parkrun
The first weekend of the month saw 60 members across 15 different parkruns. We had the top 3 at Aberfields with Jonathan Matthew getting a first finisher token for the second time but this time was with a sub 20 PB. John Burridge was second with Aled third. We didn’t have any runners at Maesteg which was likely due to the BCRL presentation being in the Hi-Tide after Porthcawl parkrun and therefore making it difficult to attend a different parkrun and still get there in time. Claire Dunbar-Bowen ran her 100th parkrun after several weeks of being on 99 but wanted to leave it until after her run at the Chicago Marathon.
The second weekend saw 47 members across 17 different parkruns which has to be our highest ratio of different parkruns to overall parkrunners. Overall numbers were affected by various distance Mo Run races in Cardiff as well as Gwent XC also in Cardiff later that afternoon. Aled was second at Aberfields, Niki Puleio ran our fastest time of the day with a 18:32 at Greenock parkrun in Scotland.
The third weekend saw 66 members across 16 different parkruns. After several years of waiting for that first finisher token, Rhodri claimed it for the second time this year when he crossed the line first at Maesteg. However, the fastest time of the day went to Aled Hughes with an impressive 18:24 at Porthcawl which amazingly was only fast enough for 9th overall. Jonathan Matthews set another PB with a 19:31 at the same parkrun. John Burridge was 2nd overall at Aberfields. We also had members running at both Y Promenad parkruns (Aberhonddu and Abermaw).
The fourth weekend saw one of our lowest attendances of the year with just 33 members across 6 parkruns. This was largely due to Storm Bert which caused multiple cancellations including Maesteg. Aberfields was visited by Danny Norman from the With Me Now parkrun podcast. Danny has been involved in parkrun since the early days of Bushy Park Time Trial as it was originally known. He has done the second most parkruns in the world – Aberfields was his 875th, has visited almost 500 different parkruns, and has volunteered over 500 times with a combination of run/volunteer roles on a Saturday but mostly through being a former Run (Event?) Director at a junior parkrun and continues to regularly help out at various junior events. Jonathan Matthews was 2nd at Aberfields and only denied another first finisher token by someone who came along with Danny. Jay Howells celebrated his 100th volunteer whilst Heather Morgan ran her 50th parkrun.
The final weekend saw 50 members across 15 parkruns. Ceri Jones continued his impressive year of running with a 20:44 PB at Porthcawl. Paul Teesdale was first finisher at Aberfields ahead of Jonathan Matthews who was celebrating his 50th parkrun. Further afield we had Jay Howells at Telford, Gareth Davies at Valentines and Karl Johnson at Fleetwood Promenade.
Races
We had 8 runners take on the 10K and 7 take on the Half Marathon distance at the Cardiff Mo Run events. Paul Teesdale was 3rd overall in the Half Marathon in a PB time of 1:20:43 whilst there were also PB’s for Ceri Jones and Evie Clemett who clocked her first Half Marathon. In the 10K, Angharad Croot was our first member across the line in 48:46 which puts her amongst our top 10 fastest current female members for the distance.
November saw two Severn Bridge 5 milers with 17 members running in each. I set the fastest time across the two races with a 35:33 in the second race just ahead of an amazing run by Katie Plimmer who smashed her 5 mile PB by almost 10 minutes and finished 3rd female overall claiming a box of Lindt chocolates. Despite predominantly being a fun event where people dress up with glow sticks and lights, the rarely run distance along with a reasonably fast course meant there were a huge amount of PB’s including Rosie Plimmer, Laura Worrall, Alice Jenkins, Linda Harris, Peter Evans, Gareth Thomas, Shelley Evans, Angharad Rees, Debbie Griffin, Lisa Ryan and Abby O’Brien.
There were a number of 10K’s in the month with the biggest being the Richard Burton 10K which is always a popular one with our club. In fact, our 51 finishers was our largest attendance in the 11 years we’ve had members at the event. Excluding BCRL, it was our 3rd biggest race attendance this year behind Porthcawl 10K and Cardiff Half. Paul Teesdale was our first runner across the line just ahead of John Burridge. Aled Hughes and Connor Panting made it 4 runners under 40 minutes on a course not really known for PB potential. However, there were PB’s for who else but Jonathan Matthews, Marina Konstantinova and Ben Williams whilst several others had course bests.
Other 10K’s in the month included the Wear Wally charity race put on by our friends at Paul Popham Running Club where I was the only non-Paul Popham runner and ended up finishing first!? Alison and Gregg Allen along with Nige Rees ran the Benidorm 10K which surely needs to be a future club trip with a Half Marathon option as well. I found last minute flights and all-inclusive accommodation for 4 nights for under £200. The race fees are very reasonable as well. James Marsh did the Silverstone 10K (which also has a Half Marathon option), whilst Ria Ross and Caryn Hicks did the Bristol and Bath Railway 10K.
At the Machen Trail Half Marathon, Jake Tasker finished first overall – over 14 minutes ahead of second place! Katie Plimmer was 7th female overall over the very muddy and hilly course. Claire Dunbar-Bowen was 8th veteran female with the race only having either open or vet as their categories.
Cross Country
The second fixture of the Gwent League was at Llandaff Fields for an event that attracts some of the top XC runners in the world as it’s a Gold Label World Athletics event as well as being part of the British Athletics series. In the men’s race, we even had someone who had finished 6th in the 1,500m final just 3 months ago in the Paris Olympics and has recently broken Jacob Ingebrigtsen under 20’s record at that distance. We had 5 in the women’s race with Bethan Moor leading the team home with Jules Esmond up next just as they did in the first fixture in Pembrey. Fiona Drysdale who holds the overall club record for most cross country events completed was next up followed by Claire Miles and Ria Ross who were taking part in their first Gwent XC fixture. In the men’s race, it was two Gareth’s with Gareth Battle and myself completing the race. Ben Williams also started his first Gwent XC event but had to pull out with a niggle after the first lap. Angelo ‘Nico’ Doria ran in the U20’s race.
BCRL Presentation
A dozen or so OPR members headed to the Hi Tide after Porthcawl parkrun for the BCRL presentation. We had 8 prize winners with Arwen Rees and Jake Tasker taking top spot in their age categories. Freya Allen, Bethan Moor, Claire DB, Denise Bradley and Niki Puleio were all second in their categories. Katie Plimmer was third in the extremely competitive senior women’s category which also happens to be one of the biggest participated categories. We finished runners up in the club competition.