November 2015 review

The second half of November seen a bumper turn out at the Pembrey 10 miler,  XC relays, more parkruns and a couple of half marathons.

 

Cross Country call up

 

Firstly some exciting news with Kelly being called up to represent South Wales in the Welsh XC Championships! The race is in Buith Wells on December 12th where she will line up with a dozen others for South Wales and race against other regions.

November 21 – parkruns

Not great conditions for Porthcawl parkrun but 19 members braved the elements with Kelly, Jayne and Chris Roberts volunteering whilst 16 ran. Brian Cotton continued his amazing comeback with another PB whilst Dai K and Heather helped pace Rhiannon to a second PB in as many weeks.

 

Away from Porthcawl, Chris Pratt ran at Lanhydrock parkrun in Cornwall, apparently one of the toughest parkrun courses in the country, whilst Helen Lowcock James ran at the newly formed Gnoll parkrun.

November 22 – Pembrey MT10

An amazing turn out for this race. Last year there were just four who entered (Nick, Fiona, Lorna and I), but this year a massive 25. Really great to see so many signing up for a multi terrain race as well with Richards Sunday trail sessions introducing so many to it. I think ‘what trail shoes should I buy’ is one of the most popular questions on our Facebook page this year.

Weather conditions in the couple of weeks leading up to the race had been ‘character building’ as Richard would put it. High winds, rain and a drop in temperature after a mild autumn so far. However, on the day it was dry, cool and barely a breeze. A little disappointing in a bizarre sort of way as the race has a reputation for usually having challenging weather conditions making the multi terrain course all the more difficult. Some, including myself, even went for road shoes in the end.

 

This was also a club championship race with plenty at stake in the male and female categories. I went into the race with a lead having already collected points in all categories whilst Richard LJ needed to finish in the top 5 to take top spot, and effectively the title despite there being another event to go.

 

In the women’s championship, there were a couple of dark horses with Denise and Fiona on first glance at the table seemingly no where near, however, they hadn’t run in the 10 mile or off road category meaning they had up to 60 points still available to them which could propel them to the top. The leader prior to Pembrey was Liz who had already done a 10 miler in Brecon. Heather had collected full points at Brecon so was in a similar position to me where it was a case of seeing what everyone did. Kelly hadn’t run in the 10 mile category and could take top spot with a high finish. Unlike the men’s championship, the women’s would go down to the wire at the Pudding Run whatever the results at Pembrey but finishing positions here would have a big impact on who was favourite for the title.

 

As for the race itself, it starts with a 2 mile tarmac section where you’re wondering where the multi terrain is before it hits you as you disappear into the forestry and a short steep climb. A  mile or so later there’s a steep sandy incline to upset any rhythm which reduced a lot to walking, then there’s probably the longest climb of the race at mile 5. A bit more tarmac between miles 6-7 before a mile on the beach which a lot of our runners found quite warm despite being the end of November. Mile 8-9 is constant undulating sand dunes – I counted around 15, granted some of these were a case of 4-5 steps up before going back down again. The final mile is back on a harder trail but was one of the muddier sections and the only place I felt my road shoe option wasn’t ideal.

 

Nick was first across the line with me in a surprise second after Kevin (in third) admitted to setting off too fast and had to walk sections. We all walked 100 meters or so back up the course after finishing to meet Jayne and cheer in the remaining runners. I was expecting Dai, Antony or Richard to be next up so it was a surprise to see Christie. I really shouldn’t have been surprised though given Christies continuing improvement. He’d beaten his Brecon 10 miler time by over 3 minutes. Another couple of surprises with Kelly and Martin up next. Kelly ran a phenomenal time and was only a few seconds off the overall female record which was set on the road. Next up was Richard, Dai and Antony who at some point during the run had meet up and decided to run together. A combination of Martin and Christie being ahead of Richard plus Dai and Antony’s times coming through slightly ahead on chip time meant I kept top spot in the championship. Richard was quick to congratulate me and admitted he didn’t expect to get the position he needed as he’d been struggling since Snowdonia which was still less than a month previous.

 

Rob was up next knocking around 5 minutes off the time he set in Brecon was around the time he joined the club. A great run by Fiona Drysdale who was second Cwm Ogwr female. Steve Riddler and Lorna who had both run the course before came in next. Shelley and Richard Garratt were involved in a sprint finish… well, Richard sprinted, Shelley admitted she was trying to withhold the contents of her breakfast having given it her all on her first 10 miler, and first trail race! Fiona Evans beat her time from last year by 5 minutes, whilst Emma Loyns was delighted with a 1:38 finish on her first proper trail run, let alone trail race.

 

Heather and Denise came in together with Denise’s achilles injury reoccurring and requiring a visit to St Johns Ambulance after the finish. Great to see members helping out each other out. As it was Denise’s first 10 miler, she gets another PB next to her name. Another load of top performances and PB’s with Nicola, Natasha, Alica, Ann, Melanie and Gail finishing off the army of Cwm Ogwr runners. The race commentator was like a broken record saying ‘and another Cwm Ogwr runner, and another Cwm Ogwr runner’. A great race and one I think everyone enjoyed.

 

November 22 – Welsh Cross Country Relay Championships

 

A few weeks ago, it was announced that the Welsh XC relays were to be held on Newbridge Fields – surely too good an opportunity to turn down with it being so local. Just one small issue – it was just a couple of hours after the end of the Pembrey 10 miler. If I were to say 4 of us were up for making a team, you’d probably put me, Nick, Christie and Kevin among the nutters who would be up for doing both and that was our team.

 

None of us had held back in the 10 miler so this was going to be interesting. Two laps for each runner totalling just 4K. However, 4K pretty much means a 17-20 minute sprint through mud. The field was stacked with talented runners – a previous winner of Cardiff 10K, top half marathon finishers, Welsh XC championships, and regular first finishers at parkrun. Even some of the ‘B’ teams had sub 18 minute 5K runners and an absolute minimum of sub 20 runners. Nick set off first and managed to keep two other runners behind him. I was next up. I felt OK after the mornings race.. that was until I started running and instantly fell apart. It wasn’t long before the two teams Nick had finished ahead of were overtaking me. Last place. Well, this is new. I tried as best I could to keep the gap down to a minimum which was maybe about 15-20 seconds when I handed over to Kevin. Kevin ran a great leg to regain two places despite feeling the effects as much as the rest of us. Christie was on the final leg. Having lost one place, he fought well to keep one of the runners at bay but on much fresher legs, the guy who he was battling against overtook with only just over a kilometre to go.

