Sunday 27 December 2015

Jubilee Plunge

HARRISON WINS IN TIGHT FINISH

Bowland's Sam Harrison won the 3-mile Jubilee Plunge race from the summit of Moel Arthur to Llangynhafal, but it was a close finish with just 10 seconds separating the first four finishers.

 As expected, the recent rain made  conditions underfoot very tricky and several runners took a tumble in the mud.

 Results: 1 S Harrison (Bowland) 11.22, 2 T Roo (Mercia) 11.27, 3 C Atherton (Ambleside) 11.28, 4 A Livesey (ua) 11.32, 5 S Skates (Prestatyn) 11.40. M40: J Brown (Buckley) 11.52. M50: S Toogood (Buckley) 12.45. M60: A Duncan (Bowland) 14.35. U23: J Edwards (Buckley) 13.13. Ladies: 1 L Beetlestone (Eryri) 14.50, 2 E Collins (Denbigh, L50) 15.19. U23: K Tansley (ua) 16.25. L40: V Whitehead (Denbigh) 15.23.

Monday 21 December 2015

Wrexham Club races

MILLS GRINDS OUT A WIN

James Mills was made to work hard  by Daniel Weston for his win in Wrexham AAC's annual Christmas charity 4-mile race, while two of the club's promising teenagers had their own battle for third place.

 Results: 1 J Mills  21.33, 2 D Weston 21.47, 3 Christian Smith (U17) 22.29, 4 Matthew Pleavin (U17) 22.54, 5 David Czanowski 23.52, 6 SM Sussex (u20) 23.53. M40: David Ford 27.37. M45: David Millington 26.39. M50: Peter Sussex  28.44. M55: Bernie Jones 24.10. M65: Phil Walker 31.32. M70: Arthur Egan 32.49. M75: Peter Norman 54.56. M80: Brian Forster 44.16. Handicap winner: Gareth Chaloner 26.46. First track athlete: Brian Collins 49.56. First field athlete: Neil Edwards 49.56.
 Ladies: 1 Alison Whitelaw 31.36, 2 Angie Meredith 37.19, 3 Lynda Rowlands 37.19, 4 Nicola Chaloner 39.46, 5 Nicola Chaloner 39.46. L50: Alexis Baty 42.49 (handicap winner).

 U15 1,600m track race: 1 Luke Sussex (U15 and handicap winner) 5.08, 2 Sophie Paxton (U15 and handicap winner. New Record) 5.23, 3 Yasmine Baker (U15) 5.40 4, Gwyneth Parry (U15) 5.48, 5 James Evans (U13) 5.49, 6 Ioan Oldfield (U11) 5.54. U9B: Mannie Thomas 7.23. U11G: Grace Meredith 7.01. U13G: Hannah Warwick 6.57.

Friday 18 December 2015

Davies gets GB vest

DAVIES GETS GB CALL-UP

Welshpool's Andrew Davies has earned a GB call-up for the international cross-country match against the USA and a select European squad at Edinburgh on January 9.

 The Stockport athlete, trained by Steve Vernon, has been included on  the strength of his coming 20th in last week's European  championships in Hyeres. The squad is led by double Olympic and World champion Mo Farah and includes fellow Welshman Dewi Griffiths (Swansea).

Sunday 13 December 2015

N Staffs CC League (4)

BUILTH CHAMPS HIT STAFFS ATTENDANCE

Several North Wales youngsters had to forgo the chance of picking up awards in the North Staffs Cross-Country League by opting to run for North Wales in Builth instead of the final fixture at Uttoxeter.

 Colwyn Bay's senior men finished sixth in Division 2 on the day, their placings being: 43 Stephen Eardley 36.25, 59 Matthew Blackweel (Deeside) 37.08, 101 Russ Godwin 38.47, 105 Richard Watson 38.57, 130 Mark Jones 40.08, 149 Jared Debert 41.00, 196 Chris Williams 43.50, 261 Mike H Edwards (Wrexham) 65.16.
 Senior ladies: 87 Vicky Ronald 36.06.

