N Staffs CC League (1)

SISTERLY SUCCESS ON LEAGUE DEBUT

Sisters Mia and Neisha Roberts were the stars of the show as Deeside AAC made an impressive debut in the North Staffs Cross-Country League in Winsford.

 They each won their age-groups, with James Jones (U13) completing a hat-trick of victories for the Flintshire club.

 Results. Boys under 13: 1 J Jones (Dee) 12.41, 22 H Jones (Dee) 14.31, 23 J Evans (Wrex) 14.32, 31 J Jones (Dee) 15.10. Teams: 6 Deeside.
 Boys under 15: 5 E Ackroyd (Dee) 14.47, 17 L Sussex (Wrex) 16.00.
 Men under 17: 2 C Smith (Wrex) 18.28, 4 T Evans (Wrex) 18.46, 9 L Henry (Dee) 20.18.
 Senior men: 13 D Rowlands (Wrex, 1st M45) 37.24, 42 B Jones (Wrex, 1st M55) 40.36, 56 M Blackwell (Dee) 41.07, 61 S Sussex (Wrex) 41.24, 86 M Jones (CB) 42.49, 105 R Watson (CB) 43.43, 120 N Jones (CB) 44.52, 134 I Mulligan (CB) 45.28, 178 K Challinor (Dee)  47.58, 225 C Williams (CB) 50.50, 244 N Williams (Wrex) 53.28, 253 P Evans (Wrex) 54.19, 280 A Egan (Wrex) 59.08, 285 DA Williams (Wrex) 60.43, 293 MH Edwards (Wrex) 65.23, 297 S Partington (Wrex) 68.34. Teams, Division 2: 8 Wrexham, 11 Deeside, 12 Colwyn Bay.

 Girls under 11: 1 N Roberts (Dee) 5.50, 29 M Smallwood (Dee) 7.14, 41 E Edwards (Dee) 7.29. Team 5 Deeside.
 Girls under 13: 6 R Edwards (Dee) 8.31, 8 H Smith (Dee) 8.36, 24 C Watchorn (Dee) 9.18, 25 I Owen (Dee) 9.19. Team: 3 Deeside.
 Girls under 15: 1 M Roberts (Dee) 13.18, 12 B Dowsett (Dee) 14.44, 15 L Watchorn (Dee) 15.14, 21 G Parry (Wrex) 15.39. Team: 3 Deeside.
 Ladies under 17: 6 M Owen (Dee) 16.47.
 Senior women: 47 A Cheetham (Keele Uni) 25.08, 76 A Whitelaw (Wrex) 26.34, 140 G Csizmadie (Wrex) 30.30.

Berlin Marathon

BRILLIANT PB FOR DAVIES

Welsh international Andrew Davies (Stockport) took almost a minute off his pb in coming 38th overall in the Berlin Marathon.

  In qualifying for the Commonwealth Games he clocked 2-17.51 but in a high-quality field in Berlin he finished in 2-16.55.

 Among other placings were: 246 Paul Jones (Oswestry, M45) 2-37.10, 485 Richard Roberts (Eryri) 2-45.23, 809 Jon Bowie (Trismart, Mercia) 2-51.41, 1,888 Chris Yorke (NWRR) 3-01.26, 13,426 Nicholas Brook (Eryri) 4-29.01.

Forthcoming races

RACE DIARY (Please notify me of any omissions)

OCTOBER

Saturday, 3rd: Grand Prix Express NWCC League and Junior League, Bangor
Sunday, 4th: 4 Lakes  30k, Rhosgadfan.
 Sunday, 11th: Borders League (1), Ellesmere Port
Saturday, 17th: Grand Prix Express NWCC League (2) and Junior League, Llandudno.
                          Bangor 10k and half-marathon
Sunday, 18th: Farndon 10k
Saturday, 24th: BMAF CC Relays, Derbyshire
                         Snowdonia Marathon
Saturday, 31st: Porth Eirias 5k and 10k, Colwyn Bay


NOVEMBER

Sunday, 1st: Abergele 5 (inc NW Champs)
 Friday, 6th: Marsh Tracks 5k, Rhyl (+ junior race)
 Saturday, 7th: Betws y Coed Trail race
 Sunday , 8th: Borders League (2), Wallasey
 Saturday, 21st: Penmaenmawr fell race
 Sunday , 22nd: Conwy half-marathon.
 Friday, 27th: Dash in the Dark, Llandegla
 Saturday, 28th: GP Express NWCC League (3) and Junior League, Mold

