A NUMBER of North East Wales runners hit the streets of London for one of the main highlights in the athletics calendar.

Tens of thousands of individuals tackled this year’s London Marathon, including seven from Wrexham AAC.

Four of them crossed the finishing line in under three hours, spear-headed by James Mills, who was 340th in 2-34.12.

He was followed Ryan Davis, pictured bottom right, who was 343rd in 2-34.16, Luke Northall (734th in 2-39.40) and Ian James (2,896th in 2-57.10).

Other Wrexham racers taking part were Andrew Jones (5,846th in 3-12.58), Glyn Wise (15,863rd in 3-47.48) and Jennifer Moss (44,174th in 5-26.58).

There were also six Buckley Runners members taking part on the day.

There were fantastic performances from each of them, led by Chris Callaghan, who completed the course in 2-30.24. He was followed by Ricky Challinor (2-34.11), Tracy Rogers (2-52.47), Caroline Hardie (3-21.46), Bernie Morris (3-39.21) and Charlotte Harvey (4-10.21).

Deestriders Joey Davies (3-02.49) and Graham Bryan (3-45.00) achieved personal bests at the race, while Les Price clocked 4-47.15.

Continuing the super Sunday theme was the Wrexham 10k, where home racer Connor Rogers (33.13) was the runner-up.

There were also top-50 spots for Thomas Spence (11th in 38.12), Thomas Evans (14th in 38.56), Gareth Chaloner (21st in 40.06) and Tony Forster (35th in 41.17).

Other Wrexham AAC results: 59, Gwyn Roberts 43.37; 75, David Millington 44.09; 90, Claire Purdie 45.01; 173, Mark Hughes 49.00; 186, Matty Williams 49.20; 207, David Jones 50.04; 209, Rowena Lewis 50.26; 222, Peter Hughes 50.40; 257, Deb Pugh 52.19; 280, Simon Williams 53.31; 437, Charles Ashley 58.40; 545, Karl Moore 63.05.

At the SAC Relays competition in Walnut, California, Amber Simpson (65.43m) finished fifth in the senior women’s hammer.

Sixteen ‘SheStriders’, backed up by an impressive support crew of event drivers and cheerleaders, took on the first ever Pen Llyn She Ultra in glorious weather.

A multi-terrain 50k with over 3,300 feet of elevation, some mud, cows and a few technical climbs / descents, it was a jubilant and epic event.

For some it was their first ultra, but all completed it. Bernice Matthews was first Irishwoman home, setting the Irish course record of 9-59.39.

Other SheStriders: Jay Jennions 7-02.38; Jo Houghton-Davies 7-10.27; Lisa Cooper 7-17.45; Lindsey McElmeel 7-26.47; Sarah Brown 8-00.25; Linda Turley 8-04.08; Claire Harper 9-23.56; Jenny Lewtey-Jones 9-23.56; Amanda Scotter 9-23.57; Jane Blackwell 9-32.07; Sarah Monteith 9-59.29; Bev Goodson 9-59.33; Fiona Robinson 10-05.50; Sue McIndoe 10-05.58; Verity Williams 12-23.00.

Deestrider Mike Norris completed the Storm the Castle duathlon in two hours and 14 minutes.

Wrexham’s Ifan Oldfield (63rd in 1-21.01) was a member of the North Wales team that was eighth at the British inter-counties mountain championships in Keswick.

Fell races have proved to be popular ventures for Wrexham racers. Evie Hughes was first in the U15 girls’ event at Foel Lus, with Grace Hughes second, while the positions were reversed at Moel Wnion.

George Hughes won the U11 boys’ race at Foel Lus and was runner-up at Moel Wnion, while Ally Hughes was ninth and third in the respective senior men’s races.

At the youth development league meeting in Blackburn, Darcey Jones was second in the U13 girls’ 800m (2-57.0) and shot put (5.01m), while Isabella Bennett (8.07m) triumphed in the U15 girls’ shot. In the same age group, Olivia Jones was runner-up in the high jump (1.25m) and Lasitha Ekanayake was second in the U15 boys’ 200m (26.5) and third in the 100m (12.6).

Ahead of the London Marathon, Glyn Wise clocked 19.50 for eighth spot at the Beckton parkrun.

Other Wrexham AAC parkrun results: Chester: 145, Macey Quick 27.55. Llangollen: 51, Charles Ashley 28.00. Erddig: 31, Peter Hughes 26.42; 60, Karl Moore 28.55; 79, Phil Walker 30.45; 94, Steven Gunn 32.19; 159, Alex Edwards 57.37; 163, John Tipping 58.43. Heaton: 191, Mark Hughes 24.50. Ruthin: 8, Richard Westwood 20.38.