parkruns
April saw our members notch up 310 parkrun finishes across 71 parkruns with a massive 52 different parkrun locations. International tourism included Kris Denholm at Krakow parkrun, and Karl Johnson at Zuiderpark whilst social member Mark Teesdale ran at Millennium parkrun in Canada. April 20th saw a number club tourism record set with our members running at 21 different parkruns!
The second weekend of April saw our Zero to Hero’s graduate at Aberfields parkrun with 53 members turning out for the occasion. Well done to all our new Z2H graduates.
On the speedy side of parkrun, Jacob Tasker picked up another couple of first finishes at Aberfields and Sharpham Estate plus Niki Puleio had a first place finish at Maesteg. There were several first female finishes with Carys at Maesteg, Marina at Maesteg, Claire DB at Brynaman and Sarah D at Aberfields.
Races
A much lower turnout than previous years for the Vale series of races although we did have 5 runners in the 10 miler, Angharad Hinam, Nick and Linda Harris in the 18.5 miler, and Carl Walsh in the 32 mile ultra.
The Samtampa Memorial 7K in Porthcawl saw 11 of our members take on the course with Jamie Verran finishing 3rd overall. Later in the month, 12 members took on the Bluebell Blunder 7K where I was the first finisher for the club followed by Claire DB.
Just one 10K in the month which saw 15 of our members take on the Newport course. Jamie Verran was our first runner across the line in a PB of 40:19. There were also PB’s for John Batchelor whilst it was a very good day for some of our past and present Zero to Hero runners with Ria Ross, Caryn Hicks, Lisa Ryan, Julie Greenman, Claire Miles and Kate Teasdale all running 10K PB’s.
There were a few Half Marathons in the month with Tom Mahoney (1:29) and James Marsh (2:04) picking up PB’s at the London Landmarks Half with Darija Keenor and Vickie Blake also running the event. Jake Tasker bagged himself another win at the Red Kite Challenge Half with Katie Plimmer also completing the challenging multi-terrain, hilly course. We had 12 runners at the Newport Half Marathon that is now held alongside the 10K and Marathon. Emyr Bissmire was our first runner across the line in 1:33 whilst there were PB’s for Carys Bissmire (1:45), Willow Hughes (1:48), Ben McCrum (1:48), Arwen Rees (1:54) and Ben Batchelor (2:03).
The major events of April were the marathons, starting off with 15 members at the London Marathon. Aled Jenkins – an unfamiliar name to most as he’s only recently signed up for the club sent shockwaves through the club as he broke the stranglehold Jacob has off all the club records running 2:30:40! Niki Puleio set off with Aled Hughes to try and help him break 3 hours after two near misses in the past 12 months or so. Again, Aled was on track but the time just slipped away towards the end. Niki finished in 3:00 with Aled in 3:03 and Paul Smith who has previously broken the 3 hour mark finishing in 3:08. Despite a very injury interrupted build up, Dai James finished in a very respectable 3:37 whilst Martin Beard bagged himself a PB of 3:46. Adam Kearns, Sarah Davies, Wayne Hayhurst, Nick Harris, Gail Newell and Nige Rees were next up before Jo Rowling completing her first marathon and finally our returning member, Sian Tossell.
There was drama at the Newport Marathon where a few days after the race, it was found that the course was 276m too long so times were adjusted which are the ones I’m including here. Gareth Richards was our first runner across the line despite having been out of action with a chest infection in the weeks leading up to the race – his time of 3:11 was just outside his PB set last year. Toby Kearns, Neil Ridley, Danny Ridley and Robert Green were next up before PB’s for Nicola Veasey, Kaye Pedler and Rya Davies who all came in together in the adjusted time of 4:48.
Before both these events, Heather Morgan followed up her presentation night award winning marathon from last year by completing the Brighton Marathon in 5:40.
BCRL is back
The Bridgend County Running League returned with it’s first fixture for the 2024 season at Sandy Bowl to an incredible response. Every club turned up with huge numbers but we still managed to top the lot with an unbelievable 101 members crossing the finish line. It’s only the fourth time we have had over 100 members finish at one event. There was a surprise in store with the winner not being an Ogmore Phoenix runner for the first time since 2019, however, our speedy men and women did their bit and alongside the huge turnout, we finished second overall to a rejuvenated Bridgend AC who appear to be out for revenge after our team wins in the past two years. It was a particularly fantastic performance by our top 10 girls who outscored Bridgend and Porthcawl for the first time since the new scoring system has been in place.
Chair’s Runners of the month
As I wrote last month, we’re now entering the Spring marathon season and it feels appropriate to honour members who have completed the distance with an admirable story to tell.
My first choice has had an incredibly arduous journey to the event of note. A serious injury put pay to running of any kind. In fact, even walking was serious limited. It was a long journey back – a journey that is as much a mental battle as it is physical. It’s a slow process – patience is a virtue here – and there are always challenges along the way. It takes a strong will to stay determined through that process and one way to try and ensure that the end goal is reached – is to set one. Sometimes it needs to be big. Big enough that just getting sorted won’t fulfil it – look beyond the good outcome and target something that will be a challenge beyond full recovery. Nothing like setting a challenge – and this was going to be a marathon – her second! Recovery was slow – and long – but it was progressive. Healing took place and she rolled with the setbacks and continued to strengthen until it was possible to move properly again and run. Steadily building – exercising caution not to overdo it – and working towards the goal. All of the commitment paid off and we were wowed by the achievement when it came with a certainty that was never doubted after the incredible dedication shown to the challenge. Brighton marathon – achievement unlocked! Again, I’m in awe. People are amazing and none more-so than my first choice Chair’s Runner of the Month who I’m delighted to share is Heather Morgan. Well done Heather – amazing job that will always stand as an example of how it should be done!
My second choice is a stalwart. Here since the start. There have been periods of sporadic commitment to running goals throughout that time. Sometimes distance – sometimes speed. Focus wavered. But it’s been noticed that, for some time, the focus has been consistent. Times have steadily been coming down. Goals were being set and training was dedicated towards them. That sensible approach that’s needed to make big differences in the outcome. It’s difficult when you’ve run for many years to start making improvements once again. Times tend to plateau and the effort required to bring times down again can often be hampered by the inevitable impact of aging. When it does – hard work has been at the forefront of the process and it is worthy of accolade. Inspired by this renewed focus at short and long distance, and in particular the marathon, I am delighted to award my Chair’s male runner of the month to Aled Hughes. Keep that focus up Aled! Looking forward to seeing where it leads.