 

We agreed that on fresh legs we’d have probably beaten at least two of the teams but I’m still really pleased we did it anyway. A first ever last place for all of us but who cares – we gave it a go and we’ll be back to do it again.

 

November 28 – parkruns

 

Another wet and windy parkrunday. No PB’s to be had today. Alica volunteered whilst Liz ran down to parkrun to join 12 other members running. There was more tourism with Chris Pratt and I visiting Pontypool parkrun whilst Helen returned to the Gnoll again, Fiona Drysdale at Penallta and Chris Roberts adding another new venue to the list with Hatfield Forest parkrun.

 

November 29 – half marathons

 

A rare Sunday where there’s no races within an hour or so drive – however, that doesn’t stop Cwm Ogwr members with Chris Pratt and Alica travelling to Wiltshire to do half marathons. Interestingly they’d ended up booking half marathons in the same county but not the same one with Alica choosing the Wilshire Half Marathon whilst Chris was doing the Downton Half Marathon 30 miles further down the road. They are running at the time of writing so I’ll update in the next blog.

 

Chairman’s runner of the month – Shelley Smithson

 

An excellent month for Shelley starting with the Richard Burton 10K where she only narrowly missed out on a PB and an age category club record. She made up for this a week later getting a 24:45 PB at parkrun and then a brilliant 1:35 finish in her first 10 miler. From zero to hero attendee to one of the fastest female members in the club and I think there’s a lot more to come.

 

Challenge updates

 

This mornings Half Marathon is number 14 of the 15 Chris set out to do this year. His visit to Pontypool parkrun yesterday also meant he only has one more Welsh parkrun to do to complete that challenge.

 

My parkrun yesterday was event number 93 in the quest to do 100. 5 weeks left to do another 7 (or more!).

 

A new challenge has also started with Alica confirming her intentions to do 40 races in her 40th year. She has written a bit about it here https://40at40site.wordpress.com/

 

Up next

 

December see’s the Aberavon Santa Run, a huge sign up for the Pudding Run, Christmas drinks, Christmas parkruns, Boxing Day running and lots more. Can’t wait.

November 2015 review

November has been a month of parkruns, cross country and multi-terrain. The big November news is that Cwm Ogwr is now an award-winning club with an award-winning coach. Kelly, Chris Pratt and I attended the BAVO (Bridgend Association of Voluntary Organisations) on November 6 in the Heronston Hotel. We were presented with a ‘Highly Commended’ Volunteer award for the time and effort our coaches put in every week. Afternoon tea followed and it seems most runners are partial to the odd cake (carb loading obviously) so ours went down a treat.

 

The next day was the Welsh Athletics awards with Kevin, Aled, Dai and myself in attendance. Kevin won the award for ‘Endurance Participation coach of year’. Absolutely thrilled for Kevin and a massive boost for our club to able to state we have a Welsh Athletics award winning coach. The evening consisted of champagne on arrival and a three course dinner – although we were all very disappointed to discover the third course was a coffee and a small mint chocolate – where’s the dessert! It was a really good evening and we met and had photos with multiple major championship medallist Christian Malcolm, Welsh athlete of the year Seren Bundy Davies and double Paralympic Gold Medallist Aled Davies to name a few.

 

November 7 – parkruns

 

An amazing turnout with 27 Cwm Ogwr runners across 6 different parkruns. Starting at Porthcawl there were 17 in attendance with Niki Puleio leading the way with a sub 20 clocking despite windy conditions. I decided to pace sub 25 but realistically didn’t expect anyone to come with me given conditions. However, Shelley appeared on the start line and turns out a sub 25 pacer was perfect for her and she beat her PB by over a minute with a 24:45. Really pleased for her and I’m also pleased my last two pacing attempts have resulted in someone coming up to me afterwards and saying I’d helped them achieve a PB.

 

Over in Newport Richard Lowcock James had arranged for Cwm Ogwr to help with the pacing there. Kevin, Liz, Chris R, Dai Power and Sian T all went along to help pace times from 22 minutes through to 36 minutes. Great effort by all considering muddy conditions and a first time on the course for a couple of them as well.

 

Elsewhere, Fiona Drysdale was running the Krakow parkrun in Poland. Another country to add to our club parkrun list with Wales, England, Scotland and USA already on the list. Martin Beard ran the second Grangemoor parkrun. Neil J and Chris W warmed up for Sunday’s XC with speedy times at Pontypridd parkrun just either side of 20 minutes. Chris Pratt continued his mission to complete all existing parkruns as at the start of 2015 with Colby parkrun in Carmarthenshire (Pembrokeshire?). It turns out with more to do plus weekends away, he will be doing parkrun tourism for 6 weeks in a row.

 

November 8 – Llandaff XC

 

Fixture 2 of the Gwent Cross Country League. Disappointed we didn’t formally enter a team as it turns out we had enough male runners for this fixture as well. Neil Jones and Chris Williams were in attendance as well as Christie, Chris Pratt and myself who had run the first fixture in Newbridge Fields.

 

The weather in the week leading up to the race hadn’t been great so there was plenty of mud to contend with, particularly as the men’s race is the final event after several junior events and the senior women’s race. Close to 500 for this race and such is the quality of the field, we started about 90% of the way down at the start. A four lap course covering 6 miles in total. I have to admit, it felt more like 10 miles. Still enjoyed it though despite getting lapped only just approaching lap 3 and ending up with probably the first 30 overtaking me. Quite a rare experience to see the top club runners whizzing past as in bigger races like Cardiff 10K, you see them at the start if you’re lucky and that’s it. It did make me pick up the pace a little as well. Neil was first Cwm Ogwr runners across the line followed by Chris with a 3-4 minute gap back to me, then Chris Pratt then Christie.

 

November 14 – parkruns and Howling Bull 10K

 

Kevin had suggested in the week that a few more zero to hero members were ready for their parkrun initiation. Rhiannon, Kimberly, Kirsty and Lucy decided to give it a go and what a week they chose with wet and windy conditions at Porthcawl. Heather and Richard Garratt along with coaches Kelly and Kevin agreed to run with our new parkrunners – Heather being quick to point out she being supportive and no ducking out of ‘going for it’ herself.

