A five Saturday parkrun month meant some huge figures with 328 finishes across 79 parkrun events with an incredible 51 different parkrun venues. We almost completed the parkrun alphabet between us in March with the only letter missing not being one you would expect like a Q, U, Y or Z – we didn’t do a D parkrun which you would assume would be relatively common. Anyway – International tourism included Fiona Drysdale at Krakow in Poland, Jay and Toni Howells at Zalew Wrzesinski parkrun also in Poland, and Darija Keenor at Inch Beach in Ireland. Whilst it’s part of parkrun UK, we also had Gwyneth Steddy and Angharad Rees at Omagh parkrun in Northern Ireland.
It seemed like a month for alphabet chasing with Dawn and Sarah travelling to Upton House, the Harris family visiting Quakers Walk, whilst Jo and I went to Yarborough Leisure Centre parkrun which completed my UK alphabet.
For the first time in many months, we didn’t have any first overall finishers at parkrun but Carys Bissmire was first lady at Maesteg with Arwen Rees second lady in the same event. Dawn Wright ran her 100th parkrun with Aberfields being the venue whilst Ceri Jones ran his 50th parkrun at Porthcawl.
Races
Ten members took on the Rhayader Round the Lakes 30K which many have described as a ‘mini Snowdon’ with it being a hilly road race with stunning scenery. Although this year, it probably trumped even Snowdonia for it’s extreme weather with runners having to battle though driving wind and snow. The post race photos with ice literally formed on runners hair and faces were quite something! Of course, not even this can stop Jake Tasker taking the win by a significant margin after a much closer battle in the same race last year. I don’t always list every runner but I’ll make an exception this time – well done to Danny Ridley. Chris Richards, Ken Salvatore, Paul Barrett, Melanie Thomas, Simon Poole, Katie Plimmer, Alexis Barrett and Kaye Pedler. There was also a 10K in no less brutal conditions so well done to Kris Denholm, Rosie Salvatore, Melinda Thomas, Sian Jenkins, Julie Ransom and Shawn Cullen who were probably all very relieved they’d gone for the 10K option!
There were lots of races with just one or two members taking part with Leanne Parsons running the Margam 10K, Kris Denholm running the Teifi 10 miler, Danny Ridley running the Saturn Running Half Marathon, Melanie Thomas and Simon Poole ran the Brechfa Trail Half Marathon, Neil Ridley, Kris Denholm and Angharad Hinam ran the the Merthyr Half Marathon and Wayne Hayhurst and Gail Newell ran the Great Welsh Half.
There were several other Half Marathons in the month with Jacob having to settle for second at the Forest of Dean Spring Half Marathon where he ran a phenomenal 1:10:40 on the undulating multi-terrain course. It was also a British Trail Championship race with some very high level competition. We had 6 other members at the event with Katie Plimmer our first female across the line. Martin Beard, Claire DB and Lee DB ran at the Lisbon Half Marathon which is part of the Super Six Half Marathon Series series alongside Cardiff Half Marathon. After the dismal wet weather in Wales for what seems like the past 4-5 months, it would have been a bit of a shock to the system for our 3 runners as temperatures were well into the mid to high 20’s for the event. On the final day of the month, 5 of our members ran at the Cardiff Taff Trail Half.
The Marathons ran in March were some of the highlights of the month. Aled Hughes had be super-focussed on training for the LA Marathon but unfortunately things didn’t quite go to plan despite still finishing in a time of 3:24:56. Carl Walsh achieved another world-class milestone as he completed the Antarctica Marathon putting him amongst a very select group of runners to have run a marathon on all seven continents. Emma Loyns took on the super-challenging Ras Dewi Sant Marathon for the 4th time. At the Great Welsh Marathon. our young superstar Angelo ‘Nico’ Doria ran 02:56:59 on his debut marathon becoming only the 6th member in the history of the club to run under sub 3 hours and is by far the youngest to do so at just 19 years old. Gareth Richards ran a PB of 3:10:30 to beat an outstanding over 50’s club record that Kevin Raymond had held for almost 9 years having run 3:18:46 at the same event (but a different course) in 2015. It’s mind blowing that the recent changes to Good For Age times for London Marathon mean that neither Nico or Gareth made the qualifying time for their respective age groups despite these phenomenal performances. Wayne Randall followed up his Half Marathon PB at Llanelli just a few weeks earlier with a Marathon PB of 3:55:20, whilst Emma Loyns completed her first marathon as a pacer coming in just under her allocated 4:30.
Finally, there was the final fixture of the West Glam XC league at Penllergar Woods. Unfortunately the fixture clashed with a couple of other events and more than 20 of our female OPR members on a weekend away so we ended up with just 4 men and 3 ladies for this one. Fortunately, it appears that unless there’s a restructure, then both the men and women have done enough to stay in their respective divisions for next year.
