L'pool Cross Challenge

WILLIS STAR OF THE SHOW

Wrexham's Mathew Willis was the top North Wales performer at the  second Cross-Challenge meeting of the winter at Liverpool's Sefton Park at which several young athletes from the region consolidated their growing reputations.

 The under-13's race was won in 17.28 by Tom Mortimer (Stroud) but Willis was just 10 seconds behind in third place . Joseph Crutchley (Maldwyn) was 14th in 18.13, Oliver Barbaresi (Menai) 20th in 18.26 and Cai Linton (Menai) 66th in 19.28

 Cari Hughes (Menai) followed up her second place in the first U-17 women's race at Milton Keynes with sixth place this time, while in the junior men's race her brother Iolo came 15th in 21.34, with Eryri's John Spill 78th in 23.03.

 Spill's younger brother Mike, who won the under-13s' event at Milton Keynes, had to settle for 11th  place this time, with his Menai clubmate Osian Perrin four places and seven seconds ahead of him in 10.38. In the same race Liam Rawlings (Oswestry) was 18th, Eden Potter (Menai) 26th and Cai Le Trobe Roberts (Menai) 41st.

 Among other North Wales juniors  competing were:- Girls under 13: 24 Samia Jones (Menai); Boys under 15: 56 Tomos Land (Menai); Junior Women: 14 Georgina Outten (Birchfield).

 In the senior men's race , which was won by Ross Millington (Stockport) Welsh champion Dewi Griffiths (Swansea) finished just 13 seconds behind second place, with former  Bangor student Nick Swinburn (Morpeth) 7th and Andrew Davies (Stockport) from Welshpool 9th.

Conwy Half

THE NAME'S BOND - NOT 007 BUT 67.00

A biting cold wind and  surface water did not deter Sale Harriers' Matthew Bond from turning in a superb winning performance in the Conwy Half-Marathon.

 His time of 67.00 was remarkable in the circumstances, especially considering that the course included a circuit of the Great Orme, and he finished almost three minutes clear of second-placed Stuart Robinson (Salford).

 Eryri's Russell Bentley followed up his excellent run in the Leeds Abbey Dash to take third place in 70.06, with his clubmate and former race winner Alun Vaughan fifth. Two other North Wales athletes, Stefan Sayer (Menai) and Ryan Roberts (Cybi)  also had fine  runs.

 Results (chip times): 1 M Bond (Sale) 66.59, 2 S Robinson (Salford, M35) 69.51, 3 R Bentley (Eryri) 70.06, 4 R Stalsmark (GTI Friidrett) 70.46, 5 A Vaughan (Eryri, M35) 71.08, 6 S Robinson (RAF) 72.47, 7 S Sayer (Menai) 73.16, 8 R White (Halesowen) 73.24, 9 S Page (Kenilworth) 74.44, 10 P Jones (Oswestry, M45) 74.49. U20:  D Horrell 86 .14. M35: 3 J Lloyd (Salford) 78.10. M40: 1 M Green (NWRR) 80.33, 2 T Harkin 81.22, 3 G Milligan 81.32. M45: 2 C Hollinshead (Cannock and Staffs) 76.04, 3 D Roberts 79.04. M50: 1 R Downs (Wilmslow) 76.44, 2 M Warwick (Derby) 84.28, 3 G Owens (Osw) 84.35. M55: 1 S Taylor (Menai) 89.02, 2 N Phillips 88.23, 3 I Twiss (South Chesh) 93.37. M60: 1 K Slattery (NWRR) 89.41, 2 P Adkins (Stockport Tri) 92.51, 3 T <Marshall 94.53. M65: 1 L Smith 1-47.13, 2 P Edkins 1-47.46, 3 C Davies (Alt) 1-49.30. M70: 1 J Norman (Alt) 99.16, 2 D Phillips (Royton) 1-50.40, 3 I Gray 1-56.14. M75: 1 D Gardner (NWRR) 1-43.44, 2 P Estick (Massey Ferguson) 2-38.15. M80: E Naisby (Prestatyn) 2-40.24.