DECEMBER

 Saturday, 5th: NW Junior CC League (4), Wrexham.
Sunday, 6th: Borders League (3) Cybi
                     Vale of Clwyd half-marathon, Llandyrnog.
 Friday, 11th: Dash in the Dark, Llandegla
Saturday, 12th: Welsh Masters and inter-regional CC Champs, Builth.
 Saturday, 26th: Round the Walls, Chester.

JANUARY

Friday, 15th: Dash in the Dark, Llandegla.
 Saturday, 16th: GP Express NWCC League (4), Baschurch, Shrewsbury.
 Sunday, 17th: 4 Villages Half-Marathon, Helsby
  Sunday, 24th: Borders League (4), Abergele.
Saturday, 30th: NWCC Champs, Corwen.



 

NW Junior Mountain Champs

"ANYTHING YOU CAN DO, I CAN DO BETTER"

New GB international John Spill, fresh from his success at last week's World Mountain Running Championships, put in a guest appearance at the North Wales Junior Championships on Llandudno's Great Orme, helping on the officiating side, but had to watch as his younger brother Michael stole the limelight.

 Not only  did he win the U12s' race by a huge margin but he also demolished John's course record.

 Other youngsters also proved that talent is inherited, as the winners included the offspring of North Wales 10k champion Tracey Llewellyn, of regular prizewinners Rob and Lisa Grantham and of Eryri Stalwart James McQueen.

 Results. Boys under 8: 1 B Grantham (Wirral, guest) 2.41 (new record), 2 L Llewellyn (Ysgol Rhoscolyn) 3.07, 3  B Wilkinson (Bod Alaw) 3.10.
 Boys under 10: 1 G Soley (Ysgol Henblas) 5.13, 2 T Bolton (Wrexham) 5.28, 3 D Molland (Dolbadarn) 5.49.
 Boys under 12: 1 M Spill (Eryri) 8.37 (new record), 2 A Thomas (CB) 9.56, 3 G Hopkins (Conwy Tri) 7.03.
 Boys under 14: 1 T Land (Menai) 18.03, 2 E Potter (Menai) 18.43, 3 C Letrobe Roberts (Menai) 19.38.
 Boys under 16: 1 R Cain (Menai) 20.25 (new record), 2 M Parry (CB) 21.13, 3 E Green (West Chesh, guest) 21.34, 4 M Taylor (Menai) 23.39.
 Girls under 8: 1 K Morris (CB) 2.53, 2 E Metrobe Roberts Menai) 2.54, 3 J Tamblin (Ysgol y Borth) 3.08.
 Girls under 10: 1 I Lewis (Menai) 5.44, 2 E Baines (Eryri) 6.20, 3 K Cain (Menai) 6.22.
 Girls under 12: 1 Georgia Parkinson (Menai) 10.15, 2 A Rees-Jones (Menai) 10.34, 3 A Parkinson (Menai) 10.51.
 Girls under 14: 1 S Paxton (Wrex) 19.45, 2 Ff Rees-Jones (Menai) 20.38, 3 J Baker (Wrex) 20.53.
 Girls under 16: 1 A McQueen (Eryri) 25.20, 2 R Kamink (CB) 26.02.

Swansea Bay 10k

BENTLEY STARS ON NW DEBUT

Eryri's Russell Bentley, who has now switched first-claim allegiance from Kent, made his North Wales debut  by leading the local  contingent in  the Swansea Bay 10k, which included the Welsh inter-regional champion nships.

 He finished fourth overall in 31.35, helping the North Wales senior team to finish second overall behind the West, for whom GB international Dewi Griffiths was third behind two Kenyans in 29.21.

 There was a strong turnout of men and women from the North, who had the largest of the four regional squads.

 The North Wales placings were:- Senior men: 4 Russell Bentley 31.35, 8 Josh Dixon 33.16, 9 Steffan Sayer 33.18, 12 Ricky Challinor 33.38, 15 Gary Davies 34.37, 16 John E Morris 34.31. Masters: 7 Jez Brown 34.57, 11 Martin Green 35.30, 14 Chris Yorke 37.03, 15 Darren Blazier 38.07.

