Category: Running

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May 2018 review

parkrunning in May

Our runners clocked up 171 parkruns across 36 parkruns during the month. Our runners visited 19 different parkruns in total. Welsh parkruns included Porthcawl, Maesteg, Barry Island, Newport, Cardiff, Swansea, Llanelli, Pontypridd and Gnoll.

Further afield we had regular tourists Shawn and Julie at Thornbury with Chris Stanlake joining them. Shawn and Julie also ran at Phoenix parkrun with Karl Johnson as part of the Liverpool club trip. The Littlewoods chose Princes parkrun as their Liverpool weekend venue. Martin Beard ran Pompey Hill, Vickie Cameron-Davies ran Gunnersbury whilst Gwenyth Steddy ran Henley-on-Thames during the month.

 

Races in May

5Ks

This month marks the start of many shorter races series including Aberavon, Swansea Bay and SSAFA as well as other one off local 5Ks.

The month started with 10 runners at Aberavon in blustery conditions where Chris Pratt was first across the line in a then personal fastest time of the year of 22:04 which he would lower that weekend at parkrun. Our first female was Jo Betty in 25:43. There were PBs on the night for Jo Rowling, Natalie Aryal and Claire Taylor.

Jo Betty and I ran the MK Rocket 5K that weekend. A race Jo has done a couple of times before with it being the town where she grew up. I ran my fastest 5K of the year with a 21:06 whilst Jo smashed her PB which had stood for almost a year by 29 seconds with a 24:06.

We had 10 runners at the Cardiff Victory 5K where Jamie Vanstone ran a PB of 18:03. Lisa Jenkins was our first female across the finish line.

Niki Puleio ran a sub 19 whilst Emma Morris ran a sub 25 at the Swansea Bay 5K. In the first SSAFA 5K of the series, some manual timing issues robbed Dai James of a 19:47 finish as it appears we were all given times of runners 2 places behind us. He was given 19:57 which was still a PB and which he lowered again four days later at parkrun. By my watch I equalled my best time of the year whilst it was also a seasons best for Karl Johnson despite having run a marathon just 3 days earlier.

The final 5K of the month saw 25 of us at the Merthyr Mawr 5K. A personal favourite of mine and my 7th year in a row running at the event. This wasn’t part of the Bridgend League this year but if I point out Neil Jones ‘only’ finished 9th with a fastest 5K of this year of 16:53 then I think it’s safe to say the race wasn’t any less competitive. Jo Betty was our first female back. There were PB’s on the night for Simon W, David McCann, Chris Stanlake, Vickie Cameron-Davies and Katie Pritchard.

10K’s

A couple of trail events in May with Shawn Cullen running the Brecon Trail whilst Suzanne Harrison and Pippa Clark ran the Welsh Trail 10K in Buith Wells in blistering conditions. Jo Kendall, Gail Pritchard and Andrea ran the Night Trail 10K.

Kaye Pedler and Nicola Veasey ran the Womens Running 10K in Cardiff.

At Caerphilly we had three sub 40 runners for the first time with the in form Jamie Vanstone adding 10K to 5K, Half Marathon and Marathon PBs all within 7 weeks. Niki narrowly missed out on beating his best 10K whilst Ryan Evans clocked a 39:36 PB. A photo of the three of them had comments suggesting they were the clubs new boy band to which Jamie suggested the name of UBsub40.

A week later on arguably a tougher course in Treforest, Jamie was at it again with yet another PB with a 38:30. Anneliese Lovelock smashed the female club record with 42:05 and was 3rd female. Her husband Steve clocked a PB just one second behind.

Half Marathons

Jo Betty and I ran the Milton Keynes Half Marathon in what was a slowest road half marathon time for both of us due to temperatures exceeding 25 degrees during the race. Supporters were encouraged to spray runners with water pistols whilst a few sprayed hose pipes from their drives on route. The race finishes with a lap inside the MK Dons stadium and as we ran the Rocket 5K the day before you collect an extra medal with the three from the weekend connecting together. Emma Morris also ran the Half having sensibly dropped down from the Full due to the conditions and having another marathon just 13 days later.

Simon Harrison, Steven James, Peter Harrop, Nicola Symmonds and Dan Clark experienced similar conditions in the super tough, hilly, Welsh Trail Half in Buith Wells. Steven James had an outstanding gritty run to finish 1st in his age category in a Run Wales event therefore earning himself a Gold Medal.