Welsh i/c XC

YOUNGSTERS CONQUER THE MUD

As expected after the recent rain and floods, conditions for the Welsh inter-regional cross-country championships  at Llanelwedd were testing, to say the least, but they gave the current batch of talented North Wales athletes a chance to  shine.

 After coming second last year in the U13s' race Mia Roberts (Deeside) moved up an age-group and took gold, while her sister Neisha, despite being very young in the class, finished sixth in the U13s' class.

 The consistently impressive Cari Hughes (Menai) took gold in the U17's category to add to her previous wins at U13 and U15 level.  Her winning margin was a massive 1m 42 secs.

 In recent years North Wales boys have dominated the U13 and U15 category and this time they did it again after moving up to U17. Despite the absence of Mathew Willis (Wrexham), who was in Portugal training with the English triathlon squad, the team took gold, with Oliver Barbaresi (Menai) second and Joseph Crutchley (Maldwyn) third.

 Menai claimed another gold when Osian Perrin won the U13s' race, with Mike Spill 4th.

 The North Wales senior squad undoubtedly suffered from the decision not to incorporate the event with the Welsh Masters' championship, which will now be held with the Welsh championships in Swansea in February.

 Among North Wales top-10 placings were:- Girls U13: 2 Orla Davies 8.32, 6 Neisha Roberts 8.42, 9 Samia Jones 9.01. Girls under 15: 1 Mia Roberts 12.37, 4 Laura S harp 13.20, 5 Sophie Paxton 13.22, 9 Bethan Dowsett 13.48. Women under 17: 1 Cari Hughes 17.00, 7 Eabha Roberts 19.42. Ladies under 20: 5 Coral McShane 27.06, 7 Abbie Cheetham 27.19.
 Boys under 13: 1 Osian Perrin 7.29, 4 Michael Spill 7.44, 5 James Jones 7.45. Boys under 15: 8 Tomos Land 17.49, 10 Ethan Ackroyd 17.54. Men under 17: 2 Oliver Barbaresi 18.49, 3 Joseph Crutchley 18.52, 6 Christian Smith 19.15, 8 Cai Linton-Davies 19.45, 10 Mathew Pleavin 20.09. Senior men: 6 Richard Roberts 24.46.
 

Nathan No 1

NATHAN CATCHES THE EYE

Rhyl athlete Nathan Jones, one of several North Walians in the United States university system, is making a big impression.

 A student at McNeese University in Louisana, he has been named as 2015 Southland Conference Cross-Country Student of the Year after a series of high placings in the League.

 Jones, a former member of Colwyn Bay, Eryri and Liverpool Harriers clubs and a GB mountain-running international, is  on the second year of a four-year health education degree course.

Monday 7 December 2015

Borders League (3)

GAP WIDENS AT THE TOP

With Philip Robertson and Phil Langan claiming a 1-2 in the third race at Caernarfon Wirral men extended their lead at the top of Division 1 in the Borders Road-Running League.

 Despite fears about the weather the wind dropped and conditions were ideal for the 10k which was held over the reversed route, with the  runners returning alongside the Straits.

 Robertson finished in 32.02, four seconds ahead of his clubmate, with Wrexham's Daniel Weston third in 33.15.

 Veteran Gill Mead was once again first woman home, consolidating Chester Tri's lead in Division 1, with new Welsh Masters international and reigning champion Sarah Kearney (Wirral) second.

 With four races still to go a great deal can change, especially in Division 2 of both the men's and women's competition.

 Deestriders and Wallasey are currently in pole position with Prestatyn's men and women lying second.

 Full results are on the Borders League website.

NW Junior CC League

PERRIN MAKES IT A "DOUBLE"

A week after their  tussle in the mud at Liverpool the Menai under-13 pair of Osian Perrin  and Mike Spill reviewed their fridndly rivalry in the final fixture of the North Wales Junior Cross-Country League in Wrexham, with the former again getting the better of things. This time his winning margin was just three seconds.

 Meanwhile sisters Mia and Neisha Roberts (Deeside) completed their whitewash with their fourth consecutive  victories in the Y15 and U13 categories.

 Full results are on the TDL Events website.