 Ladies: 1 T Robinson (Salford, L35)  82.34, 2 S Willhoit (Mercia) 86.42, 3 S Gray (Cannock, L40) 87.40, 4 A Rowlands (Eryri, L40) 88.10, 5 T Llewellyn (Cybi, L35) 89.14, 6 V Williams (L35) 90.29, 7 L Venables (Biddulph) 90.51, 8 J Ellis (Wilmslow, L45) 91.28, 9 C McCarthy (Sh Shufflers) 91.38, 10 L Grantham (Pensby, L40) 91.56. U20: S Bird ( Biddulph) 93.07.L45: 2 J Gall (Derby) 1-40.09, 3 C Hall (Wirral) 1-42.08.  L50: 1 B Ganose 94.28, 2 C Bird (Biddulph) 95.28, 3 E Collins (Denbigh) 95.54. L55: 1 S O'Brien (Knowsley) 1-49.30, C Northcote (Styal) 1-50.59, 3 A Webster (Les Cr) 1-50.56. L60: 1 L Collinson (Sh Shufflers) 96.33, 2 V Edwards 1-54.17, 3 P New ton (Market Drayton) 1-59.40. L65: 1 J Williams 2-07.33, 2 S Gittins (Lytham St Anne's) 2-13.24, 3 S Uttig 2-13.24. L70: P Bolton (Biddulph) 3-00.11.

 Full results are on the TDL Events website

Pen fell race

SCHOOLTEACHER ROBERTS IN A CLASS OF HIS OWN

Welsh international Matthew Roberts totally  dominated  proceedings in the Penmaenmawr fell-race, defying the muddy conditions to set a new course record of 68.38 for the 11-mile course.

 The Calder Valley athlete took the lead from the gun and was never challenged, and he finished over six minutes clear of fellow international Gareth Hughes.

 In third place was veteran Lloyd Taggart, who had held the record of 69.49 since 2005.

 The aptly named Hunters Bog Trotters took the honours in the ladies' race, taking the first two places through Briony Curtis and Megan Mowbray, with local Sarah Ridgway just seconds behind in third.

 Results: 1 M Roberts (Calder) 68.38, 2 G Hughes (Mercia) 74.53, 3 L Taggart (Manx, M40) 75 .19, 4 J Brown (Buckley, M40) 77.44, 5 H O'Donnell (Eryri) 79.32, 6 J Raho (Holcombe) 80.23. M40: 3 M Davies (NWRR) 81.06. M50: 1 R Owe n (Eryri) 83.21, 2 S Price (Liverpool) 85.52, 3 M Ellithorn (Chorley) 87.43. M60: 1 D Weaver (Eryri) 90.36, 2 C Wilcox (Clwydian) 92.1 5, 3 A Duncan (Bowland) 92.43.
 Ladies: 1 B Curtis (Hunters BT) 86.30, 2 M Mowbray (Hunter BT, L40) 87.07, 3 S Ridgway Run Snwdonia, L40) 87.45, 4 S O'Neil (Hunters BT) 89.06, 5 R Law (Eryri) 93.20, 6 K Seddon (Chester Tri) 94.44. L40: 3 C Butterworth (Darwen) 1-40.17. L50: 1 S Gilliver (Wilmslow) 1-43.05, 2 J Rogers (Chester Tri) 1-47.51, 3 H Berrett (Buckley) 1-48.06. L60: M Oliver (Eryri) 2-03.05.

Masters' XC

WEATHER SCUPPERS WELSH TEAM CHANCES

The Welsh team's hopes at the British and Irish Masters' cross-country international in Dublin were blown away when the flight from Cardiff was cancelled because of the weather, which meant that the majority of the members did not arrive.

