Prestatyn Running Club | Captains Corner

Captains Corner

PRC Captain’s report July 2023

Introduction

There was plenty of racing action for PRC members this month with a variety of track, road, triathlon and fell/mountain races to choose from, including the 100th Nova Prestatyn Parkrun event and a gruelling edition of Râs Yr Wyddfa. Away from racing, a few PRC members ran with Sean Conway on day 97 of his 102 consecutive Iron Man distance triathlon record attempt. Sean completed his goal of 102 full distance triathlons on 20th July, but actually went on to complete 3 further days and a total of 105 full Iron Man distance triathlons, totally smashing the previous record of 101! Sadly this month we received the news of the passing of veteran triathlete, duathlete, cross- country runner, fell runner and general running stalwart, Pete Norman. Pete ran for Wrexham AAC and was a founder member of the well-known Village Bakery Half Marathon. He was well known amongst our community and very successful across several disciplines, winning World Champion, Welsh International, North Wales and Welsh Champion in various age categories over the years, including an 85-89 age category title in the World Duathlon Championships in Ibiza in April this year (2023).

Parkrun July 15th Nova 100th event PRC members turned out in force for the 100th Nova Parkrun event, some running, others helping in the event organisation. Individual positions/times below.

3 Steve Stocker 19.12, 14 Paul Sanders 22.08 (PB), 18 Steve Weedman 23.17, 27 Andy Clark 24.52, 40 Reg Jonas 26.44, 50 Gareth Hughes 27.38, 56 Sion Jones 28.00 (PB), 60 Martin Cortvriend 28.16, 64 Karl Martin 28.43, 74 Debbie Jones 29.57, 86 Rachel Jackson 30.57, 92 Nem James 31.32, 97 Debbie Weedman 32.23, 78 Roger Harrison-Jones 32.31, 105 Emma Birchall 32.57, 125 Linda Friar 37.13, 126 Mike Davis 36.13, 172 Nicki Triggs 55.53, 176 Suzanne Evans 66.39, 179 Julie Evans 67.07. August 12th & 13th PRC Nova Prestatyn Parkrun and Prestatyn Prom Junior Parkrun Takeover (respectively) Next month PRC members will be volunteering their time to a “takeover event”, fulfilling the roster of roles that allow a Parkrun event to be staged. Many of us attend Parkrun on a regular basis and as a club we want to show our support and appreciation at our local event. It will also be a chance to promote the club to the wider community who may not be aware of the club, and to spread the message that running clubs aren’t just for elite runners. I think all specific roles for the two events may already be filled (get in touch with Nem James (run director) for more info), but come along in your PRC kit to run/support if you can. Other Parkrun mentions With so many club members taking part on a weekly basis, it’s very difficult to keep track of results and achievements for every individual and every Parkrun, but we will try and give people a shout out for special achievements where we can.

This month Tom Carter has stormed to the finish line in first position on two occasions – Princes Park, Liverpool, July 1st in 17:50 and Greenfield Valley, July 29th in 18:13. Nem James achieved an admirable course and overall Parkrun PB at Nova, July 29th in 27:24 – shaving off a sizeable 29 seconds! We also had a few 1st Females at Nova and Greenfield this month… July 1st - Helen Ashworth, Greenfield Valley in 24:47, July 22nd - Sophie Johnson, Greenfield Valley in 25:42 (course PB), and July 29th - Siân Beck, Nova Prestatyn in 23:25 (course PB)

July 2023

July 2nd Llanrwst Sprint Triathlon Some fantastic efforts from the PRC trio. Gareth hasn’t competed in triathlon since 2018 and came top ten in his age category, and Martin was competing for the first time. 37 Gareth White 1:26:24 (9th SVM 50-59), 103 Craig Smith 1:47:59 (21st SVM 50-59) 118 Martin Gill 1:55:20 (25th SVM 50-59) July 5th The Druid fell race This is a really well organised local fell/trail race of around 8km and 366m (5mile/1200ft) of ascent that takes you from The Druid Inn in Llanferres, up and around Moel Fenlli and back. 27 47:14 Lisa Lines, 50 Helen Ashworth 53:19, 57 Sophie Johnson 55:07, 63 Mandy Cartwright 57:46

July 6th Deestriders Off Road Grand Prix Race 2 Nineteen PRC members took part in the second race of the series. Two down, two to go – it’s all to play for! Individual positions/times below. 11 David Ellis 27:54, 28 Lisa Lines 30:43, 32 Marc Jones 31:09, 34 Ben Thomas 31:57, 36 George Nicholls 32:13, 37 John Clayton-Hughes 32:28, 44 James Rogers 33:35, 53 Andrew Scott 36:01, 54 Ally Reid 36:05, 61 Sue Hughes 37:41, 62 Mike Davies 38:05, 65 Glenda Roberts 38:21, 66 Liz Martin 38:43, 67 Nicki Triggs 39:25, 69 Karl Martin 39:43, 78 Debbie Jones 42:05, 81 Nem James 44:56, 86 Julie Evans 47:45, 87 Emma Birchall 47:55 July 8th Râs Tal y Fan fell race (North Wales Fell Running championship) Mandy and I (Sophie) competed in our first navigation fell race - also the longest fell race we’ve attempted to date. This race is part of the Rowen Carnival - a 12.8k (8mile), 786m (2580ft) of ascent race starting at Rowen, with a tough climb up and over Tal y Fan, out towards the Druids Circle, then towards Foel Lus, and back around and down to Rowen. We ended up running this one together and thankfully had a few handy insider tips from folk who’d run this route before. Luckily the weather held as I’m not sure how we would’ve coped otherwise - it was a really tough one! We finished in 2:08:41 and were kindly awarded joint silver medals in the championship FV40 category (and a big slab of chocolate for our troubles).