The hot conditions didnt stop Stephanie Dyke, Leigh Francis and Julie Ransom achieving PBs at the Liverpool Half Marathon which was one of the race options in this year’s club tour to Liverpool.

Marathons

As mentioned, the club tour this year was to Liverpool where along with 8 half marathon runners, we also had 12 doing the marathon. As with several races recently, the hot conditions meant PBs were unlikely however Amy Roberts produced one of the most impressive debut marathons in the clubs history with a well paced 3:55:26 whilst her dad, Chris, also running his debut marathon finished in 3:59:10 having run much of the race together. Sara Bayliss clocked a marathon debut of 4:39 whilst Sarah Littlewood  (like Emma Williams did at Newport) knocked an incredible 35 minutes off her London Marathon time with a 4:43. She ran with husband James who also bagged a PB beating his Snowdon time by 8 minutes. Emma Morris became our first member to officially pace in a marathon coming in around 5:30 (exact time unknown due to chip timing issue).

The only other marathon in the month was yet another hot one with Kris Denholm completing the challenging Dorchester Marathon in 4:14.

Other races

Other races in the month ranged from a flat 1 mile race to a hilly trail Ultra such is the variety of events our members enter.

The 1 mile race was myself running the Bannister Anniversary Mile in Cardiff. The event is run by Les Croupiers each year to celebrate the anniversary of the first sub 4 minute mile run by Sir Roger Bannister who passed away earlier this year. Runners are split in the groups according to predicted finishing  times to avoid congestion. I finished second in my race with a 6:15 clocking.

Kris Denholm and Darija Kennor ran the St Ilydts 50K. Kris secured a place only a couple of weeks before the event whilst impressively Darija completed her first Ultra just 2 weeks after completing her first marathon at Newport.

Karl Johnson and Fiona Drysdale ran the Lady Windsor race. Later that day Karl ran the Cardiff Victory 5K as well.

David Sheard completed the Preseli Beast Ultra in 7 hours 35. The race is one of the toughest trail 30 something mile ultras around. We also had 11 runners in the Beast Bach where it’s time for another mention for Jamie Vanstone who finished amongst the top few runners.

We had 6 runners at the Tonmawr Hilly 5 miler where Steve Loveluck lead our runners home closely followed by wife Anneliese who was first female overall.

Simon Williams took on the Caldra Idris mountain  race.

Finally there was also the first Bridgend League fixture of the year with a new race at Ogmore Castle. The route included the Golf club hill section of the old Pudding Run route. Neil was our first runner home with Claire Dunbar-Bowen our first female. We had an amazing turnout of 86 runners with over a dozen completing their first Bridgend League fixture for the club over the 5.5K trail course.

Chairman’s runners of the month

During May I was lucky enough to spend 12 days of May out in Las Vegas and was out virtually every day of that doing miles up and down “The Strip” in desert temperatures in the mid 30’s.  Despite being pre-occupied by the casino and loving life I did still manage to keep my eye on the clubs antics…

Commitments since May have delayed me getting round to completing my obligations as chair in the monthly blog but that does give me the benefit of hindsight to look back and further justify my choice for the month with further evidence of their achievements.

We’ve seen new faces joining the club over the last few months and all the newcomers have made an impression on joining.  As much as we celebrate achievement, we celebrate endeavour!  To see the running bug “click” is a wonderful thing and to be a part of making that happen is so rewarding.

My first choice for runner of the month is for making an impression.  Not only through running efforts of their own but in encouraging others in theirs.  I think it’s fair to say that she’s vocal.  “A bell on every tooth” as my mother would say. But in a good way.  Always encouraging.  Always the life and soul of the running party.  Since making the decision to award this person and at Swansea Half Marathon, after the month was over with fellow OPR tail walkers alongside her, she came around the final bend into the finishing straight singing “Party at the back” at the top of her voice!!  Wonderful spirit.  I am delighted to announce my Chairman’s female runner of the month as Sian Jenkins.

My second choice is for slightly different reasons.  We’ve had members come to the club with a certain pedigree, but often we’ve been unaware of such hidden talents.   I remember welcoming my second choice to a training session when he first joined the club.   Clearly a fast runner but if I remember right not completely confident of those abilities.  We’ve seen his running develop and he clearly has a competitive streak.  A “gritty” run in the tough Welsh Trails Half in Builth Wells in May earned him a gold medal for 1st in age category.  A worthy accolade for a great runner.  My Chairman’s male runner of the month is Steven James.