 

At the front of the field, Nick decided to help pace his brother Saul to a PB. It was all going really well until with 50 meters to go Saul stopped to be sick but still ended up equalling his PB. Brian Cotton who is due to rejoin the club after a lengthy injury smashed his PB whilst Stephen Davies who was running his first parkrun also got a speedy sub 22 clocking. Sian Tossell ran her quickest parkrun in several months but unfortunately forgot her barcode so it wasn’t recorded. Our four newbies battled the elements and have set a marker for themselves to hopefully return and beat soon.

 

Elsewhere, Chris Pratt was up at 5am to leave his house at 6am in order to travel to Aberystwyth parkrun in his attempt to run all the Welsh parkruns that existed at the start of the year. Peter Harrop ran Richmond parkrun whilst Ann ran a personal course best at Colby.

 

Away from parkrun, Martin Beard, his wife Betty Lee and new Cwm Ogwr member Amy Jones were running the ‘Howling Bull’ race. A roughly 10K multi-terrain event with over 750 feet of elevation. A bargain at only £5 to enter. Just looking at the website and noticed this – “To make things more interesting there is a route ‘option’ at about 5 miles – you can choose the shorter and steeper ‘Suicide descent’ route (at your our risk..) or the more runnable ‘Bulls’ route… the choice is yours!”. Will have to find out which they chose.

 

November 15 – Mo Run 10K and Bath Skyline 10K

 

Orginially a couple of us intended doing Singleton Park XC but this was cancelled with only a couple of days notice. This was a bit of a blow to my mission to run 100 events but I soon discovered the Mo Run 10K was also on that day as an ideal substitute. It turned out our Porthcawl parkrun regulars Natalie, Jackie and Ceri were already signed up as was Sian Llewellyn-Goring. Even more luckily for me, there was a spare place going. Great atmosphere and a good fun race. I ran it in 42:28 which would have been a 35 second PB.. however, it turned out the course was short by around 300-400 meters- gutted. Ceri was also slightly faster than her Cardiff 10K whilst Jackie, Natalie and Sian were close to their bests. I’ve started writing my own personal blog on Fetcheveryone so there’s a more detailed account of this race at

http://www.fetcheveryone.com/blog-view.php?id=61263

 

One hilly multi-terrain 10K wasn’t enough for Martin and Betty so they did another a day later with Bath Skyline. Not quite as hilly as the Howling Bull but definitely challenging even without having done that the day before. Another couple of events to add to my ever growing list.

 

The parkrun effect

 

Now everyone knows I love parkrun and I love a stat so the parkrun weekly newsletter on 5 November was a very interesting read (article linked at the bottom of this section). From a group of 13 runners in October 2004 running a free time trial at Bushy park to now regularly over 125,000 runners across 762 worldwide events with over 10,000 volunteers every week! It shows no signs of stopping either with up to 5 new parkruns starting every single week. The parkrun barcodes are in sequential order and when I signed up in March 2013 I was given number 384475. There are now over 2,000,000 people registered to parkrun worldwide meaning over 1.6 million people have registered in the last 2 and a half years. The article suggests that by their 20 anniversary in 2024 there could be 5000 worldwide events with 1,000,000 runners every Saturday.

 

As for Cwm Ogwr – Richard LJ could be in the 500 club by then. Richards total of 175 parkruns at the time of writing puts him in the top 2000 or 0.1% for most parkruns. My 22 different parkruns is also something only 0.1% of parkrunners have done. At Porthcawl, Cwm Ogwr members have run the course over 2000 times and are only second to Bridgend in terms of number of runs, and  third for number of different runners (89).

 

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/news/2015/11/05/weekly-newsletter-5th-november-2015/

The Cwm Ogwr 100 club

 

Lets be clear – this isn’t the 100 parkrun club but something much more important – running 100 events for Cwm Ogwr. The first inductee to the club was a certain Gareth Jenkins on the 27/09/14 having taken 109 weeks to get there. A few weeks later Nick joined the 100 club on 22/11/14 having only taken 81 weeks from his first Cwm Ogwr event. Finally, we have a third member and first female inductee with Kelly Owen running her 100th event on 07/11/15 taking 167 weeks to get there.

 

There’s due to be an influx to the club with Dai Cappell (97), Richard LJ (92), Chris Pratt (90) and Dai Kembrey (86) all likely to join in the next couple of months. Chris is likely to smash the record for quickest to reach the target as well as he’s likely to achieve it just 60 weeks after his first event with us.

 

The challenges update

 

Firstly, I’m up to 89 on my mission to run 100 events in 2015. 11 to go with just 6 weekends left.

 

Fair play to Chris Pratt on his quest to do all the Welsh parkruns that existed at the start of the year. With so many other challenges he got to 3 months to go with several still to do but has travelled to Colby and Aberystwyth in the last two weeks which will be his longest ‘there and back’ trips. He has just two remaining which are Penrhyn parkrun near Bangor which I’ll come onto later, and Pontypool which I’ll be joining him for on November 28 – it’s also their anniversary parkrun so we’re hoping there might be lots of cakes.

 

Chris’s other major challenge was 15 half marathons in 2015. Some might say controversially he is using Snowdon Marathon to count towards two of his halves, but given he never intended doing a marathon this year, then this did mean things had to be reassessed. So counting the marathon as two, his total for the year so far is 13. The remaining two have already been booked with one in the New Forest and the other in North Wales which conveniently helps with the parkrun challenge as he is doing Penrhyn whilst up that way.

 

Chairman’s races to enter 2015/16

 

5 December: Aberavon Santa Run 5K. Chip timed run along Aberavon sea front. All abilities welcome. Santa suit included in the £10 entry fee. Starts at 11am so chance to fit in a parkrun beforehand as well.

 

20 December: Cottrell Park Christmas Cracker 10K. An off road, multi terrain, undulating 10K not far from Culverhouse Cross. £16 entry. Chip timed. Tech t-shirt for finishers. 450 feet of incline which is similar to our valley lap.

 

17 January: Riverbank Rollick. A 9 mile off road event just the other side of the Severn Bridge. I guarantee it’ll be the muddiest race you’ve done but great fun. Mostly flat with a couple of hills thrown in for good measure. Just £8 to enter with lots and lots of cakes to choose from at the end. A few already signed up so why not join them.

 

21 February: Margam Trail Half Marathon. Just £20 to enter and just 20 minutes down the road for most of us. Details still to be confirmed but expect it to at least be ‘undulating’. They have said trail shoes recommended but not vital and suggested a lot is on firm tracks so sounds like a gentle introduction to an off road half marathon.