Presentation Night
Another fantastic presentation night was held at Tondu Cricket Club with the social committee stepping up yet again to provide us with a great venue, decorations, food and party atmosphere. Our Chair, Chris Pratt, put together an incredible presentation with video’s and photo’s documenting our year and video’s and captions for every winner on the night. I helped present some of the unbelievable stats for the year whilst Sian Jenkins was on hand to interview the winners as they came up to collect their awards which were presented by Alexis Barrett. Club milestone t-shirts were handed out by Fiona which meant that over 40 members went away with either an award and / or a milestone t-shirt on the night.
Onto the winners
Runner’s Runner – Jake Tasker
Runner’s Runner 2nd place – Jamie Verran
Runner’s Runner 3rd place – Tammie Baker
Outstanding achievement – Carl Walsh
Spirit of the Phoenix – Jay Rhys Howells
Chairman’s award – Gareth Jenkins
Club Runner – Jake Tasker
Female Trail Champion – Jade Bazylkiewicz
Female trail championship 2nd place – Sarah Davies
Female trail championship joint 3rd place – Katie Plimmer
Female trail championship joint 3rd place – Claire Dunbar-Bowen
Male Trail Champion – Jake Tasker
Male Trail Championship 2nd place – David Sheard
Male Trail Championship 3rd place – Lee Dunbar-Bowen
Club champion – Jayne Bissmire
Club championship 2nd place – Ria Ross
Club championship 3rd place – Siân Jenkins
Female Ultra Marathon – Emma Loyns
Female Ultra Marathon – Melanie Thomas
Male Ultra Marathon – Gareth Richards
Female Marathon – Heather Morgan
Male Marathon – Jake Tasker
Super Veteran Female – Denise Bradley
Super Veteran Male – Keith Coleman
Veteran Female – Claire Dunbar-Bowen
Veteran Male – Aled Hughes
Senior Female – Carys Bissmire
Senior Male – Jake Tasker
Most Improved Female – Katie Plimmer
Most improved Male – Toni Howells
Female Newcomer – Bethan Moor
Male Newcomer – Danny Ridley
Male Newcomer – Angelo Nico Doria
Zero to Hero – Caryn Hicks
Zero to Hero – Ria Ross
It was our biggest year yet in terms of the number of awards handed out. Well done to Jake Tasker on securing the top prize of Runners Runner, becoming only the second member in the clubs history to win it twice – the other being Nick Harris. Jake’s haul of 5 awards takes him above Denise Bradley for most in the history of the club with 11 in total (in just 3 years). Gareth Richards and Claire Dunbar-Bowen who both won on the night are on 8 each. However, it was great to see 28 different winners on the night including several winning their first awards with the club.
Chair’s Runners of the Month
March sees Spring arrive and it ebbs closer to the traditional Spring marathon season which often dictates the routine of our longer distance runners. But we acknowledge we have runners with targets which vary wildly in distance and so the season, for many, sees a plethora of events appear on the scene to target.
One constant all year is parkrun – it’s there for us all on a Saturday morning at 9am, come rain or shine, and it fulfils such a huge variety of slots in our routine. For some it provides the mechanism for a timed 5k – to provide that benchmark in their journey – and for many achieving a first finish provides a huge lift.
My first choice is someone who has had her fair share of the top spot. Running is so much about the journey, but you’ll also here me extol the power of running to lift the mind and pipping everyone to the finish can have that outcome. I’m full of admiration for runners who work hard through their journey while building and nurturing a family. When that is the case our time is consumed and quite often commitment to running is heavily impacted. In the month of collecting the Senior Female award for an amazing year in 2023, she collected another couple of first finishes and continues to stay competetive and committed. I’m delighted to award my first Chair’s Runner of the Month for March to Carys Bissmire. Keep pushing and inspiring us Carys – while devoting yourself to your wonderful family!
My second choice this month is a bounce-back story. We have had several members whose journey has been hampered by illness. Often life is put on hold through treatment and recuperation. A recent initiative that runs alongside parkrun seizes on the fact that active recovery can help to strengthen the path to better physical and mental wellbeing. When allowed to do so, my next choice showed similar resolve to his last appearance in these accolades, several years ago. Dedication to doing it right. Doing it as prescribed. But doing it. Not letting it slip. When the body allowed, doing what he could. Steadily building through the stages back to full activity. Recognising the worth and then embracing good practice to make full use of it. Positivity exuding and inspiring us as the journey back gathers momentum. So good to see. Totally inspired I am delighted to award my second Chair’s Runner of the Month for March to Shawn Cullen. Well done Shawn – keep up the good work!