 Senior Ladies: 11 Jay Jennions 41.01, 14 Anest Muller 42.25, 15 Gemma Morgans 42.53, 16 Amie Bagnall 43.07, 18 Rcahel Shipley 44.19, 19 Abbie Cheetham 45.18. Masters: 9 Tracey Llewellyn 40.47, 10 Emma Collins 41.52, 13 Samantha Dutton 43.10.

Abersoch Half

GREEN DOES THE DOUBLE

 Sale veteran Paul Green retained his title in the Abersoch half-marathon to take the £300 first prize.

 His time of 73.25 was just four seconds outside the course record held by Eryri's Alun Vaughan but well outside his own pb of 65 mins set in Wilmslow 10 years ago.

 First woman  home, in 90.37, was triathlete Rhian Roxburgh (GOG) who also went home with £300.

World Mountain Champs

WORLD CHAMPS A MASSIVE SUCCESS

The details, results of the World Mountain Running Championships are recorded elsewhere e.g. on TDL Events website, but it should be recorded that the event proved to be an outstanding success.

 Huge praise is due to the team which put the event on an d all the corporate partners, and the comments heard from athletes and officials were highly complimentary. Even the  weather was exceptional, showing off North Wales at its finest. 

 For me, however, the one disappointing feature was the low turnout from North Wales athletes etc to watch such a high profile event featuring many of the world's top mountain runners. Considering it was the first time for the championships to be held in Wales and only the second time in Britain it was  surprising that so few turned out to watch and to  compete in the open race.

Cardiff 10k

PB FOR DAVIES IN CARDIFF

Stockport's Andrew Davies finished fourth in a very competitive  field in the Cardiff 10k in a new pb of 29.51.

 The race was won by John Beattie (Newham and Essex Beagles) in 29.11, with Welsh cross-country champion Dewi Griffiths (Swansea) second six seconds behind.

 In 45th place overall and first M45 was Oswestry's Paul Jones, who also set a new pb of 32.39.

 North Wales qualifier Gary Wyn Davies (Aberystwyth) was 70th in 33.53, while the amazing super-vet Martin Rees (Les Croupiers) was first M60 in 33.20.

Caernarfon 10k

STRAIT AHEAD FOR MOUNTAIN MAN ROBERTS

Welsh international mountain runner Richard Roberts proved that he can still produce the goods on the flat when he won the Caernarfon 10k, clocking a season's best of 32.49.

 He finished well clear of Menai's Steffan Sayer, who was one of numerous competitors to record a pb, the result of the race being blessed by perfect conditions.

 Roberts also took the North Wales championship, with Wirral veteran Sarah Kearney, originally from Hawarden, taking the ladies' title.

 Results: 1 R Roberts (Eryri, M35) 32.49, 2 S Sayer (Menai) 33.24, 3 A Ll Williams (ua, New Zealand) 33.53, 4 O Roberts (Eryri, U20) 34.12, 5 B Rothery (Eryri, M35) 34.19, 6 R Roberts (Cybi) 34.23. U17: R Cain (Menai) 35.58. U20: 2 A Ryder (Prestatyn) 39.51. M35: 3 D Owen (Eryri) 35.44. M40: 1 E Owen (Eryri) 38.36, 2 J Thomas (Cybi) 38.41, 3 J Hooton (Cybi) 41.03. M45: 1 I Rowlands (Cybi) 37.39, 2 M Mayers (Abergele) 41.47, 3 D Battersby (Abergele) 44.48. M50: 1 N Craine (Eryri) 38.52, 2 J Randell (Meir) 38.59, 3 H Roberts (Eryri) 45.57. M55: 1 G Jones (Prestatyn) 37.25, 2 E Jones (Cybi) 42.59, 3 D Jones (Denbigh) 43.35. M60: 1 SP Jones (Eryri) 39.35, 2 G Nixon (Prestat yn) 42.08. M65: 1 G Shone (Abergele) 46.00, 2 JG Evans (Aberystwyth) 49.58, 3 S Hatfield (Prestatyn) 50.12. M70: 1 D Williams (Eryri) 52.02. M75: 1 D Gardner (NWRR) 47.33, 2 D Hughes (Prestatyn) 56.09, 3 Roger Harrison-Jones 58.59.