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April 2018 review

parkrunning in April

Our runners clocked up 171 parkruns across 36 parkruns during the month. Our runners visited 19 different parkruns in total. Welsh parkruns included Porthcawl, Maesteg, Barry Island, Newport, Cardiff, Swansea, Llanelli, Pontypridd and Gnoll.

Further afield Ian and Rhiannon Lewis ran at Stratford Upon Avon, Alun Wylde ran at Bideford, Sian Bright at Exmouth, Adam at Eden Project, Fiona Drysdale at Winchester, Helen Loo at Fulham Palace, Kaye Pedler at Kirra, Nigel Rees at Roding Valley and Niki at Eastliegh.

Of our regular parkrun tourists, Karl Johnson ran at Wakefield Thornes and Torbay Velopark, Shawn and Julie ran at Hackworth and Thetford, whilst Chris Pratt ran twice at Southampton which included over 1,100 runners.

Due to the Vale Ultra, there was a much lower attendance for the 5th anniversary of Porthcawl parkrun. The 5 year anniversary also marked the 5 year first parkrun anniversaries for Chris Pratt, David Sheard, Peter Harrop and John Burridge. Only John was actually a member of the club at the time.

Other things of note this month. There were large attendances at the final two Maesteg parkruns of the month with 21 runners from our club at each. Jamie Vanstone ran 18:21 at Cardiff parkrun achieving a top 10 finish. Deborah Edwards, Sue Verran, Sharon Pritchard, Sian Jenkins, Ffion Smith, Michelle Alexander, Cath Griffiths, Lisa Prior, Fran Hipkiss, Claire Taylor, Ashley Howells and Jayne Bismirre all achieved parkrun PB’s during the month. Claire Dunbar-Bowen set a new club age category record with a 23:05 at Maesteg which is also the fastest time by any female i  Apologies if I’ve missed anyone.

 

Races in April

The random distance events

What a month for races – starting with the Vale Ultra 18/32 milers and ending with the Newport 10K/Marathon. The Vale included 32 members running the 18 mile (closer to 19.5 mile) distance, and a further 12 members running the 32 mile (nearer to 34 mile) Ultra. Not only that but dozens of members turned out to support at the two starting points, along the route, and at the finish. Conditions were arguably the toughest in the 4 years that the event has run with adverse weather conditions for some time and midweek rain contributing to make much of the course a water / mud-fest adding to what is already a challenging multi-terrain course. With so many runners, unfortunately I can’t mention every achievement, but a particular well done to several members who were running their furthest distance in completing the 18 (19.5) miler. We also had 4 first time ultra-runners in the 32 miler.

Annaleise and Steve Loveluck ran the Sugar Loaf Fell Race. A 7 mile mountain race with an eye watering 1500 feet of elevation. Our fell loving racers done us proud with Steve coming in just under 70 minutes and Annaleise just over the 70 minute both finishing amongst the top half of runners in a field full of fell running regulars.

On the same day as the London Marathon, Angela Parry and Lisa Jenkins ran together at the Valley of the Hospice 6 miler in Parc Bryn Bach in sweltering conditions. We had 8 runners for the Pentrych Hill Race which was a fixture in our trail club championship where Jamie Vanstone was our first club finisher therefore extending his lead in the championship.

10K’s in April

Just one 10K in the month but a pretty big one with the inaugural Newport 10K. Whilst 27 of our runners were running the Newport marathon, 29 of us chose the 10K distance which set off half hour later. I was first of our club across the finish line in 43:57 followed by Jo Betty who set a new PB in 51:36. The PB’s continued with Brett Bonell, Rebecca Newton, Leigh Francis and Emma Winch all coming in under 55 minutes. Hannah Bartle also got a PB with a time just under the hour mark whilst Amanda Taylor and Deb Griffin will surely be aiming for the same in their next 10K having PB’d just a few seconds outside the hour. Michelle Alexander, Deborah Edwards, Natalie Aryal and April Kitchener also achieved PB’s in the event making it nearly half of all our runners achieving a PB and plenty of other great times besides.

Half Marathons in April

Well I’m actually going to start with a Half Marathon in March which I missed in the previous blog. Chris and Amy Roberts ran the Liverpool Half Marathon with Amy running a club age category record of 1:43:28 which is also puts her as second fastest female overall at Half Marathon distance in the club.

The first race of April and therefore the first race in the first full membership year as Ogmore Phoenix started with the inaugrual Cardiff Taff Trail Half Marathon. A very flat out and back course up the Taff Trail. Niki Puleio led our runners home with Jamie a couple of minutes behind achieving a huge PB with a 1:26:45. Neil, myself, Karl, Kimberley and Peter Walsh all also ran the event.