 

2 April: Vale Ultra. Options of 18 miles or 32 miles. If you’ve done a half marathon, the 18 is an ideal next distance. If you’ve done a marathon, then surely Ultra is next target!? £24 to enter the 18 miler, £30 to enter the 32 miler which I think is very reasonable. It’s also on a Saturday so it’s ideal for going out for food / drinks that evening.

 

Next up

 

This weekend see’s around 25 Cwm Ogwr members at the Pembrey multi-terrain 10 miler. Four mad fools – Nick, Christie, Kevin and myself are then going to Newbridge Fields to run in a Cross Country Relay event. November finishes with another half marathon for Chris Pratt whilst I’m trying my best to convince people to join me for the Blorenge 4K Fell Race. It’s only 2 and a half miles… however, the first mile ascends 1500 feet – that’s nearly double the final hill in Snowdon in half the distance, and makes the Murder Mile look like a walk in the park! Onwards and most certainly upwards.

 

The second half of November seen a bumper turn out at the Pembrey 10 miler,  XC relays, more parkruns and a couple of half marathons.

 

Cross Country call up

 

Firstly some exciting news with Kelly being called up to represent South Wales in the Welsh XC Championships! The race is in Buith Wells on December 12th where she will line up with a dozen others for South Wales and race against other regions.

November 21 – parkruns

Not great conditions for Porthcawl parkrun but 19 members braved the elements with Kelly, Jayne and Chris Roberts volunteering whilst 16 ran. Brian Cotton continued his amazing comeback with another PB whilst Dai K and Heather helped pace Rhiannon to a second PB in as many weeks.

 

Away from Porthcawl, Chris Pratt ran at Lanhydrock parkrun in Cornwall, apparently one of the toughest parkrun courses in the country, whilst Helen Lowcock James ran at the newly formed Gnoll parkrun.

November 22 – Pembrey MT10

An amazing turn out for this race. Last year there were just four who entered (Nick, Fiona, Lorna and I), but this year a massive 25. Really great to see so many signing up for a multi terrain race as well with Richards Sunday trail sessions introducing so many to it. I think ‘what trail shoes should I buy’ is one of the most popular questions on our Facebook page this year.

Weather conditions in the couple of weeks leading up to the race had been ‘character building’ as Richard would put it. High winds, rain and a drop in temperature after a mild autumn so far. However, on the day it was dry, cool and barely a breeze. A little disappointing in a bizarre sort of way as the race has a reputation for usually having challenging weather conditions making the multi terrain course all the more difficult. Some, including myself, even went for road shoes in the end.

 

This was also a club championship race with plenty at stake in the male and female categories. I went into the race with a lead having already collected points in all categories whilst Richard LJ needed to finish in the top 5 to take top spot, and effectively the title despite there being another event to go.

 

In the women’s championship, there were a couple of dark horses with Denise and Fiona on first glance at the table seemingly no where near, however, they hadn’t run in the 10 mile or off road category meaning they had up to 60 points still available to them which could propel them to the top. The leader prior to Pembrey was Liz who had already done a 10 miler in Brecon. Heather had collected full points at Brecon so was in a similar position to me where it was a case of seeing what everyone did. Kelly hadn’t run in the 10 mile category and could take top spot with a high finish. Unlike the men’s championship, the women’s would go down to the wire at the Pudding Run whatever the results at Pembrey but finishing positions here would have a big impact on who was favourite for the title.

 

As for the race itself, it starts with a 2 mile tarmac section where you’re wondering where the multi terrain is before it hits you as you disappear into the forestry and a short steep climb. A  mile or so later there’s a steep sandy incline to upset any rhythm which reduced a lot to walking, then there’s probably the longest climb of the race at mile 5. A bit more tarmac between miles 6-7 before a mile on the beach which a lot of our runners found quite warm despite being the end of November. Mile 8-9 is constant undulating sand dunes – I counted around 15, granted some of these were a case of 4-5 steps up before going back down again. The final mile is back on a harder trail but was one of the muddier sections and the only place I felt my road shoe option wasn’t ideal.

 

Nick was first across the line with me in a surprise second after Kevin (in third) admitted to setting off too fast and had to walk sections. We all walked 100 meters or so back up the course after finishing to meet Jayne and cheer in the remaining runners. I was expecting Dai, Antony or Richard to be next up so it was a surprise to see Christie. I really shouldn’t have been surprised though given Christies continuing improvement. He’d beaten his Brecon 10 miler time by over 3 minutes. Another couple of surprises with Kelly and Martin up next. Kelly ran a phenomenal time and was only a few seconds off the overall female record which was set on the road. Next up was Richard, Dai and Antony who at some point during the run had meet up and decided to run together. A combination of Martin and Christie being ahead of Richard plus Dai and Antony’s times coming through slightly ahead on chip time meant I kept top spot in the championship. Richard was quick to congratulate me and admitted he didn’t expect to get the position he needed as he’d been struggling since Snowdonia which was still less than a month previous.

 

Rob was up next knocking around 5 minutes off the time he set in Brecon was around the time he joined the club. A great run by Fiona Drysdale who was second Cwm Ogwr female. Steve Riddler and Lorna who had both run the course before came in next. Shelley and Richard Garratt were involved in a sprint finish… well, Richard sprinted, Shelley admitted she was trying to withhold the contents of her breakfast having given it her all on her first 10 miler, and first trail race! Fiona Evans beat her time from last year by 5 minutes, whilst Emma Loyns was delighted with a 1:38 finish on her first proper trail run, let alone trail race.

 

Heather and Denise came in together with Denise’s achilles injury reoccurring and requiring a visit to St Johns Ambulance after the finish. Great to see members helping out each other out. As it was Denise’s first 10 miler, she gets another PB next to her name. Another load of top performances and PB’s with Nicola, Natasha, Alica, Ann, Melanie and Gail finishing off the army of Cwm Ogwr runners. The race commentator was like a broken record saying ‘and another Cwm Ogwr runner, and another Cwm Ogwr runner’. A great race and one I think everyone enjoyed.

 

November 22 – Welsh Cross Country Relay Championships

 

A few weeks ago, it was announced that the Welsh XC relays were to be held on Newbridge Fields – surely too good an opportunity to turn down with it being so local. Just one small issue – it was just a couple of hours after the end of the Pembrey 10 miler. If I were to say 4 of us were up for making a team, you’d probably put me, Nick, Christie and Kevin among the nutters who would be up for doing both and that was our team.

