Abergele Harriers
Abergele Harrier Chris Birch, despite feeling unwell, competed for the FV60 Welsh Masters team in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country Championships in Glasgow last Saturday.
A mix-up by the organisers on the starting line left Chris having to work her way from the back through a high quality international field to finish in a superb 97th overall and 9th FV60, helping Wales to take home a team bronze.
Sean McCormack made a last minute decision to head off to Portugal at the weekend to compete in the Lisbon Marathon. Sean needed to run a sub 3hr 20min marathon to qualify to start at the front in the Comrades Ultra in South Africa on June 3, and managed to beat the tough course, which features a three mile uphill finish, well within his target time to finish in a fantastic 3h 5min 53sec.
Richie Lee was the only Abergele Harrier to line up with the 244 runners taking part in the Helena Tipping Memorial 10k at Wrexham on Sunday.
Richie ran 40min 7sec for 51st position overall.
Three Harriers have been selected to represent North Wales in the Welsh Inter Regional Cross Country Championships at Builth Wells next weekend.
Josh Dixon will make his debut for the Senior Men at regional level, whilst Carol Willgoose and Jeni Richards running for the Female Masters team.
Prestatyn Running Club
ONLY five members of Prestatyn Running Club turned out in Sunday’s Helena Tipping Memorial 10k in Wrexham, and two of them came away with a double of awards from the same age-group.
Despite having been unwell Shelley Ward was the club’s first lady finisher, clocking 47min 52sec for second place in the L40 class, with Sharon Jones claiming third in 51min 20sec. Just 28 seconds behind her, in 161st place overall, was Eleri Jones.
For the men, George Nicholls was 34th overall in 38min 12sec, followed in 72nd place by Russ Cheetham, who clocked 41min 24sec.
This weekend presents members with another difficult choice as the Welsh inter-regional and Welsh Masters’ cross-country championships at Builth Wells on Saturday are followed on Sunday by the third fixture in the Borders Road-Running League at Tattenhall.
The club had seven members selected for the North Wales team but for various reasons Griff Owens, Amie Bagnall, Brenda Tiedtke and Mathew Anwyl have all withdrawn. Jo McDonough and Katie Brandrick will run in the senior ladies’ team.
Congratulations are due to super-vet Dave Hughes who was among the nominees for Senior Sportsman of the Year in Conwy’s Annual Sports Awards.
Dave, who lives in Betws-yn-Rhos, has had an excellent two years, winning the M70 class in the North Wales Cross-Country League, representing Wales and helping the club win team bronze in the British Masters’ championship.
Following the success of the recent trial on the Marsh Tracks course in Rhyl it has been decided to hold a 5k race at the venue on March 2.
The event will include two races in the same evening, the first for runners expecting to finish under 22 minutes and the second for the remaining entrants.
The draw for the club’s two places in the 2012 London Marathon will take place after the social run on December 14, and members wishing to submit their names are reminded that they need to produce their rejection slips. A prize will be given for the best fancy-dress in the social run.
Leading placings in the club’s Grand Prix prior to last weekend are: George Nicholls 204 points from 15 races, Glenda Davies 177/13, Dean Longley 170/11, Griff Owens 129/8, Shelley Ward 125/8, Brenda Tiedtke 123/10, Sharron Jones 99/11, Gordon Jones 92/5, Des Davies 72/8, David Owen 74/9, Jo McDonough 67/5, Russ Cheetham 66/8, Sian Beck 60/5, Gay Waring 57/5, Katie Brandrick 56/5.