Other half marathons in the month included the Great Welsh Half Marathon where Rebecca Newton bagged a PB with a 2:05 finish. Dawn Hopkins ran the Disney Half Marathon in what was her 100th event for the club. Sally Pensom ran Chester Half Marathon where she got a great PB time of 2:14.

Marathons in April

Antonio Antoniazzi smashed his marathon PB with an impressive 3:42:07 at the Paris Marathon at the start of the month. A week later, Simon Harrison came agonsingly close to a sub 4 at Brighton with 4:00:47.  Densie Bradley set a female club age category record with a 4:42:07, whilst Jonathan Pritchard completed our Brighton heroes with a time of 6:56:44.  On the same day, the returning Neil Jones got yet another marathon PB with an incredible 2:45:24 at the Gloucester Marathon. Caerwyn Lewis finished in just over 5 hours in the same race.

London Marathon saw 8 members get the running experience of a lifetime around the city. Unfortunately for those aiming for certain times, it was the hottest London Marathon on record with temperatures exceeding 24 degrees. The weather had a dramatic effect on runners particularly in the second half of the race. John Burridge finished in just under 4 hours and Anthony K and Mark Burgess finished in just under 5 hours. Emma Williams, Sarah Littlewood and Sara Vowles had an absolute blast running together and finishing in 5:18:40 in what was a first marathon for all. Nige Rees finished 4 minutes behind, whilst Jake Banner who joined the girls at one point finished his first marathon in 5:31:08. This year appears to have inspired even more members than usual with many already seeking charity places and a record number signing up when the 2019 ballot opened.

On the same day as London, Emma Morris ran with her partner in the Zurich marathon which saw temperatures even higher than London. She finished in 5:07 although I believe that was the gun time rather than chip.

The biggest marathon in terms of club participation was still to come. At the inaugural Newport Marathon we had 29 runners. Neil Jones set his second marathon PB in just 14 days with a 2:43:07. That’s an incredible 6:13 average mile and the equivalent of running 8 and a half parkruns at 19:16 for each 5K. Niki Puleio was next up in with an amazing PB of 3:05:01 which puts him second in the clubs marathon rankings. Agonisingly the London Good For Age time was sub 3:05. The PB’s kept rolling in with Jamie Vanstone, Neil Price, Gareth Richards and one of our fastest marathon debuts ever with Dai James running 3:33:08.

Claire Dunbar-Bowen set a new female club record with a 3:46:32. Almost 22 minutes off her time she ran in Waterford last year. She also now holds 5 out of the 6 records for the club in her age category. Steven James and Mark Gabb continued the PB’s whilst Juliet Amner in her first marathon for the club, set a new age category record in 4:13:46, taking the category record Denise has broke just 2 weeks earlier. Victoria Hillman and Nicola Symmonds improved their marathon times whilst Bruce Hill ran his first marathon in his first event for the club.

Emma Williams, who got a place last minute ran finished in 4:44:50 – beating her London time from the previous week by 34 minutes! She was joined by marathon debutante Louise Foster with another marathon newbie, Jo Kendall, finishing just a few minutes behind. Karl Johnson continued his quest of running 18 events at Half Marathon distance or over. Alun Wylde was delighted with a sub 5 hour finish and running the whole distance. Ian Lewis ran almost an hour quicker than his previous two marathons with a 5:10 finish and was joined by Mark Worrall. Our final finisher was Darija in 5:25.

Chairmans Runner of the Month

I’ve written all this once before but rather than writing offline I wrote it straight to the blog and it decided to crash on me just as I tried to update it.  Lesson learnt!  Here we go again…

April.  It was a month dominated by a trio of major events.  A week in we saw a huge turnout for the Vale Coastal Challenge covering the two distances of 18.5 miles and 32.5 miles.  The latter falling into the class of ultra marathon.   Two weeks later we saw a number of members head to the English capital to complete probably the most famous race on the calendar, the Virgin Money London Marathon and just a week after that we saw the inaugural Newport Marathon and 10k event take place.  Being local this also attracted a fair few members onto the streets.  More and more of our number tackle the marathon distance as confidence and endurance build and they target longer and longer races.  

It is from these events that I selected my winners for the month.

