A WEEK after setting a new PB in the Warrington Festival half-marathon, Prestatyn Running Club’s Dave Ellis narrowly missed claiming another one on Sunday (October 1).

He was one of 15 club members who travelled to Cardiff for the capital’s 20th half-marathon, which, with 20,000 entrants, is one of the biggest in the UK.

Dave, the club’s first finisher, clocked 89.36, just 17 seconds slower than in Warrington.

Other results were: Marc Jones 1-44.55, James Rogers 1-48.41, Steve Weedman 1-49.21, Andy Clark 1-55.25, Ben Thomas 2-04.06, Cara Jones 2-11.21, Nicki Triggs 2-13.26, Nem James 2-20.49, Debbie Weedman 2-22.31, Phil Roberts 2-23.45, Julie Evans 2-45.49, Emma Birchall 2-49.33, Linda Friar 2-49.43, Suzanne Evans 3-12.56.

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Prestatyn runners to compete in Borders Road Running League opener

Nem’s time was a massive 11 minutes off his previous PB for the distance and came a week after his PB in the Warrington Festival 10k.

The Warrington results were: Half-marathon: Dave Ellis 89.19, Martin Gill 2-08.07. 10k: Nem James 58.27 (pb), Nicki Triggs 58.42, Linda Friar 68.15, Julie Evans 72.09.

The Cardiff race meant that the teams for the opening fixture of the Borders Road-Running League in Caernarfon on Sunday were slightly understrength and injuries, holidays and other commitments took some other regular racers away.

It, nevertheless, was a satisfying opener all-round, with several excellent individual performances.

New recruit Andy Carter made his league debut and acquitted himself well, enjoying the course and racing environment, while Martin Cortvriend showed that he is steadily getting back to full fitness.

Placings: 33 Alex Ryder 36.13, 68 Gordon Jones 38.44 (1sr M65), 71 Rachel Shipley 38.57 (2nd SL), 82 Steve Stocker 39.45, 93 Darren Blazier 40.00, 109 Andy Carter 41.50, 132 Canyon Wilson 43.27, 140 Simon Bonfield 44.00, 156 Emma Collins 44.53 (2nd L60), 167 George Nicholls 44.56, 225 Ann Claire Jones 39.28, 248 Martin Cortvriend 51.29 (3rd M70), 255 Ally Reid 52.29, 264 Sue Hughes 53.02, 273 Sophie Johnson 54.48, 274 Gareth Hughes 54.49 (1st M75), 284 Liz Martin 56.29.

For Ann Claire, it was a second race in 24 hours, as the previous day, she had run in the Ceiriog Canter fell-race in Glyn Ceiriog.

The tough 7.2-mile event involves 1,400 feet of ascent and Ann Claire finished in one hour and 16 minutes.

The club can lay claim to a partial victory in the Nova parkrun, which was won by former captain Dean Longley, who is now based in Northumberland.

He was back in the area for a family occasion and although he is no longer a Prestatyn member, is still registered as such in the parkrun.

Nova results: 1 Dean Longley 19.36, 31 Mark Dakeyne 26.32, 58 Sophie Johnson 30.04, 61 Mandy Cartwright 30.42.

Ruthin parkrun: 44 Roger Harrison-Jones 30.31, 56 Steve Hatfield 38.52 (pb).

Chester: 305: Ian Cummins 44.53.

Frugal Bay (New South Wales): 22 Darren Thompson 21.46.

Prestatyn junior parkrun: 5 Tia Calland 9.25, 7 Olivia Standring-Jones 10.30, 19 Ffion Standring-Jones 14.20.