 As expected, conditions for the event were pretty nasty, with thick mud over the course.

 Among the North Wales contingent who did make it there was an interesting tussle between Denbigh Harriers Tracey Williams and Emma Collins in the L50 class, with the former gaining a rare victory over her clubmate.

 The North Wales results included:- L40 12 Sarah Kearney 23.41, 17 Rhian Roxburgh 24.10. L50: 14  Tracey Williams 25.59, 15  Emma Collins 26.09. L65: 5 Chris Birch 28.49, 10 Margaret Docking 31.11.
  M45: 17 Darren Rowlands 28.46, 26 John Ford 30.47, 29 Gary Blackwell 31.17. M55: 15 Gordon Jones 29.57. M60: 13 Stephen P Jones 32.00. M75: 11 Roger Harrison-Jones 32.56, 12 David Hughes 33.58.

Welsh awards

MOUNTAIN CHAMPS RECOGNITION FOR ARWEL

The work put in by Eryri's Arwel Lewis in helping to organise the successful World Mountain-Running Championships in September earned him recognition at Welsh Athletics' annual awards ceremony.

 Having organised the course for the event, which was praised by  athletes and officials, he was presented with the  trophy for Off-Track Official of the Year.

 It was a very successful evening for North Wales in many ways, with  English cross-country champion Charlie Hulson (Sale) from Rhosesmor and Georgina Outten (Birchfield) from Llandudno picking up the awards for senior endurance athletes of the year.

 Menai Track and Field Club came away with two  awards - for Disability Inclusivity Club of the Year and also, along with Ynys Mon Council, for Partnership of Year.

 Official starter Keith Owens from Denbigh was among the recipients of the Meritorious Awards and the Awards of Honour went to Keith Adams (Wrexham) and Gareth Hughes (Prestatyn).

Rhobell Fawr

INTERNATIONALS TRIUMPH AT RHOBELL

Welsh internationals Gareth Hughes and Katie Beecher took the titles in the Rhobell Fawr fell-race, which was the first in Meirionnydd Winter Series.

 Hughes, who made his Welsh debut in this year's Snowdon race, had a good battle with veteran Mark Palmer while Beecher held off a challenge from the experienced Sarah Ridgeway.

 Results: 1 G Hughes (Mercia) 51.17, 2 M Palmer (Mynydd Du, M50) 52.23, 3 K Steinegger (Ambleside) 57.06, 4 M Fortes (Eryri) 57.39, 5 N Ashcroft (Ambleside, M40) 58.10, 6 A Powell (Maldwyn, M40) 58.53. M40: 3 P Jenkinson (Eryri) 60.12. M50: 2 P Beeson (Maldwyn) 59.23, 3 D Powell (Aberystwyth) 61.47. M60: 1 A Duncan (Bowland) 66.57, 2 N Hindle (WFRA) 71.48, 3 G Gunner (Croft Ambrey) 75.38.
 Ladies: 1 K Beecher (Mynydd Du) 59.08, 2 S Ridgeway (Run Snowdonia, L40) 61.55, 3 B Jenkinson (Eryri, U18) 66.29, 4 H Evans (Buckley) 68.09, 5 K Cole (ua) 68.29,  6 B Law (Eryri) 68.39. L40: 2 R Metcalfe (Eryri) 71.29, 3 A Loveluck (ua) 71.50. L50: K Sullivan (Aberystwyth) 75.10. L60: M Oliver (Eryri) 90.34.

Cheshire 10k

BENTLEY ON CRUISE CONTROL IN SECOND

Eryri's Russell Bentley (also Kent) finished second to GB international Ryan Macleod (Tipton) in the Cheshire 10k at Arley .

 Macleod clocked 29.47, with B entley some way back in 31.21. Among other North Wales results were: 19 Dewi Owen (Eryri) 35 .14,  67 Jason Thomas (Cybi) 38.19, 109 Steve Taylor (Menai) 40.03.