Entry to the London Marathon is becoming more and more difficult as the sheer volume of people in the ballot increases.  As the popularity of running accelerates we are seeing the requirements to obtain club places also increase and the good for age times are becoming more difficult to achieve.  Despite that we had members who successfully obtained places, some through chosen charities close to their hearts.  Spring marathons require dedication through the tough winter months and so to follow a training plan effectively can be difficult.  Through mutual support we had a group of runners who managed it to the letter.  Training had been spot on.  Little niggles had come and gone but the miles were achieved and the distances got longer.  The excitement and subsequent nerves built but we knew they had put in the hard work and as long as they remained injury free they would be absolutely fine.  They did.  A small, tight-knit group of ladies in particular defied the heat of the day and enjoyed their tour of the London streets finishing in an admirable time, most on their first running of 26.2 miles.  A feat in itself worthy of accolade but one of their number decided that London as her first marathon wasn’t quite enough of a challenge and had a place for the inaugural Newport Marathon just one week later.  Now I’ve questioned whether I should be honouring such a move as our coaches would no doubt be shuddering at the thought of a newbie to marathon running tackling a second only one week later.  However, from my own experience I have discovered that a sensible and successful long-term pattern of training as a build up, and proper recovery from the first if you haven’t gone all out in it can result in it being a long training run for the other.  It was clear she was capable of more and she asked for advice immediately following London as to whether it was achievable.  Heeding the advice of rest to the letter she stood on the start line of Newport one week later and smashed her time set the previous week by 34 minutes!!  An outstanding achievement and I am delighted to announce my chairman’s female runner of the month as Emma Williams.  Well done Emma.

We have many runners who graduate from the Zero to Hero (Z2H) programme within the club who go on to become prolific runners.  The running bug grabs them and draws them in.  Signing up for races I liken to kids in a sweet shop when the bug has got hold of you.  You see an event and can’t help getting on the start list.  This happened to someone in our midst who went from his first session at Z2H to his first ultra marathon in virtually one year.  Since starting running he’s never looked back.  He completed the full distance Vale Coastal Challenge in 2017 in an impressive 7 hours 53 minutes.  This year we were subjected to what has been described as the worst conditions in the last 4 years.  It’s fair to say it was very muddy and even in decent trail shoes it was difficult to get good purchase on the ground and maintain momentum.  Conditions like that are energy sapping and typically make for a very long day over such a long distance.  Despite all of that this guy romped home with a PB of an hour and a half in 6 hours 22 minutes!!  Absolutely amazing running.  But this particular example really crowns off a very short running career that is going from strength to strength with every race.  I’m looking forward very much to seeing where it takes him next.  It gives me great pleasure to award Daniel Clark my chairman’s male runner of the month.  Well done Dan.  Keep it up!

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March 2018 review

March parkruns

An unprecedented start to the month with the Beast from the East resulting in every parkrun within an hour or two radius being cancelled. I believe it’s the first time in the clubs 5 and a half year history that none of our members ran a parkrun. However, despite Beast of the East part 2 a couple of weeks later, we still accumulated  202 results in the month across 27 parkruns. That total includes 98 different members and 18 different parkrun venues.

Aside from the usual home parkruns of Porthcawl and Maesteg, we had members at the following Welsh parkruns – Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Gnoll, Pontypridd, Llanelli, Cwmbran and Llyn Lech Owain,. Further afield Wayne Hayhurst ran at Forest of Dean, the Littlewoods ran at Gunnersbury, Saul ran at Peckham Rye and Lullingstone, Chris Pratt ran at Riverside. Of our regular tourists, Chris Roberts ran at Princes and Harlow, Karl ran at Didcot,  Shawn and Julie ran at Newent, and Jo Betty and I ran at Great Denham as well as ticking off a local-ish one with Llanelli.

March included Newport parkrun’s 7th anniversary where a few of our members were in attendance including Richard Lowcock-James who started parkrunning at that venue and has completed 112 times.

Another month with plenty of parkrun PB’s. Claire Dunbar-Bowen was first female finisher at Maesteg whilst Neil Jones finished the month as first finisher at Porthcawl. Neil also set a new overall veteran club record in his first event after turning 40.

Races in March

With the first weekend of the month being totally wiped out by the Beast from the East with several races cancelled, we had to wait until March 11th for our first race of the month. Jo Betty and I were in Milton Keynes for the festival of running which includes 5K, 10K, Half Marathon and 20 mile race options. Jo went for the 10K finishing in 55:28, whilst I did the Half in 1:48:42.