 

None of us had held back in the 10 miler so this was going to be interesting. Two laps for each runner totalling just 4K. However, 4K pretty much means a 17-20 minute sprint through mud. The field was stacked with talented runners – a previous winner of Cardiff 10K, top half marathon finishers, Welsh XC championships, and regular first finishers at parkrun. Even some of the ‘B’ teams had sub 18 minute 5K runners and an absolute minimum of sub 20 runners. Nick set off first and managed to keep two other runners behind him. I was next up. I felt OK after the mornings race.. that was until I started running and instantly fell apart. It wasn’t long before the two teams Nick had finished ahead of were overtaking me. Last place. Well, this is new. I tried as best I could to keep the gap down to a minimum which was maybe about 15-20 seconds when I handed over to Kevin. Kevin ran a great leg to regain two places despite feeling the effects as much as the rest of us. Christie was on the final leg. Having lost one place, he fought well to keep one of the runners at bay but on much fresher legs, the guy who he was battling against overtook with only just over a kilometre to go.

 

We agreed that on fresh legs we’d have probably beaten at least two of the teams but I’m still really pleased we did it anyway. A first ever last place for all of us but who cares – we gave it a go and we’ll be back to do it again.

 

November 28 – parkruns

 

Another wet and windy parkrunday. No PB’s to be had today. Alica volunteered whilst Liz ran down to parkrun to join 12 other members running. There was more tourism with Chris Pratt and I visiting Pontypool parkrun whilst Helen returned to the Gnoll again, Fiona Drysdale at Penallta and Chris Roberts adding another new venue to the list with Hatfield Forest parkrun.

 

November 29 – half marathons

 

A rare Sunday where there’s no races within an hour or so drive – however, that doesn’t stop Cwm Ogwr members with Chris Pratt and Alica travelling to Wiltshire to do half marathons. Interestingly they’d ended up booking half marathons in the same county but not the same one with Alica choosing the Wilshire Half Marathon whilst Chris was doing the Downton Half Marathon 30 miles further down the road. They are running at the time of writing so I’ll update in the next blog.

 

Chairman’s runner of the month – Shelley Smithson

 

An excellent month for Shelley starting with the Richard Burton 10K where she only narrowly missed out on a PB and an age category club record. She made up for this a week later getting a 24:45 PB at parkrun and then a brilliant 1:35 finish in her first 10 miler. From zero to hero attendee to one of the fastest female members in the club and I think there’s a lot more to come.

 

Challenge updates

 

This mornings Half Marathon is number 14 of the 15 Chris set out to do this year. His visit to Pontypool parkrun yesterday also meant he only has one more Welsh parkrun to do to complete that challenge.

 

My parkrun yesterday was event number 93 in the quest to do 100. 5 weeks left to do another 7 (or more!).

 

A new challenge has also started with Alica confirming her intentions to do 40 races in her 40th year. She has written a bit about it here https://40at40site.wordpress.com/

 

Up next

 

December see’s the Aberavon Santa Run, a huge sign up for the Pudding Run, Christmas drinks, Christmas parkruns, Boxing Day running and lots more. Can’t wait.

October 2015 review

October has already been one of the most exciting months in Cwm Ogwr’s history. We’ve now got our 100 member and are up to 103 in total, there was a huge turnout at the Cardiff Half Marathon, London Marathon ballot results club records smashed at parkrun and a significant award for one of our members.

 

October 3 – parkruns and the Cardiff Festival of Running

 

Two parkrun venues for the first parkrunday of the month. Chris Pratt and I visited Pontypridd parkrun whilst there were 17 Cwm Ogwr runners at Porthcawl. Highly recommend a visit to Pontypridd parkrun, however, it’s more for the café with 20% off for parkrunners and the recently opened Lido rather than the 3 lap course – will definitely return next summer. Back at Porthcawl, Nick had a score to settle after thinking he had run 19:26 the previous week to discover his time was 19:27 therefore equalling and not beating his own club record. This time, he actually thought he’d missed out by a second or two but his actual time came though as 19:25 – a new club record. There were also PB’s for Sue Roberts and Kayley Sullivan who knocked exactly 6 minutes off her time set in her first parkrun in June.

 

After the parkruns, a few of us went down the Cardiff Festival of Running. Richard LJ’s son Gwill (aged 2) ran the toddler dash 100 meters whilst Kelly and her husband, former Chairman and current member, David ran the family fun run 2.4K with their daughter Catrin and her cousin. I also did the 2.4K course with the twins in a double non-running buggy having had to run to the start due to a delay with our lunch. I had also intending entering one of the many mile events they had on offer but a quick check of previous year’s results suggested they were pretty speedy, elite races. I tweeted the organisers about my intention to enter as long as it wasn’t just for speedy ones and was told the events were open to all and it’d be fine. Thankfully Jackie Brace who is a member of Bridgend AC and works for Welsh Athletics was on the registration desk so I was able to ask for a little more information before signing up. Without naming the person, it turns out the ‘slowest’ runner on the entry list was someone who’s won several 5K events and even a Half Marathon. Funnily enough, I decided not to enter. In the end I didn’t see the race but was keen to find out the results… all but one runner run under 5 minutes for the mile. My mile PB according to my Garmin is 6:15. Needless to say I’m relieved I didn’t enter and I think I’ll leave that one to the elites.

 

 

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October 4 – Cardiff Half Marathon

 

Cardiff Half Marathon has always been well represented by Cwm Ogwr runners. It was our first half marathon as a club back in 2012 when 9 of us did it and a club record was set at 1:39:05. In 2013 we had 17 runners and the club record tumbled to 1:29:31. Then last year we had 15 runners with John setting what remains the official club record of 1:29:05 – I say official because one of our members Neil Jones has run a 1:25 before joining the club and Kevin ran a 1:28 in Newport but the course was officially classified as being short. Now I heard quite a few of our members had signed up and was expecting maybe 20 something runners. In my capacity as club stato I asked the night before for everyone’s race numbers so I could draw up a list of runners to help me find results after the race, particularly as many would have signed up before joining the club. It was only when the replies started coming in I realised that not only did we have over 30 members, but we’d exceeded 40 with 41 Cwm Ogwr runners – amazing!