 Ladies: 1 S Kearney (Wirral, L40) 38.27, 2 A Muller (West Chesh) 42.50, 3 E Collins (Denbigh, L50) 43.10, 4 L Grantham (Pensby, L40) 43.35, 5 M Hughes (Eryri, L35) 43.49, 6 H Blair (Eryri, L45) 44.21. U20: A Cheetham (Prestatyn) 49.05. L70: B Jones (Bro Dysynni) 54.57.

 NW Championship:- U17: 1 Cain, 2 B Williams (Eryri) 38.17. U20: 1 Roberts, 2 Ryder. SM: 1 R Roberts, 2 Sayer, 3 O Roberts. M35: 1 R Roberts, 2 Rothery, 3 D Owen. M40: 1 Thomas, 2 M Barnaby (Abergele) 47.44, 3 M Jones (Denbigh) 5 2.13. M45: 1 Rowlands, 2 Mayers, 3 I Taylor (CB) 43.07. M50: 1 Craine, 2 J Randell. M55: 1 G Jones, 2 E Jones , 3 D Jones. M60: 1 SP Jones, 2 Nixon. M65: 1 Shone, 2 Hatfield, 3 M Hayton (NWRR) 51.23. M70: Williams. M75: 1 Gardner, 2 Hughes, 3 Harrison-Jones.
 Ladies:- U20: Cheetham. U23: A Bagnall (Salford) 45.32. SL: 1 Kearney, 2 Muller, 3 Collins. L35: 1 K Dawson (Prestatyn) 53.53, 2 M Owen (NWRR) 54.02, 3 SM Jones (Meir) 55.58. L40: 1 Kearney, 2 K Evans (Denbigh) 50.09, 3 J Edwards (Prestatyn) 52.34. L45: 1 Blair, 2 A Thomas (Eryri) 48.51, 3 E Wood (Eryri) 51.08. L50: 1 Collins, 2 K Hatton (NWRR) 47.56, 3 J Davies (NWRR) 54.37. L70: Jones.

Awyr Las 5k

CAIN AND ABLE

Teenager Ryan Cain (Menai), who has won several of the Penrhyn Castle Parkruns, had the same success after crossing the Menai when he won the Awyr Las 5k in the grounds of Plas Newydd.

 He finished in 16.46 to receive the £500 which will be given to the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board charity of his choice.

 First lady home, in 20.34, was Leah Hughes of Prestatyn, who is to donate her £500 to the physiotherapy department where she works.

Transplant Games

DUNN AND DUSTED!

Deestriders' coach Neil Dunn, 64, showed his athletes how they should perform by winning four medals at the World Transplant Games in Argentina.

 Two years ago in South Africa he won the 1,500 metres but this time had to settle for third in 6-40.81, on a day when had a stomach upset and there was a strong wind.

 He more than made up for that by winning the 5k in 23.37 and taking silver in the both the 400m and 800 in 85.53 and 3-25.96 respectively.

Off-Road Grand Prix (4)

LONGLEY RETURNS TO FORM TO TAKE TITLE

Prestatyn's Dean Longley, who finished sixth in the previous race in Deestriders' Off-Road Grand Prix Series after being injured, returned to form to win the final race and therefore take the senior men's title.