Only a couple of races survived the weather a week later which included the Darth Mannion. To call it a challenging course seems somewhat of an understatement as the course includes pretty much every terrain and deep water crossings in freezing temperatures. Richard LJ took on the challenge for the second year and somehow managed to convince some others to join him with Rhiannon, Ian Lewis and James Beynon completing the course.

Finally a break in the weather for the Cardiff Bay 10K on March 25th where the Phoenix were out in force with 40 runners. Neil Jones set another veteran club record even though he started in the second wave of runners in the yellow pen. John Burridge and Jamie Vanstone both set huge personal bests with 38:12 and 38:59 respectively. The PB’s kept coming with Mark Gabb, Kevin James, Jayne Bissmire, Rebecca Newton, Debbie Griffin, Leigh Francis, Debbie Bennion, Jo Rowling, Sharon Pritchard, Nicola Veasey and Michelle Alexander. It’s not all about the PB’s though. Many ran their fastest times for many months or helped others achieve their goals.

On the same day we had 11 runners at the inaugural London Landmarks Half Marathon. Ashley Howells lead the Phoenix runners home sneaking under 2 hours for the second time this year. Lisa Jenkins and Claire Taylor both set PB’s on the course.

Chairman’s runners of the month

It’s fair to say the weather this winter has been atrocious – has winter actually finished yet?  What is atrocious weather for running though?  We love rain – don’t we?  Makes those trail runs all the more fun!!  Am I digressing?  I think so…  other than to state the fact that it’s left March a bit of a wash out – normally a month where races abound.  Amazingly snow has, yet again, caused cancellations of events that were rescheduled from even earlier in the year!

I’ve said it before.  I’ll say it again.  Runner of the month doesn’t always mean that all the running resulting in the accolade occurred within the month.  For one, that certainly wasn’t the case…  It was the culmination of an impressive record resulting in a milestone that warrants recognition.  Zero to Hero has introduced many members to the club.  The vast majority of the graduates of the scheme have continued to run and go on to bigger things within the club.  Sometimes that development has actually been a surprise to the person involved.   For someone who is very unassuming about her running this person managed, during March, to become the 8th female to reach 100 events representing the club, but most amazingly in 105 weeks and the first ever Zero to Hero runner to hit 100 events for the club!!  Absolutely amazing stats and just goes to show what can be achieved.  Massive well done to Bev Sheard for being my chairman’s female runner of the month.

As for male runners, one springs to mind immediately if we’re looking purely at great running performance.  Already holding a plethora of club records there’s always room for a few more and the crossing of an age boundary always opens up a whole fleet of age category opportunities.   Just this month alone this runner has broken two more, the second in a 10k where he started in the second wave and so had to fight his way clear to hit a good time.  OK, I’ve given the game away now probably if you’ve read the write up above…  I remember this guy leading a very relaxed lifestyle and running impressive times but you could always tell there was more to come.  Once consistency, discipline and focus set in and the training miles increased dramatically, the times came down by silly amounts.  A very impressive example of what hard work can do.  Maintaining that is difficult but it has been achieved here and so my chairman’s runner of the month is Neil Jones.

After choosing Neil he has informed us that he won’t be renewing his membership.  I seem to be making a habit of picking people over the last couple of months who are leaving the Phoenix behind.  Going out on a high!  I would like to take this opportunity to wish him all the best in future endeavours and look forward to running alongside him (or should that be way behind him) again at events in the future!  Good luck Neil.

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February 2018 review

parkruns in February

Another big month for parkrunning with 167 results in the month across 28 parkruns. That total includes 88 different members and 21 different parkrun venues.

Aside from the usual home parkruns of Porthcawl and Maesteg, we had members at the following Welsh parkruns – Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Gnoll, Pontypridd and Pontypool. Further afield Jayne Bissmire ran at Minehead, Wayne Hayhurst ran at Stonehouse and Forest of Dean, the Sheards ran at Nostell, the Littlewoods ran at Telford, Saul ran at Dartford, Chris Pratt ran at Southampton and Matt Murray, Ian Lewis and Carrie Griffiths ran at the Eden Project. Of our regular tourists, Chris Roberts ran at Princes, Karl ran at the inaugural Llanerchaeron and Gloucester City events,  Shawn and Julie ran at Moors Valley, and Jo Betty and I ran at Bushy.

For those who don’t know Bushy parkrun is where parkrun started over 13 years ago with just 13 runners. On the day we ran (24/02/18) the finish count was 1,211. The total number of UK parkrun finishers on 24/02/18 was 113,450 across 501 parkruns. Worth mentioning that whilst Bushy parkrun is the highest attended parkrun in the UK, there are over a dozen parkruns in South Africa that have attendances of 1500-2500 runners every week.