 

The race itself was approached in so many ways – many of the Snowdon Marathoners choosing to take it easy or pace other runners, members running the distance for the first time and wanting to just get round, and plenty more aiming for PB’s. Despite a club record performance the day before, it was Nick first across the line in a PB time of 1:31:41 putting him second in the half marathon rankings. Neil Jones helped pace Chris Williams who smashed his previous best by around 5 minutes with a 1:33:54 whilst Kevin who wasn’t going for a PB still got on with a 1:35:24 despite starting in the 2 hour pen. New member Richie Pett set a PB with Dai Kembery who was doing a running naked still managed a comfortable 1:40:38. I think I should point out here that by running naked I meant with no watch / other technology – some parkruns encourage doing this from time to time – I do wonder if there’s ever been a misunderstanding?!

 

Whilst stood in the starting pen with Richard LJ and Lorna we seen someone in a Cwm Ogwr vest we didn’t recognise. It turns out it was Aled’s mate who spotted our bemused expression and announced ‘I’m Lloyd, the pole vaulter’. He finished in 1:41. Neil Harris was disappointed with a 1:46 whilst Aled also finished in that time having started in the 2:15+ pen. It turns out he ran with several club members along the way with his usual tough love style of encouragement prompting many to clock their fastest mile at around the time he ran with them. Christie Coleman continued his amazing PB streak coming in just under 1:49 with David Sheard and Richard LJ just behind both getting their best times since joining the club. Chris Roberts also managed a sub 1:50 whilst I ran the whole way pacing Lorna to PB and sub 1:50 finish as well. She became only the 4 Cwm Ogwr member to go sub 1:50 after Helen D, Kelly and Amy. Stephen Davies who only started running at the start of 2015 set out with a target of just getting under 2 hours but beat that by quite a margin coming in under 1:54. Rob Pritchard set a PB with a 1:55 but was disappointed not to be closer to 1:50.

 

Next up was Chris Pratt who ran a 1:56 despite having run just over 9 miles before starting and ending up with a total mileage just short of 23 miles.  Fiona Evans was a few seconds behind with a best time since joining the club but a little disappointed not to get a career PB, whilst Fiona Drysdale came in just under 2 hours with the same situation. Steve Riddler missed out on sub 2 hours by 7 seconds after admitting to going out a bit too fast at the start before a trio of PB’s for Dawn, Emma and half marathon debut runner Lewis. Richard Garratt was up next nursing a few niggles and taking it easy with more Snowdon training to be done. Next up was one of the stories of the weekend – 24 hours prior to the race start, Shelley was recovering for her longest run ever of 8 miles the day before and thinking about maybe running her first marathon sometime in 2016. A couple of hours later, a place became available and with some ‘gentle encouragement’ from other members she decided to do it! She ended up running with Denise in a very respectable debut half marathon time of 2:07:28 which I was quick to point out is over 2 minutes quicker than I manage on my first half five years ago. Despite being well off his personal best, Peter Harrop was delighted to get round having been out of action for several weeks with injuries. There was another trio of PB’s with Ceri, Natasha and Melanie up next with Heather Garratt who had helped pace. Antony was another Snowdon runner offering to pace and trying to keep the niggles at bay and helped Gail get a PB with Jackie, Ann and Natalie all following shortly afterwards. Alica was gutted with her time having trained really well for the event but we’ve all been impressed with her attitude and determination to get on with things and she’s already planning her next challenges. The blue wave that descended on Cardiff was completed with Helen G, Dai Power and Amanda Pallister. Another fantastic day to be part of Cwm Ogwr Running Club.

 

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October 10 – parkruns

 

Three venues run at by Cwm Ogwr members this week with Ann Davies back at Colby, Chris W and Neil J running at Pontypridd and a bumper 22 runners at Porthcawl. On Tuesday, a new member joined the club – Niki Puleio. Whilst the coaches ask all the relevant questions to assess level of running fitness, I’m always straight in there with the.. “so, what races have you done?”. Now for me, the answer was very exciting because a) the answer was Porthcawl parkrun (yay, another parkrun regular) and b) he finished in 6 place last week. One place ahead of a certain Mr Harris who was busy breaking the club record. Niki’s time… 19:17 – so if he’d joined a week earlier he’d have been the club record holder. I think we have a bit of competition on our hands. Meanwhile, Neil Jones is actually our fastest parkrunner if you include pre-club times so surely it’s only a matter of time before he breaks the record?

 

Unsurprisingly what happened was a record breaking parkrunday. Niki and Nick finished 6 and 7 again – exactly the same positions two weeks in a row. Niki managed a 19:28 whilst Nick got a 19:33. It was only later in the day we discovered Neil had run Pontypridd parkrun and he’d messaged me to say he’d run it in 19 minutes. Obviously I rushed to check the time wondering 19 minutes what? 19:00! A new club record by a massive 25 seconds. Chris Williams also annihilated his previous best 5K time and went sub 20 for the first time with a 19:57 meaning we had four sub 20 times! Not only that, but 3 of them were in the top 10 fastest 5K times ever run by a Cwm Ogwr member.  There were also superb PB’s for Denise who went sub 25 for the first time, Emma, Karen, Sue and Kayley.

 

October 11th – Newbridge Fields Cross Country

 

The women’s race was 6.6K and saw new member Betty Lee and off road regular Fiona Drysdale representing Cwm Ogwr. Betty completed the 2 lap course in just over 33 minutes with Fiona less than a minute behind. That’s around 25 minutes for a 5K so great times by both.

 

The men’s race was a fraction over 10K with 3 laps of Newbridge Fields with a very short sharp incline on each lap. The men’s race is incredibly competitive so we all stood towards the back in the starting pen – even Nick. A good turnout by the men with Nick, Chris Pratt, Martin, David Sheard, Christie and I competing. Nick completed the course in an incredible time of just over 42 minutes. I was delighted to knock almost 6 minutes of my 2014 time on the same course with a sub 45 clocking. Chris Pratt was next up with a solid 47 minute ‘not going for it’ time which was less than a minute away from his Cardiff 10K PB – however, it should be noted most of us clocked it as 6.0 miles rather than 6.2. A similar situation for Christie, David and Martin who were all also close to road 10K times despite the unfamiliar terrain and small inclines.

