place in 21.24, and he too was second in his VM45 cat, with his wife Carla Green finishing as the 4th female, 38th overall, and she won her VW50 cat in 22.30.

Sion Thomas was 47th with a good run in 23.04, and Richard Scamans, fresh from his recent Triathlon adventure, finished well in 50th place in 23.09.

Cheryl Frost was in good form again and won her VW55 age cat with an excellent run in 53rd place in 23.34, and master vet Don Hale also won his VM70 cat after finishing 96th in 26.26, with fellow master Rob Fryer hot on his heels in 98th place, and just 14 seconds adrift in 26.40 and 2nd in the same age cat as Don.

Gethin Wyn Jones was 133rd in 28.18, with veteran Len Jackson 156th in 29.34, whilst Steve Mason was the event sweeper in 173rd place in 30.37.

Other results

Pentir: Kevin Higgins and Rachel Morris took part in the Pentir 4.5k trail race in midweek in rather wet and slippery conditions.

Kevin finished in 29.43, and Rachel completed the course in 35.05.

After the event, Rachel confirmed: “It was very hard and wet, which made it really slippery underfoot, but it was a good challenge, and I enjoyed it.”

Tal y Fan: Adam Lemalle ran in the very challenging Yal Y Fan fell race on Saturday and competed well finishing in 18th place overall in 1 hr 41 mins.

The race included an undulating course of about 14k with 876m elevation.

After the event he said: "That was brutal up, tough down. Knee deep bogs, and a total white out at the summit. What’s not to love?"

Dublin: Kevin Higgins hit the road running in the Emerald Isle on Sunday to take part in the ‘Swords 10k’ race in Dublin, and despite a tough course, he ran well and added some further excellent results to his series of 10k events.

Yr Wyddfa: Vicky Taylor enjoyed her run in the undulating Xterra Snowdonia 10k race last Sunday and finished in 119th place in 1.24.53, and she was the 55th female athlete.