February included Cardiff parkrun’s 10th anniversary where they became only the 4th UK parkrun to top 1000 runners with 1192 in attendance including Richard Purnell and Victoria Hillman with Sian Tossell in supporting.

Worthy notes in month include Sian Jenkins, Fran Hipkiss and Deborah Edwards running their first parkruns. John Burridge ran a new PB of 18:31 at Swansea making him the 4th fastest parkrunner in the clubs history. Neil Jones claimed the fastest parkrun time of the month with 17:53 at Pontypridd which earned him 3rd place that week.

Congratulations to everyone who achieved PB’s during the month including Jayne Bissmire, John Burridge, Maria George, April Kitchener, Rhiannon Lewis, and Rhiannon Sian amongst others.

We also had milestones in month with David Sheard recording his 200th parkrun, Peter Harrop reaching his 150th parkrun and Angharad Rees running her 100th.  Our two longest serving parkruns also celebrated their parkrun anniversaries in February with it being 10 years since Ann Davies ran her first parkrun (the second ever event at Cardiff) and 9 years since Jo Betty ran her first parkrun which happened to be the 1st anniversary parkrun at Cardiff.

Races in February

After a very quiet January, Emma Morris was back in action with the London Winter 10K at the start of the month in 55:53. She then ran the Bramley 20 miler a week later but had to cross the finish line at 15 miles due to injury. Her time was still recorded which looks like an incredible 20 mile time.

We had 5 runners at the Reverse 10 where Jamie Vanstone was 39 seconds off setting a new club record in 01:05:52. Gareth Richards set a new club age category record, Chris Pratt missed out on a PB by just a few seconds, whilst there were great PB times for Karl Johnson and Kayley Griffiths.

The first Ultra of the year saw 9 of our members run the Brecon to Cardiff 44 miler. Neil Jones finished 4th overall in 05:55:09 averaging a mind boggling 8 minute miles for the entire run. Jamie Vanstone ran the course in under 7 hours and was also amongst the top finishers. Antony Williams and Stephen Davies came in either side of the 8 and a half hour mark whilst Graham Hillman managed to sneak under 9 hours. Liz Sim, Dan Clark and Gareth Richards all ran together finishing in 9 and a half hours. Wayne Hayhurst who has now run several Ultras having only run his first last year was our final finisher in just over 10 and a half hours. It should be pointed out it was the longest distance ever for Antony, Stephen, Graham, Liz and Dan.

At the Hoka Winter Trail Half Marathon, Anneliese Loveluck was our first club finisher in a PB time of 1:43:15 which is also a club age category record. She finished 10 seconds ahead of her husband Steve who also recorded a PB despite the course having over 2000 feet of elevation. Rhiannon Sian recorded one of the stand out results in the club’s history. Going into the event her PB was 02:50:50 on the relatively flat streets of Cardiff Half Marathon. On a hilly multi terrian course, Rhiannon’s recent improvements were made very clear when she knocked 14 minutes off her PB. In comparison, almost everyone else (understandably given the course) were at least 10-15 minutes slower than their PB’s set on flat road courses.

The next day saw the Llanelli Half Marathon with Karl Johnson running his second half in as many days as part of his efforts to run 18 Halves in 2018 for Ty Hafan. John Burridge set the fastest half marathon time of any member this year with a huge PB time of 1:23:53 and is now second only to Neil in terms of fastest half marathon times in the clubs history. Dai James was up next also with a PB. Ashley Howells bagged his first sub 2 hour half marathon whilst Sara Vowles and Emma Williams got PB’s just outside the hour mark. Jayne Bissmire, who was aiming for her first sub 2:30 half marathon smashed her own expectations finishing in 2:10. Joanne Rowling, Rebecca Newton, Hannah Bartle and Alana Lutwyche all also claimed PB’s.

Chairman’s runners of the month

February is one of those quiet months.  I suppose race organisers want to avoid the bad weather that typifies the second month of the year – an argument justified by the recent conditions we are facing.   But there are still some events going on and we had some amazing running at the few events that there were.