 

October 17th – parkruns and Invincibl

 

23 runners across two parkruns this week with Denise and Fiona Drysdale taking a trip to Pontypridd parkrun where Neil Jones was also running. Apparently much food and drink had been consumed this week so another attempt at the club record was off the cards but he still managed the fastest parkrun time of the day with a 19:41. Back at Porthcawl Niki continued his unbeaten streak against usual first finisher Nick with 19:43 and 19:53 respectively. Nick’s brother Saul who joined after last weeks parkrun was next up with his second sub 21 time in as many weeks. There was a couple of awesome PB’s with Emma knocking almost a minute off her time last week and Dawn also improving her time again. Steve Riddler joined the parkrun 50 club having run all at Porthcawl starting on event number 6.

 

Dai Power did the Invincibl event in Caerphilly. A ‘Survival of the Fittest’ type event with a mixture of running, obstacles and a bit of mud as shown by the state of daps afterwards.

 

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October 18th – Ponty Plod and Tonmawr Hilly 5

 

Richard LJ posted about the Ponty Plod event before Snowdon training had really commenced and suggested it would be a nice tester a week before the main event. A hilly off road 11 miler. Heather, Richard G and Kelly decided to sign up. I might have myself but was due to be away that weekend. Thankfully everyone made it round in one piece and recommended it for next year. It’s on my ever increasing list for 2016.

 

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Meanwhile, a last minute change of plan meaning I was home for the weekend gave me the option of either joining them for the Plod or going to more recently announced Tonmawr Hilly 5. The latter was organised by Port Talbot Harriers as a club championship event and inviting local clubs to join them for free in a similar vein to the Afan Argoed Half Marathon. My training plan suggested a hilly off road 11 miler was a bit excessive so I decided to go for a plod around this one instead. Whilst I’m happy to take it easy at parkrun most weeks, not giving it 100% in a race is rare for me so had to constantly remind myself there’s just six days to go until Snowdon Marathon. Got round in just under 42 minutes and was actually very tempted to do a second lap but managed to stop myself. Look forward to hopefully racing it next year.

 

London Marathon ballot

 

It turned out that around 20 members had balloted for the 2016 London Marathon when it opened back in May this year. The chance of getting in through the ballot was debated my many with estimates anywhere between 1 in 15 to a 1 in 25 chance – not great odds. Thankfully we did have two members receive the Bumble-Bee Magazine indicating they were successful with Richard Lowcock James and Pat Stanley. The unsuccessful members will have another chance in the club draw provided they can supply evidence of being unsuccessful and were members at the time of the ballot opening.

 

 

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Welsh Athletics Award

 

A few weeks ago I Aled alerted me that Welsh Athletics had opened nominations for their annual awards. I’d already seen this on the website so after some discussion with Kelly and several reminders from Aled, we decided to nominate Kevin for one of the coaching awards. Yours truly completed the form – and as you can imagine, it was a lengthy, convincing account of why Kevin was worthy of the award. A few weeks passed and Kevin put a message on our Facebook page to say he was very happy with a letter he’d received through the post. Myself and Kelly pretended we didn’t know what it could be and after finally getting Kevin to confirm it to us on Facebook Messenger, Kelly posted the following on the club Facebook page.

 

Super exciting announcement:

Welsh Athletics have awarded Kevin with an award for “Endurance Participation Coach of the Year”

Amazing achievement and very well deserved!

… Award ceremony on Saturday 7th November.

 

Everyone was delighted for Kevin with dozens of members commenting on how he had helped them ranging from total beginners to the fastest in the club. Absolutely delighted he has got the award.. just need to try and sort out tickets so I can be there to see him collect it now!

 

Coach Kelly

 

More great coach related news this month as Kelly completed her coaching assessment on the 17th October and is now officially a Welsh Athletics Coach. Although we don’t always agree on everything, I’m so pleased for Kelly and her hard work and commitment to the coaching course has been rewarded. Kelly started the running club, is one of our fastest female runners and commits more time to the club than anyone (including the Chairman) in her role as club manager, membership secretary, race director for the 5 miler and now official coach. She really is Mrs Cwm Ogwr. A massive thank you from every member of the club and congratulations.

 

Next up

 

Well for 13 of us – it’s Snowdon Marathon which I think will probably warrant a blog post of it’s own so watch this space. Whilst training has been pretty similar across the 13 runners, it’s the approach to the taper which has certainly raised some eyebrows. Some doing their longest run 4 weeks prior to the marathon, others just 2 weeks before. Then there’s the Ponty Plod 11 miler six days before the event. There is no hard and fast rules to marathon training and tapering and whatever gets you to the start line feeling good is the important thing. There’s been a few injury scares but fingers crossed, we’ll all be able to give it 100% on the day.

 

Although I feel it does add a bit of pressure, I’m sure there’s no chance of hiding the fact there is a tracker so feel free to spend your Saturday morning / early afternoon telling everyone how we’re getting on. The link is on the Snowdon Marathon website and I’m sure will be posted on Facebook several times this week. There’s also a start list on the website with all our numbers on in case that’s required rather than names.

 

Good luck to my fellow CORC marathoners Antony L, Dai K, Fiona E, Kelly, Aled, Heather, Richard G, Richard LJ, Steve, Richie, Chris P and Kevin – I look forward to a drink or two afterwards with you all.

 

The second half of October for Cwm Ogwr included the Snowdonia Marathon, the club London Marathon ballot, Richard Burton 10K and yet more parkrun records.

 

Club London Marathon Ballot

 

The club ballot was drawn on October 22 before our final training session before Snowdonia. Unfortunately, due to changes in allocation, we only had 1 place… and the winner was… Natasha Kerr. Really pleased for Natasha who was keen to run her first marathon in 2016 and will now get to do it at one of the best in the world.

 

2016 plans

 

Our club Facebook page was even busier than usual in the couple of days following the marathon with many members inspired to do their first marathon and many others considering their next challenges and planning for 2016. I think next year can almost be broken down to a few key events.

 

Mar / Apr – Half Marathons – choices of Newport, Llanelli, Merthyr, Cardiff World Half, Bath, Great Welsh.

 

2 April – Vale Coastal Ultra – choice of 18 miler or 32 miler. Already 10 members signed up for this.

 

1 May – Brecon to Cardiff Ultra – a 42 mile Ultra! Only Dai K signed up at time of writing but there has been some interest from others

 

26 June – Swansea Half Marathon – think we have quite a few members looking to do this as their first half marathon and should be big attendance

 

25 September – Loch Ness Marathon – Dai K and Aled championing this one in their quest to run a marathon in each of the four home nations

 

29 October – Snowdonia Marathon – several have already booked accommodation and it looks like we could even exceed the 13 runners from this year.