Thursday 3 December 2015

Message of hope


YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD FOR A PB!
An encouraging message for Masters

Let’s start by saying that I was certainly no athlete at school. My PE report was along the lines of “weak – could try harder”! Roll on forty odd years later and here I am doing lung bursting runs and loving it! So what happened?

I had dabbled with cycle racing on and off over those intervening years starting with the Snowdonia CC in 1977 whilst at Bangor University before moving down to London. I used to do fairly average time trials but never quite broke the hour for 25 miles. I had reached my mid-forties, my interest in cycling had waned somewhat and my midriff was beginning to balloon. I had a stressful job, my health had deteriorated and I suffered bronchial pneumonia in 2000. I’d never felt so ill before and I guess I had that sudden realisation that I need to do something drastic to arrest this decline. It was then that I joined a gym and the competitive spirit in me began to surface. Along with a friend we entered the British Indoor Rowing championships and although we didn’t do anything spectacular at least it was a start.

I joined the Maidenhead & District CC and began cycling again. Naturally my fitness improved and I then took up triathlon. Now this is when I realised that my running needed some work. My 10k time was around 54 minutes and this would inevitably let me down in triathlon races. Now I know this is something that is generally undertaken when you’re young but I’m of the view that you’re never too old to learn so I got myself a coach. Mike Trees was and still is a great runner and he was to be my mentor. During those cold winter nights at the track in Maidenhead he would train a group of us and would help me with my technique. I entered more and more running events and my 10k times began to improve. Injuries, it seems, are part and parcel of running and I’ve had my fair share over the years. Each time I got injured I wasn’t able to train, sometimes for months, and all that hard work getting fit was going to waste. Sound familiar? This didn’t make sense to me. It was a frustrating cycle of events, training, racing, injury, rehab. Year after year it was the same old sorry tale until this year.

In 2015 I decided to have regular sports physio whether I felt I needed it or not. After all what did I have to lose except for the cost of treatment but I managed to get a good deal on that so felt it was worth it. I also got myself a smartphone and the Strava app so could see my pace throughout training and racing and gradually worked towards achieving negative splits. This meant doing the second half of both training and racing faster than the first half. Wow, what a difference that made. Not only did my times improve dramatically I also enjoyed the races more by finishing strongly. The Parkrun at Penrhyn has also helped with race tuning so thanks to those that set that event going.

Looking back, 2015 has seen me PB at every distance I’ve competed in from 400m to half marathon including beating my long held targets of sub 40 for 10k and sub 1h30 for the half marathon. You will have gathered that I’m no spring chicken at 57 so what next for this veteran who believes he hasn’t yet reached his peak? Next year I’m looking to improve at the shorter distances. I’d love to get under 5 mins for the 1500m and sub 2m30 for the 800. Watch this space!

Steve Taylor

Menai Track & Field

NW Junior CC League (3)

RESULTS OF THIRD FIXTURE IN NORTH WALES CROSS-COUNTRY LEAGUE AT MOLD.

