Report by Don Hale

The British Masters Athletics national Cross-Country championships was held last Saturday at Rhug Farm, near Corwen, and included some exceptional performances by many North Wales runners.

The event attracted 97 top club and elite athletes in the Veteran Men’s up to M60 age cat event, and a further 94 runners competed in the combined Women’s and Male Masters aged 65-plus race.

North Wales Road Runner Steve Gardner finished 52nd overall in the Male Open event, and he was 10th in his MV60 cat, and covered the approximate 8k course in 35.37. After his race, Steve confirmed: “I was very pleased with my performance today, finishing 10th MV60 and the 4th placed scorer in the Welsh team, which finished in 3rd place.”

And North Wales clubs also grabbed some prestigious podium team places, with Wrexham finishing as the 2nd team in the M35-44 cat team, which included Gareth Chaloner, Glyn Wise, and Richard Westwood; whilst Steven Gadd, Glen Price, and Owen Conry, celebrated by winning the 3rd team placing for Denbigh in the M45-54 age cat.

There were also plaudits to several Welsh Masters in the race, including Huw Evans 4th overall, and the 1st M50 cat winner in 31.10, with Mike Whyatt (Eryri) winning his M60 cat in 32.43, and Ifan Lloyd, who finished 3rd in his M60 cat in 30th place.

Some other local results within the provisional result list, also recorded some other worthy performances: Tony Wood (Denbigh) 33rd in 33.59, Thomas Carter (Prestatyn) 43rd in 34.45, and a hat-trick of other Denbigh runners with Steve Gadd 64th in 37.06, with Dafydd Evans 65th in 37.23, and Glen Price 67th in 37.39. Ben Thomas (Prestatyn) finished 82nd in 40.45, with Owen Conry (Denbigh) 84th in 40.56, and Glyn Griffiths (Eryri) 91st in 46.15.

In the Women’s and M65 plus race, run over about 7k, several Welsh age cat teams enjoyed success with Prestatyn runners finishing 3rd in the M65 cat, and included Martin Corvriend, Mark Dakeyne, and Michael Davis.

And in the W35-44 section, Prestatyn members Helen Ashworth, Sophie Johnson, and Mandy Cartwright, won the overall team prize; and in the W45-54 cat, Denbigh claimed the 2nd team prize, which included Joanne Henderson, Melina Morris, and Lee Evans, whilst Prestatyn claimed the 3rd team prize, with Allison Reid, Susan Hughes, and Glenda Roberts.

In addition, there were some other notable individual veteran ladies, and master vet performances, with a brief selection that includes: Joanne Henderson (Denbigh) 9th in 27.16, and she was 2nd in her W45 cat, but a special mention goes to Ann d’Albuquerque (GOG TC), who finished 2nd in her W75 age cat in 84th place in 44.02, despite falling twice, and she also retained a silver medal placing that she has held since 2020.

There was also praise for Emyr Davies (Rhedw) winning his M80 cat in 60th place in 46.08, with Don Williams (Eryri) 76th, and 2nd in his M80 cat in 39.43, and Martin Corvriend (Prestatyn), who enjoyed a good run in 53rd place, and he was 4th in his M70 cat in 33.51.

*A full list of the provisional results can be found via this link:

https://data.opentrack.run/en-gb/x/2024/GBR/bmaf-xc/event/

Other results:

Jamie enjoys the sights in the Rome marathon.

*Jamie Tharme competed in the Rome Marathon last Sunday and enjoyed his run, finishing well in 3 hours and 52 minutes. After the race he said: “Rome marathon, nice and chilled taking in the sights, but that extra 1.5km was the hardest few miles of my life. It was tough in that heat too, but the views were spectacular.”

Carla back in race action.

*Carla Green made a welcome return to racing after a long absence and performed well to finish in 114th place overall in 42.57 in the Nantwich 10k, and she also claimed the 2nd spot in her FV50 age cat.

*Will Williams ran in the latest Borders League race at Hoylake on the Wirral on Sunday, but he seemed disappointed with his result despite running the 7.5k course in 28.55, and seemed fatigued after his brave efforts.

And the previous day, Will visited the Quarry parkrun at Shrewsbury and finished 12th in 18.26, and he was 2nd in his VM50 age cat. Afterwards he confirmed: “I went to the Shrewsbury parkrun with my son in law and granddaughter, and it involved a couple of spicy hills on this one!”