July 9th Rhes y Cae race route recce

With several members interested in running this race we decided to do a recce, and after some heavy rain the day before, it turned out to be perfect weather for a lovely back lane 10k. Eight enthusiastic PRC folk ran the route - we even left a few of them on the mountain to continue their running adventures! With 60 pre registrations and hopefully a few more on the day, this could be an interesting race! July 11th Trafford AC Grand Prix (track) Alex Ryder competed in the latest of the Trafford AC Grand Prix track meeting, where he completed the 3000m in 10:03.53, and the 800m in 2:21.83.

July 15th

Ryngwladol Râs Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon International Race With weather conditions so bad the organisers decided on the day not go all the way to the summit, but reduce the course to Clogwyn Station. However, 10 minutes prior to the start, the course was further reduced by a couple of hundred metres to the bottom of the steps leading to Clogwyn, with marshalls unable to stand in the 60+ mph winds. Obviously this was a huge disappointment to the participants, but 468 willing runners braved the wind and rain nonetheless. The reduced course most certainly made for a very different race than expected. Individual chip positions/times below. 146 Lee Bailey (10th M45) 56:13, 409 Mandy Cartwright 1:15:11, 414 Sophie Johnson 1:16:35

Abersoch Half Marathon__ Marc Jones also battled the elements in the Abersoch Half Marathon finishing 52/298 in 1:40:24 and was 1st M55+. Tough Mudder Heaton Park, Manchester The 10k course is the newest in the line up of events and is packed with 20 challenging obstacles. With names like “Arctic Enema” and “Electroshock Therapy” these are guaranteed to get the muscles burning and the heart pumping. Brave or crazy… the jury is out! Nem James took on the mad, muddy 10k challenge at Heaton Park and completed the course in 2:45. July 19th Race the Highland Train 270 competitors lined up for the annual 5k Race the Highland Train event in Caernarfon this year. Ten members made their way up to the start – some taking advantage of a seat on the train, and a few deciding on a 5k warm up by running up to the start line. The course is ever so slightly on a downward slope – definitely of some advantage but this was still (in my personal opinion) a tough old fast race! Individual positions/times below. 44 Tom Carter 19:13, 65 Dan Liddle 20:26, 128 Sophie Johnson 23:12, 141 Andrew Scott 23:42, 160 Gareth Hughes 24:15 (1st MV75), 178 Nem James 24:57, 180 Mandy Cartwright 25:09, 204 Karl Martin 26:28, 207 Debbie Jones 26:49, 243 Roger Harrison-Jones 29:52 (1st MV85)

July 23rd Helena Tipping Wrexham 10k (Welsh Inter-Regional Championships) Six members took part in the 32nd edition of the sold out race. Individual chip positions/times below. 109 Tom Carter 37:06 (16th MV40), 338 Sian Beck 48:09 (7th FV45), 236 Darren Thompson 42:59 (10th MV55), 379 Helen Ashworth 50:10 (13th FV40), 413 Ally Reid 52:02 (6th FV50), 571 Roger Harrison-Jones 1:05:09 (1st MV85) July 25th Trafford AC Grand Prix (track) Alex Ryder again travelled to Manchester to compete in the final race of the series with great results. In the 3000m Alex achieved his aim of a sub 10min race in 9:57.82, coming second place in his heat and 1 second outside of his PB. He won his heat in the in the 800m in 2:22.14.

July 29th Rhes y Cae 10k fun run (multi-terrain) Fourteen club members turned out for this local event, which also offers a 3k race, and for the first time this year, a 10k walking race. A scenic back-lane road race with a couple of bridleways and a few good hills to battle with! Sadly the organisers don’t have the full results, so we’ll just have to rely on our trusty Strava accounts! Organisers official top 3 positions/times below. 3rd male, Oliver Birch-Jones in 40:55, 2nd female, Helen Ashworth in 51:54, and 3rd female, Sophie Johnson in 53:35

Dolgellau 5 Three PRC members made the trip to Dolgellau with great success, winning first place in the F45 and F50 categories, and 3rd place in the female team competition. Official positions/times below. Ann Claire Jones (1st F50) 42:12, Helen Alefounder 46:32 (1st F45), Julie Evans 58:45. July 30th Holyhead Breakwater 5 mile (North Wales Champs) Three members made the trip Holyhead two of whom having raced the day before at Rhes y Cae. Official positions/times below. 58 Gordon Jones 31:08 (1st MV 60-69), 74 James Rogers 38:49, 105 Mike Davis 45:00 (2nd MV70+) And that’s a wrap for a pretty busy month of racing – bring on August! Sophie.