FINAL FIXTURE IS ON DECEMBER 5TH IN WREXHAM.
U11 Girls
1 Neisha Roberts Deeside 6.32
2 Maria Smallwood Deeside 7.15
3 Macie Crowe Deeside 7.36
4 Iona Sloan Lewis Menai 7.43
5 Eden Edwards Deeside 8.02
6 Megan Hughes Colwyn Bay 8.07
7 Grace Meredith Wrexham 8.08
8 Demi Williams Oswestry Olympians 8.12
9 Non Redvers Jones  Menai 8.15
10 Kaelyn Williams Clawdd Offa 8.17
11 Angelina Meehn Menai 8.25
12 Georgina Molloy Deeside 8.29
13 Ammie Vaughan Colwyn Bay 8.37
14 Emily Jones  Sandycroft 8.42
15 Emily Brooks Ysgol Bryn Coch 8.43
16 Bethany Morgan Ysgol Pen Y Bryn 8.58
17 Hannah Bithell Penmorfa 9.06
18 Kacey Alderson Penmorfa 9.07
19 Celeste Wilson Menai 9.21
20 Emily Wilcock Hawarden 9.36
21 Ruby Hampshire Penmorfa 9.45
22 Charlotte Blackstone Deeside 10.22
23 Grace Lane Clawdd Offa 10.23
24 Elise Quinn Sandycroft 10.32
25 Lucy Edgeley Sandycroft 10.33
26 Lauren Boon Ysgol Bryn Coch 10.45
27 Milly Hedges Sandycroft 12.37
Molly Wilcock Hawarden DNF
Teams
1 Deeside 11
2 Menai 43
3 Sandycroft 90
U11 Boys
1 Math Thomas  Menai 9.45
2 Harri Morgan Menai 10.17
3 Ioan Oldfield Wrexham 10.21
4 Ted Bolton Wrexham 10.34
5 Fin Thompson  Wrexham 10.42
6 Owen Boden-Williams Colwyn Bay 10.47
7 Guy Soley Menai 10.58
8 Tudor Harper Lloyd Menai 11.01
9 Kieran Bushell Deeside 11.18
10 Ben Higham Hawarden 11.24
11 Lenny Grugel Hawarden 11.37
12 Owain Wilkinson Hawarden 11.39
13 Jack Scott Menai 11.46
14 Ewan Millington Bryn Coch 11.49
15 William Orbine Clawdd Offa 12.01
16 Joshua Grubbe Sandycroft 12.13
17 Cameron Morris Colwyn Bay 12.21
18 Daniel Frith Penmorfa  12.41
19 Jamie Cosgrove Ysgol Pen Y Bryn 12.45
20 Jac Roscoe Menai 12.48
21 Cian Woodford Menai 12.50
22 Joe Collins Wrexham 12.54
23 Lincoln Roberts Sandycroft 12.55
24 Morgan Jones Bryn Coch 12.56
25 Thomas Hoolin Clawdd Offa 12.57
26 Will Flint Bryn Coch 14.10
27 Liam Astley Penmorfa  14.23
28 Luke Blanchard Bryn Coch 15.04
29 Jack Henderson Sandycroft 15.17
30 Archie Rhys Albison Bryn Coch 15.42
31 Jamie Morris Hawarden 15.45
32 Callum Scott Hawarden 16.04
33 Josh Wilbraham Sandycroft 16.46
34 Cory Robinson Sandycroft 20.52
Joseff Morgan Menai DNF
Teams
1 Menai 18
2 Wrexham 34
3 Hawarden 83
U13 Girls
1 Rheagan Edwards Deeside 10.27
2 Eve Scott Colwyn Bay 10.35
3 Hannah Smith Deeside 10.38
4 Imogen Owen  Deeside 10.57
5 Georgia Parkinson Menai 11.00
6 Ellie Small Deeside 11.06
7 Carys Watchorn Deeside 11.22
8 Fion Maddie Rhys Jones  Menai 11.27
9 Abbie Parkinson Menai 11.30
10 Lucy Thomson Wrexham 11.33
11 Alys Dion Rees Jones Menai 12.22
12 Chloe Griffiths Menai 12.37
13 Olivia Davies Wrexham 12.49
14 Amiee House Goodwin Colwyn Bay 12.55
15 Nia Curphey Wrexham 13.46
Beth Mc Eachern Menai DNF
Orla Davies Deeside DNF
Teams
1 Deeside 14
2 Menai 33
3 Wrexham 88
U13 Boys
1 James Jones Deeside 10.29
2 Jamie Swann Deeside 11.19
3 Benjamin Bright Deeside 11.22
4 Huw Jones Deeside 11.35
5 Jack Cain Menai 12.42
6 Ben Winn Rhyl High School 15.30
Teams
1 Desside 10
2 Menai 155
3 Rhyl High School 156
U15 Girls
1 Mia Roberts Deeside 11.04
2 Bethan Dowsett Deeside 11.26
3 Sophie Paxton Wrexham 11.37
4 Kate Pugh Oswestry Olympians 12.05
5 Gwyneth Parry Wrexham 12.09
6 Lauren Watchorn Deeside 12.25
7 Bethan Davies Colwyn Bay 12.27
8 Yasmine Baker  Wrexham 12.28
9 Ella Oldfield Wrexham 12.32
10 Fflur Davies Menai 13.05
11 Catrin Donnelly Menai 13.17
12 Ceri Jones  Ysgol Bryn Hyffryd 13.55
13 Jody Cain Menai 14.57
Teams
1 Wrexham 25
2 Deeside 59
3 Menai 84
 
