Report by Don Hale

It was a bumper turn-out at the Anglesey half-marathon and 10k races last Sunday with over 1,100 runners taking part in this tough and very challenging course on an unusually bright and sunny morning.

North Wales Road Runners entered five athletes in the half-marathon event, with a further six members competing in the 10k, and once again they celebrated with an excellent M65 age cat victory by club chairman Kevin Slattery in the longer distance race, whilst Alastair Canaway finished 3rd overall in the 10k, and master vet Don Hale won his M70 cat, with fellow vet Rob Fryer claiming the 3rd spot in his M65 cat!

This very popular double event was well organised by Always Aim High, and the conditions also attracted a large crowd of enthusiastic supporters, who cheered the runners from start to finish.

Stuart Culverhouse was the first NWRRC member home in the half-marathon with a gritty and determined display, finishing 64th out of 640 starters, in a very good time of 1 hour 34 minutes and 20 seconds. He was followed by Kevin Slattery, who had an outstanding run again, and defied the years, to win his M65 age cat in style, finishing 87th in 1.37.01.

Adam Lemalle was also on form in 286th place in 1.52.54, and Samantha Williams returned to racing in 479th place in 2.07.58, whilst it was also good to see Hannah Griffiths running well with her sister, Siwan Kalatzi (Thames Valley Triathletes), and she was 566th in 2.17.41, with Siwan just one place and one second ahead.

In the 10k race, which included nearly 500 starters, Alastair Canaway blazed a fast trail despite the undulating course, and claimed a well-deserved 3rd place overall as the 3rd O/Sen cat in 37.08, with promising newcomer James Jones making his club debut, finishing 19th in 41.44, and Sion Thomas was 78th in 49.59.

After the 10k, a delighted Alistair confirmed: “I'm very happy to finally be back racing after a long eleven months of injury. I really didn't feel good today, so I'm happy to come away with 3rd place and blew out the cobwebs.”

The vets then took the plaudits in the same demanding race, with Don Hale winning his M70 age cat with a new course PB of 53.54, and his best 10k time since 2021, in 122nd place; whilst Rob Fryer was back to his best and claimed the 3rd spot in his M65 age cat, finishing 145th in 55.30; with fellow master vet Mike Hayton running well as the 5th M70 cat in 1.02.12.

Other race results: *Cheshire: Three NWRRC members hit the track running last Sunday at the Oulton Park 10k and 5k races with all of them winning their respective age categories. Kevin Higgins won his M60 cat in the 10k race after finishing 63rd in 51.59 with his best time for about two years, and Tony Gibson was just one place behind in 52.15, and he also won his M65 age cat. Meanwhile, Steve Gardner also won his M60 cat in the 5k race with a good performance in 7th place in 19.19.

*Manchester: Will Williams and Jamie Tharme travelled to south Manchester last weekend to compete in the very fast and elite-packed Trafford 10k race, which attracted over 1,500 top athletes. Will finished in 417th place overall in 37.02, with Jamie 757th in 43.53.

*Dolgarrog: NWRRC members Charlotte Rose Wilton Jones and Nicola Wylie competed in the gruelling Pipe Dream 7k fell race last Saturday at Dolgarrog, which celebrated its 20th anniversary. Charlotte finished 60th overall in 59.07, and Nicola was 72nd in 63.53, and she also claimed second place in her F50 age cat. Charlotte later admitted: “This was very hard, especially going up the pipe-line steps. It was absolutely brutal!”

*Other parkrun results: *Ruthin: Carla Green was the second female finisher at the Ruthin Memorial Playing Fields parkrun, on Saturday, but she won her VW50 age cat in 20.54 finishing in 5th place overall.

*Llangollen: Karl and Rachel Morris went on tour to the Old Railway Trail parkrun at Llangollen last Saturday after their run at Oswestry was cancelled. They both performed well with Karl finishing 12th overall out of 96 entrants, and he was 2nd in his VM40 age cat in 22.37, whilst Rachel celebrated her first 3rd placed parkrun finish in her VW40 age cat, and she was 87th in 37.17.

*Erddig: Ben and Sarah Hudson also hit the road running, and they made their debuts at the Erddig Hall parkrun, near Wrexham, with Ben finishing 17th in 22.40, and he was 2nd in his VM45 cat, with Sarah 27th overall, the 5th female finisher in 24.22, and she won her VW45 age cat.

*Prestatyn: Nia Lister was another parkrun tour debutant, and she finished 2nd in her VW35 age cat at the Nova parkrun at Prestatyn, finishing 47th overall in 28.29.