ABERGELE HARRIERS celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Spillane & Co Wealth Management Abergele 5 road race with the biggest field of entries for many years.
263 competitors lined up in glorious sunshine to take part in the race. with the first 250 finishers receiving commemorative medals.
Overall winner and first senior male in a course and championship record of 25min 43sec was David Mountford of Deeside AAC, whilst Emma Parry, of Wrexham AC, was the first lady home with a 30min 30sec finish.
The team competitions were won by Eryri Harriers men for the sixth year in succession and Prestatyn RC ladies for the first time in a few years. A team of five men from the The Kinmel Arms at St George took first prize in the inaugural Corporate Challenge.
Four Harriers also ran, with Richie Lee leading the men home in 32min 36sec for 45th overall. Tom Bancroft ran 38min 11sec for 125th place, whislt Graham Arden crossed the line in 47min 6sec for 231st.
Chris Birch represented the Harrier ladies by finishing in a championship record of 36min 17sec for 104th overall, coming tenth in the ladies race and first FV60.
Abergele Harriers would like to thank the main sponsor, Chris Spillane, who also took part in the race, for his continued support each year. Thanks also to Abergele Mayor John McClelland for attending the prize giving, Abergele Town Council and local businesses for kindly sponsoring the race and all the runners, supporters, helpers and marshals that made the day such a huge success.
Ed Reid joined almost 12 thousand runners lining up for the 2011 Dublin marathon on Monday October 31. Ed finished in 3hrs 44min 29sec for 2774th overall.
THREE champions, one team prize and six other individual awards made a the very satisfactory outcome for Prestatyn Running Club from Sunday’s Abergele 5, which incorporated the North Wales championships.
The event, which incorporated the North Wales championships, saw Griff Owens claim the M60 title, Ron Harrison-Jones bag the M70 crown and Gay Waring win the L50 race, whilst the ladies quartet of Jo McDonough, Sian Beck, Gay Waring and Shelley Ward took the team prize.
The women in fact outnumbered and generally out-performed the men, though there were some excellent runs, notably that of Russ Cheetham, who set a new personal best for the distance, whilst Mike Davis made his debut in a red vest despite being far from race fit.
The overall placings were: Griff Owens (25th, 30min 48sec, 1st M60 in open race and championship), George Nicholls (26th, 30min 57sec), Gareth Brandrick (50th, 33min 18sec), Russ Cheetham (54th, 33min35sec), Jo McDonough (82nd, 34min 55sec, 3rd senior lady in open race), Paul Brandrick (89th, 35min 19sec), Arwel Jones (103rd, 36min 11sec), John Hughes-Roberts (105th, 36min 20sec), Sian Beck (107th, 36min 34sec, 2nd L35 in open race and championship), Gay Waring (129th, 38min 38sec, 2nd L50 in open and 1st in championship), Shelly Ward (141st, 39min 5sec), Ron Harrison-Jones (144th, 39min 16sec, 2nd M70 in open and 1st in championship), Glenda Davies (160th, 40min 22sec), Eleri Jones (179th, 42min 12sec), Julie Logan (181st, 42min 26sec pb), Sharon Jones (186th, 42min 49sec), Mike Davies (202nd, 43min 42sec), Helen Baxandall (206th, 43min 57sec), Erin Ross (212th, 44min 38sec), June Cooke (221st, 45min 26sec, 3rd L55 in open race), Gill Brandrick (229th, 46min 27sec), Claire Gadsby (242th, 48min 17sec)
Julie Logan is still on a high after her performance in last week’s Snowdonia Marathon, where she clocked 4hrs 37min, crossing the line with clubmate Helen Ashworth after the two had had a cat-and-mouse battle over the 26 miles.
Julie had extra reason to be pleased as she raised £800 for Marie Curie Cancer Care in memory of her late father.
Six members of the club have also been named in the North Wales squad for the Welsh inter-regional cross-country championships in Builth Wells on December 10. They are Amie Bagnall (U20), Katie Brandrick and Jo McDonough (SL), Brenda Tiedtke (L45+), George Nicholls (M40) and Griff Owens (M50).
The Welsh Masters’ championships will be held in conjunction with the inter-regional competition, and club members are reminded that they must enter the event themselves.
This weekend presents a quandary for the club with the third fixture of the Grand Prix Express North Wales Cross-Country League at Northop on Saturday and the second Borders League race at Wallasey the following day.
JUST one Mysterun took part in the Abergele 5 mile road race. Graham Davies ran the hilly course in a brilliant time of 34min 6sec to finish 58th overall.
The Mysteruns are organising thier annual London Marathon trip in April for anyone who is running or supporting the marathon.
The cost will be around £70, including travel to and from London and an overnight stay. Anyone wishing for more information can contact John Humphries on 07935312122 or email s_bandit@hotmail.co.uk.