U15 Boys
1 Ethan Ackroyd Deeside 14.55
2 Roland Finnie Menai 15.24
3 Tom Wilde  Oswestry Olympians 15.40
4 Luke Sussex Wrexham 16.06
5 Cai Morgan Roberts Menai 16.22
6 William Harding Deeside 16.42
7 Rhys Lloyd Roberts Deeside 25.10
Teams
1 Deeside 64
2 Menai 107
3 Oswestry 153

Monday 30 November 2015

Grand Prix Ex NWCC League (3)

SHREWSBURY MOVE FURTHER AHEAD

Eryri's Rob Samuel looked in imperious form as he won the third race in the Grand Prix Express North Wales Cross-Country League at Mold but a strong all-round team performance saw Shrewsbury widen their lead at the top of Division 1.

 Samuel, looking back to his old form, made a mockery of the muddy conditions to win by 89 seconds and although Eryri finished second to Oswestry on the day Shrewsbury's third place mean they are still 108 places behind the Gwynedd club.

 Alison Lavender  also showed a good return to form with an even bigger win, though her most likely challenger, Menai teenager Cari Hughes, was missing. With two races left Eryri's ladies look to hold a comfortable lead.

 The new GOGS teams won  both the men's and women's Division 2 competitions on the day but Colwyn Bay have moved into the lead in the men's event.

 Results. Senior men: 1 R Samuel (Eryri) 29.39, 2 C Rowlinson (Bangor Uni) 31.08, 3 O Blake (Os) 31.18, 4 R Roberts (Eryri) 31.38, 5 P Jones (Osw, M45) 31.45, 6 G Williams (Deestriders) 32.01, 7 L Renton (Shrew) 32.01, 8 C Morris (Shrew) 32.47, 9 T Roberts (Meir) 32.57, 10 S Cole (GOGS) 32.58.
Teams. Division 1: Oswestry 104, Eryri 123, Shrewsbury 126, Bangor Uni 131, Buckley 243, Tattenhall 303, Meirionnydd 443, Deeside 452. Division 2: GOGS 384, Colwyn Bay 395, D enb igh 561, Prestatyn 565, Abergele 648, Wrexham 679, Whitchurch 722, Deestriders 768, Wrecsam Tri 783, Telford 791, Cybi 854, NWRR 898, Bro Dysynni 955, Bridgnorth  1,025. 
Masters. M40: 1 J Brown (Buck) 33.54, 2 L Jones (Dee) 33.58, 3 A McNay (Tatt) 34.04. M45: 1 Jones, 2 I Houston (Wrecsam Tri) 33.29, 3 S Roberts (Buck) 34.58. M50: 1 E Campbell (Buck) 35.55, 2 S Ellis (Tatt) 36.20, 3 R Jones (Shrews) 36.24. M55: 1 G Jones (Shrews) 35.20, 2 K Smith (Whit) 37.26, 3 V Belshaw (Den) 37.44. M60: 1 SP Jones (Eryri) 36.15, 2 P Savill (Shrews) 38.12, 3 S Roberts (Buck) 39.14. M65: 1 A White (Osw) 43.53, 2 I Jones (Wrecsam Tri) 45.12, 3 N Williams (Wrex) 45.36.
 Teams: Oswestry 21, Buckley 26, Tattenhall 35, Shrewsbury 44, Colwyn Bay 75, Eryri 75, GOGS 96, Meirionnydd 104, Whitchurch 108, Deeside 112, Prestatyn 123, Denbigh 126, Wrecsam Tri 159, Abergele 181, Cybi  191, Wrexham  209, Deestriders 248.
 M70: 1 D Williams (Eryri) 31.36, 2 A Egan (Wrex) 32.24, 3 R Harrison-Jones (Prest, M75) 35.48, 4 D Hughes (Prest, M75) 36.23, 5 J Thomas (Buck) 40.49, 6 MH Edwards (Wrex) 42.10, 7 R Billington (Wrex, M80) 45.47, 8 B Forster (Wrex, M80) 48.52, 9 J Tipping (Wrex) 52.43. Tea m: Wrexham 15.