 Results of final race: 1 D Longley (Prestatyn) 27.15, 2 M Davies (West Chesh, M35) 27.53, 3 P Stinton (Buckley, M40) 28.12, 4 T Roberts (Wirral) 28.39, 5 A Clague (West Chesh, M45) 28.56, 6 S Roberts (Pensby, SL) 29.00. JM: 1 A Ryder (Prestatyn) 29.54, 2 B Harrison (Prestatyn) 34.53. M40: 2 C Prandle (Wrex) 30.10, 3 N Wilson (Wirral) 30.26. M45: 2 D Millington (Wrex) 30.08, 3 G Roberts (Wrex) 32.27. M50: 1 T Benton (Denbigh) 32.48, 2 K Challinor (Deeside) 33.17, 3 P Smith (West Chesh) 38.00. M55: 1 D Baugh (Denbigh) 30.11, 2 T Devoy (Wirral) 31.00, 3 D Jones (Denbigh) 31.29. M60: 1 D Roderick (Dee) 36.12, 2 C Hunt (Wrecsam Tri) 37.48. M65: 1 S Hatfield (Prestatyn) 37.49, 2 R Mackey (Buckley) 44.22.
 Ladies: 1 Roberts, 2 H Davies (Wrecsam Tri, L45) 30.30, 3 S Foure (Chester Tri, L40) 31.14, 4 E Collins (Denbigh, L50) 31.36, 5 E Baker (Ell Port) 31.41, 6 B Sutcliffe (Chester Tri, L35) 32.07. L35: 2 L Partridge (Pensby) 33.39, 3 K Dawson (Prestatyn) 39.40. L40: 2 L Grantham (Pensby) 33.02, 3 E Robinson (West Chesh) 34.39. L45: 2 J McHugh (Chester Tri) 32.44, 3 M Peffers (Dee) 34.04. L55: M Baugh (Denbigh) 42.52. L65: A Boycott (ua) 48.44.

Mont Blanc Trail

WATHAN'S HIGHS AND LOWS

Eryri's Paul Wathan went through the whole gamut of experiences on his first 100-mile race, the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc at Chamonix.

 The early stages of the race, which involves a total of 10,000 feet of ascent, went as planned but on the  first night he began to feel rough.

 He describes the second day as "brutal", with the temperature up to 35 degrees, and at the top of Grand Col Ferret was violently sick. The medics held him back for about 20 minutes, resulting in his slipping back about 300 places to 750th.

 When the sun went  down he felt like a different runner, gaining in strength and chasing  down the places he had lost. In the final 70k he virtually regained his early position as he passed 350 and finished 396th out of 2,600 starters, 900 of whom did not make it to the finish.

 "I finished strongly, with a sub-4 minute  final kilometre," he said.

 He was supported at various checkpoints by his partner Gemma Morgans and his father.

Inter-regional Champs

UNDER-17S THE PICK OF THE  BUNCH

North Wales finished second to West Wales at the Welsh inter-regional track and field championships at Colwyn Bay after a solid all-round performance.

 It was the under-17 men who were the top performers. winning their age-group thanks largely to good results in the middle distance events.

 Two of the day's championships were set by local hammer-throwers - Osian Jones in the senior men and Amber Simpson in the U17 women's class. Simpson, in fact, claimed a hat-trick of victories in the hammer, discus and shot.

 One of the busiest athletes was Deeside's Georgia Bates, who won the senior women's 100m hurdles, high jump and long jump, and cam e second in the javelin.

 The full results can be found on the Welsh Athletics website.

North Wales winners were:-
Boys under 15:- HJ Sam Earl Jones 1.70.
 Men under 17:- 400m James Norbury 52.14;  800m Iolo James 2-12.96; 1,500m Oliver Barbaresi 4-28.62; 3,000m Joseph Crutchley 9-24.40; 1,500m SCH Thomas Evans 4-59.58; 4 x 100 relay 47.34;  TJ Gethin Hughes 12.34; SP Nicholas Young 13.56; DT Young 38.82.
Senior men/U20:- 800m Matthew Harding 2-00.67; 3,000m Ryan Roberts 9-52.36; 4 x 400 relay 3-37.63; LJ Thomas Walley 6.14; TJ Walley 13.28; SP Nathan Thomason (U20) 13.86; DT Thomason 43.91; HT Osian Jones 65.02.

Girls under 15:- 800m Holly Roberts 2-25.50; PV Elin Hawke 2.40.
Ladies under 17:-100m Chloe Hughes 12.66; 200m Alice Odunaiya 26.66; 800m Gwenno Morris  2-29.54;  1,500m Martha Owen 5-01.95; LJ Sarah Atkinson 5.14; SP Amber Simpson 10.13; DT Simpson 32.00; HT Simpson 51.96; JT Tia Williams 32.00.
 Senior women/ U20:- 800m Abi Backshall 2-26.08; 100mH Georgia Bates 17.70; 4 x 100 relay 52.91; 4 x 400 relay 3-37.63; HJ Bates 1.50; LJ Bates 5.07; TJ Sian Swanson 11.15; SP Katy Whitley 9.81.