 

Of course – this is all without mentioning Cardiff 10K in September and the October Cardiff Half where we had amazing turnouts this year, and there’s at least 100 other events to choose from within an hours drive.

 

October 24th – parkruns

 

Despite a lot of regulars being away in Snowdon, there was still a decent parkrun contingent with Cwm Ogwr represented at 5 different parkruns. The main one of course being Porthcawl where Nick finished in 5th place with a 19:45. There was a unexpected return by one of our former members, Brian Cotton who got a 22:20 personal best. David Sheard celebrated his 100 parkrun with his best time since joining the club. Cwm Ogwr now have seven 100 club members with Dai Cappell also due to join in the next couple of weeks.

 

As mentioned, there was plenty of parkrun tourism with Fiona Drysdale running at Newport, Chris Roberts at Delemare parkrun and Niki clocking a super fast 19:26 in Cardiff parkrun. Whilst all this was going on, current record holder Neil Jones was eyeing up another club record attempt at Pontypridd after setting a time of 19:00 a couple of week previous. He did it, becoming the first Cwm Ogwr member to go sub 19 minutes with a 18:58.

 

Sunday 25th – Gnoll XC and Cosmeston Duathlon

 

Christie Coleman was Cwm Ogwr’s only representative for the West Glam Cross Country league fixture at the Gnoll in Neath. It sounded like a good one with a bit of mud and even a water crossing included. Christie is fast becoming one of our most regular runners now and is rivalling me, Chris and Nick when you look at events entered over the past couple of months.

 

Ann Davies entered the Cosmeston Duathlon involving a 5K run followed by a 20K bike with a 2.5K run to finish, and much to her surprise, she was first in the female super veteran category! Well done Ann.

 

October 29th – Ghost Run

 

There’s not many running events I haven’t tried – from road, trail, cross country, fell, other multi-terrain, super flat, super hilly… but this one was a new one on me – a cross country run requiring head torches! Organised by Run, Walk, Crawl –who also organise the Vale Ultra and Brecon to Cardiff Ultra – fancy dress was also encouraged. I decided to give it a go and take along my Ghostface costume (from the Scream franchise) which in the end I decided against after a quick inspection of the first part of the course suggested I’d be lucky to go 10 meters without falling over and potentially injuring myself. Baring in mind I’d run Snowdonia Marathon the weekend before, had given blood 3 days before, I wasn’t exactly looking for a fast time on the 5 mile course.

A much bigger turnout this year with 60 odd runners compared to just 35 last year. As mentioned. head torches were required as the course started on a pitch black field before going on paths, up Leckwith Hill and into a very muddy undulating forest. Back onto a field before doubling back through the forest with small reflective markers showing the way.

It was clear after the first half mile that there were 4 in contention.. and two of them were me and Nick! Nick and the other guy disappeared into the darkness within the first mile whilst i closely followed the guy in third. Overtook him on a hilly section through the forest just before mile 2 – third place! I don’t care if it’s a Halloween fun run, I want a podium finish. Slowly managed to pull away and finished a good 300-400m in front in the end.

Nick got SECOND place, I got THIRD! Damn that guy who turned up and ran the tough course in 35 minutes. Still, first ever double podium for Cwm Ogwr.

Lewis enjoyed the race as well and is even eyeing it up as a potential training run from his work which is just down the road. Juliet got into the Halloween spirit with a skeleton theme. She was third woman across the line.

A brilliant race. Highly recommend as a Cwm Ogwr on tour training night next year.

 

October 31st – parkruns

 

Two years ago I took my GhostFace costume to Porthcawl parkrun on what was advertised as the Halloween parkrun to find no one else was wearing fancy dress when I got there – thankfully I was wearing shorts and a running vest underneath so just took the costume off. Last year I wore a witches costume with some ‘wardrobe malfunctions’ during the run. I promised this year would be even better. I went as a zombie bride wearing an actual wedding dress and makeup. Someone said I’d gone as the ‘Bride of Dracula’ so lets say that’s what I was going for. There were some other great efforts and one of the photo’s including me, Pat, Chris Pratt and Natalie was actually used as the parkrun uk cover photo on Facebook for a few days.

There were 21 Cwm Ogwr members in attendance  but with so many either dressed up, recovering from Snowdon Marathon or keeping a bit back for the Sunday 10K there were no PBs to be had but all enjoyed it which is the main thing.

November 1 – Richard Burton 10K

Despite not much talk about this on our Facebook page, we had 18 turn up for this one. Unfortunately, most of us got held up in the first couple of kilometres due to a combination of a disorganised start pen plus most of us going to the start too late.

Nick was first across the line just over a minute ahead of me. Denise managed to get a PB despite an achilles injury reducing her to hobbling the final 400 meters or so. Denise was also 3rd in her age category. Juliet Amner also finished in an excellent 5th for her category in her first 10K for the club. Sian Llewellyn-Goring ran with Rhian Nolan who completed her first ever 10K and is already signed up to go further with the Lliswerry 8 in a couple of months.

Challenge 100

You may recall a couple of months ago I posted that having done so many events this year, getting to 100 might be possible. Well after Richard Burton 10K I’m now on 85. This is already a record as Nick previously held it with 82 last year. Plans are in place but 15 events with less than 2 months remaining is a big ask.

Chairman’s Runner of the Month – Nick Harris

Bit controversial not going for any of the Snowdon runners but it’s been an amazing month for Nick with a new 5K PB which was also a club record at the time. This was followed up with a Half Marathon PB in Cardiff just a day later. A week later he set a brilliant time in the Newbridge Fields Cross Country. There’s been a couple more sub 20 clockings at parkrun where he finished as high as 5th. This month marked an entire year without missing a parkrun. Plus there was the second place in the Ghost Run. Well done Nick.

Cwm Ogwr in numbers

Number of events: 404

Number of CORC runners in those events: 2,155

Number of miles run in those events: 11,421

Number of members who’ve ran for CORC: 110

Number of career parkruns ran by CORC members: 2,455

Number of different parkruns ran at: 56

Looking ahead

Two awards ceremonies, more cross country and a huge turnout at the Pembrey Multi-Terrain 10 miler in the next couple of weeks. Another amazing month for Cwm Ogwr.