 Men under 17: 1 C Smith (Wrex) 21.59, 2 M Pleavin (Wrex) 22.34, 3 R Owen (Eryri) 22.34, 4 R Cain (Menai) 23.50, 5 S Holt (CB) 24.37, 6 S Williams (Eryri) 25.21, 6 C Donaghue (Buckley) 29.53.

 Ladies. 1 A Lavender (Osw) 23.29, 2 R Roxburgh (GOGS, L40) 26.05, 3 E Roberts (Menai, U17) 26.35, 4 R Pierce (Denbigh) 26.40, 5  A Rowlands (Eryri, L40) 26.49, 6 B Taylor (Eryri) 26.56, 7 M Owen (Dee, U17) 27.02, 8 A McQueen (Eryri, U17) 27.16, 9 A Robinson (Tatt) 27.30, 10 A Muller (West Chesh) 27.33.
     Teams. Division 1: Eryri 31, Oswestry 65, Denbigh 75, Buckley 105, Wrexham 169, Colwyn Bay 294, Menai 328. Division 2: GOGS 65, Prestatyn 102, Tattenhall 149, Cybi 151, Whitchurch 164, Bangor Uni 180, Shrewsbury 230, Bro Dysynni 244, Deestriders 247, Deeside 257, West Cheshire 260, Abergele 261, NWRR 263, Telford 271.

Masters. L35: 1 C Jones (Os) 27.36, 2 H Evans (Buck)  28.22, 3 L Beetleston (Eryri) 30.15. L40: 1 Roxburgh, 2 Rowlands, 3 L Morley (Wrex) 28.25. L45: 1 C Cooke (Bucley) 28.09, 2 T Lewis-Jones (Eryri) 28.14, 3 H Blair (Eryri) 28.41. L50: 1 E Collins (Den) 29.14, 2 L Jones (Wrex) 30.29, 3 M Ludden (Buck) 31.28. L55: 1 A Williams (Eryri) 30.08, 2 G Waring (Prest) 31.37, 3 S Hancock (Osw) 31.41. L60: 1 B Ward (Osw) 34.09, 2 A Byrne (Shrew) 47.54, 3 S Richards (Shrew) 48.13. L65: 1 C Birch (A bergele) 31.25, 2 M Docking (Wrex) 33.53, 3 M Oliver (Eryri) 36.53. L70: 1 B Jones (Bro Dys) 39.50, 2 M Griffiths (Bro Dys)  46.15.
 Teams: Eryri 26, Oswestry 28, GOGS 32, Denbigh 40, Wrexham 53, Prestatyn 108, Bro Dysynni 155.

AGGREGATE AFTER 3 RACES.
 Men, Division 1: Shrewsbury 406, Eryri 514, Oswestry 577, Bangor Uni 579, Buckley 778, Meirionnydd 1,245, Deeside 1,282, Tattenhall 1,727. Division 2: Colwyn Bay 1,217, GOGS 1,303, Prestatyn 1,377, Denbigh 1,595, Telford 1,624, Wrexham 1,653, Cybi 1,824, Whitchurch 1,838, Abergele 2,027, North Wales RR 2,028, Wrecsam Tri 2,312, Bro Dysynni 2,903, Bridgnorth 2,920.

 Masters: Buckley 72, Oswestry 119, Shrewsbury 126, Colwyn Bay 246, Eryri 263, GOGS 310, Meirionnydd 314, Denbigh 322, Whitchurch 400, Prestatyn 411, Cybi 479, Wrexham 539.

Ladies. Division 1: Eryri 124, Denbigh 204, Oswestry 230, Buckley 390, Wrexham 510, Menai 645, Colwyn Bay 721. Division 2: GOGS 173, Prestatyn 326, Cybi 416, Bangor Uni 559, Tattenhall 584, Abergele 589, hitchurch 610, West Cheshire 664, Deeside 671, Bro Dysynni 674, North Wales RR 680, Shrewsbury 781, Telford 871.

 Masters. Eryri 54, Oswestry 89, GOGS 93, Denbigh 98, Buckley 120, Wrexham 166, Prestatyn 285.