MEMBERS of North Wales Road Runners Club (NWRRC) won seven North Wales Regional medals at the Holyhead Breakwater 5-mile race on Sunday (July 28).

These included four age category gold medals, and three third-placed bronze medals, in addition to celebrating three podium places in the main race.

Jonathan Kettle led NWRRC home after finishing in ninth place overall with a chip time of just 28 minutes and 58 seconds to win his MV50-59 age cat.

He was followed by Iwan Evans 26th in 32.07, and Benjamin Brummitt 30th in 32.54.

Carla Green was back to her best once more and won her FV50-59 cat in 34th place overall, and she was the fourth female finisher in 33.17.

Sion Thomas ran well in 41st place in 34.33, with Adam Lemalle 46th in 35.26, and Steve Roberts was 59th in 36.35.

Cheryl Frost claimed the second spot in her FV50-59 age cat in 73rd place, as the 12th female, in 38.32, and Kay Hatton won her FV60-69 cat after finishing 92nd, and the 18th female, in 41.43.

Master vet Rob Fryer also enjoyed his outing in 104th place in 43.34, with Gwen Charlton 123rd in 47.31, as the 36th female, whilst Rachel Morris was 145th in 52.47, and she was the 54th female.

Road Runners ‘race the train’ down fast 5k course

A 5k dash on a humid summer evening proved just the ticket for more than 250 mixed ability athletes last Wednesday night as they opted to Race the Train from Dinas railway station back to the terminus at Caernarfon.

NWRRC entered a quartet of runners with Mal Preece leading the team home in a downhill dash down the course in 73rd place, and he was fifth in his MV60 age cat.

Hannah Griffith finished as the 23rd female in 111th place overall in 23.46, and she was fourth in her FV45 cat, whilst Vicky Taylor was the 45th female, 144th overall in 26.06, with Gwen Charlton the 66th female in 175th place overall.

Father and son strike gold at track and field championships

Father and son athletes Steve and Dave Gardner struck gold at the Welsh Masters track & field championships at Yate last weekend, with Steve winning a gold medal in the 1500m race, whilst his dad Dave proudly won two gold medals in the shot put and javelin events.

Steve had a superb run in the 1500m track race with a new PB time of five minutes and nine seconds, to take the gold medal in his MV60 age cat, beating his previous winning time from last year of 5.13.

To add to his success, he has also received notification from Bernie Jones, the Welsh Masters team manager, that he has been selected to represent Wales in the mid Cheshire 5k on August 23.

Meanwhile, Dave Gardner has probably smashed two records in both the shot and javelin with new PBs in both events.

He recorded a throw of 7.69m in the shot put and 17.76m in the javelin to win a unique golden double in his MV80 age cat.

Visiting athletes from far afield boosted the numbers at Conwy parkrun

There were 355 entrants at the RSPB Nature Reserve last Saturday morning for the 410th Conwy parkrun.

NWRRC’s Alistair Canaway made a rare parkrun appearance, and he was the first athlete back overall on this unusually dry and bumpy 5k course.

He stormed ahead from the start and celebrated an excellent result with a new PB in 17 minutes and 39 seconds and won his VM35 age cat. He also led home a team of 12 club runners.

Other NWRRC members included Steve Roberts in 24th place in 22.02, and he was 2nd in his VM55 cat, and Jamie Tharme ran well despite his recent injury, and he was 56th in 24.18.

Sion Thomas finished 60th in 24.34, and Barrie Wells won his MV70 master vet age cat in 108th place in 27.08, and he led a quartet of masters, who swept the board claiming the top four places.

This included Don Hale back from injury in 121st place in 27.33, and he was the 2nd master, with Rob Fryer 123rd, and the 3rd master in 27.41, whilst Mark Mason took the 4th spot in 157th place in 28.49.

Richard Scamans was a good Samaritan and acted as a guide to his partially sighted colleague Daniel Owens who ran his first parkrun in nine-months.

They ran together with Daniel 184th in 29.52 and Richard just one place and one second behind.

Veteran Len Jackson was building back his fitness, but he still finished well in 201st place in 30.28 and 3rd in his MV65 age cat, with fellow vet John O’Shea 212th, and 4th in the same age cat as Len in 31.00.

Other results:

*Troon: Harry Driscoll and his mother Elizabeth Driscoll both won their respective age categories on their debut as tourists last Saturday at the Troon parkrun in Scotland, which started from the South Beach Esplanade. Harry finished in 3rd place overall and won his SM20-24 age cat in 18.29, with Elizabeth running well in 32.03, and she too won her VW55-59 age cat finishing in 122nd place.

*Widnes: Steve Mason ran with his dog Coco at the Victoria Park parkrun at Widnes on Saturday, and he finished 80th on his debut in 23.51.

*Belfast: Kevin Higgins continued his series of consecutive races and this week he travelled to Hillsborough Castle, near Belfast for a 5k race, which he ran in 29.02, and he won his MV60 cat.