Running is something that some of us dip in and out of.  We have years where we put our whole being into it and dedicate every waking moment to treading the streets or out on the trails.  Then we have years where other things get in the way and the focus ebbs away.  I joined the club at the end of 2014 and the name of my first choice was something I heard on a frequent basis and saw on many a list of age category and club records, but he had stopped coming to club.  A great runner by reputation but someone that I never met for many months after that.   On odd occasions he would sweep past a training session on his way home and stop and say hello but it took a long time before he returned to training.  But return he did.  He returned with a fire that has driven him on to big training mileage as he heads towards the excitement of hitting the streets of London in the spring.  With a renewed focus the training has paid off and in a similar way to last months winner times at short and long distance have come down as a result.  With a new 5k PB this month going sub 19 and a huge half marathon PB going sub 1:24 my chairman’s male runner of the month is John Burridge.

As I’ve said before, some accolades come as a result of an achievement that tops a historical build-up worthy of note.  We honour runners of all abilities and ones who run all distances but sometimes you do have to take a step back and admire the efforts of someone taking on bigger and bigger challenges.  The back story to the running often compounds the achievement.  We all have things going on in our lives that often contribute to the reasons we run.  Running is therapy.  It’s an escape.  A way to free yourself from the shackles of the day to day.  Running longer and longer can be a way to prove to yourself how strong you are and exactly what you are capable of.  Often surprising yourself!  Knowledge of this strength can be channelled into dealing with big issues elsewhere in our lives.  A challenge set in 2017 to complete all the home nations marathons having never run one before was completed with determination.  Never daring to stop dreaming the plan was hatched to tackle an ultra marathon and at the beginning of this month that goal was realised running the Taff Trail from Brecon all the way down to Nantgarw, just north of Cardiff.  A mere 44 miles.  Joined by other members of the club for the journey this little lady proved that no matter what life throws at you, you give it everything you’ve got and overcome the hurdles however big they seem.  An inspiration for all of us.  My chairman’s female runner of the month is Elizabeth Sim.

Well done guys.

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January 2018 review

January parkruns

A huge month for parkrunning with 215 results in the month across 43 parkruns. That total includes 99 different members and 29 different parkrun venues. Gareth Richards, Kris Denholm, Dave Evans, Rhiannon Sian, James Beynon and I all kicked off the year by doing a New Years Day double with Cardiff at 9am and Barry Island at 10.30am. It’s the only day of the year where parkruns are started at different times and recording 2 parkruns is allowed. Jo Betty also ran Cardiff before supporting at Barry. We even had New Years Day double tourism with Karl Johnson running Ashton Court and Pomphrey Hill parkruns in the Bristol area, whilst Sarah Littlewood ran Shrewsbury and Telford, and Nick Harris went for Peckham and Southwark parkruns. Chris Roberts added yet another Australian parkrun with St Peters parkrun on New Years Day before Airlie Beach on the first Saturday parkrun of the year.

Aside from the usual home parkruns of Porthcawl and Maesteg, we had members at the following Welsh parkruns – Cardiff, Barry Island, Swansea, Llanelli, Newport, Gnoll, Pontypridd, Bryn Bach, Rogiet, Riverfront and Grangemoor. Further afield Kris Denholm ran at Andover, Fiona Drysdale at Whiteley, Sarah Littlewood at Gunnersbury, Saul Harris at Eastville, Rebecca Newton at Wycombe Rye, Chris Pratt at Wyre Forest and Maria Lalic at Hereford.

Worthy notes in month include Maria running her first parkrun after volunteering over 150 times after first registering her barcode around 4 years ago. There was a first sub 19 parkrun for Jamie Vanstone which he beat again in the same month. We had an amazing Maesteg parkrun takeover on 13/01/18 organised by Karl Johnson where our members covered pretty much all of the volunteer roles and still had 17 runners at the event as well including pacers and tail walkers. Gareth Richards got a PB at Swansea parkrun with 19:42.

On 20/01/18 we had our first ever first finish double with Niki Puleio first overall and Claire Dunbar Bowen first female at the same event. On the same day I was 2nd overall at Rogiet parkrun. Niki had a 2nd placed finish at Maesteg the week after.

Congratulations to everyone who achieved PB’s during the month including Jayne Bissmire and Rhiannon Sian who are both regularly running sub 30 parkruns and chipping away the seconds.

Races in January

As with the parkruns, it all started on New Years Day. Awful weather for the Kenfig Prince of Wales 4 miler with 24 our of members braving the elements. Niki was first in for our members and amongst the top runners in the field whilst Fiona Drysdale finished just ahead of Liz Davis as our fastest female. This was the final event of the Festive Four where Liz Davis finished 4th overall in one of the categories.

The first 10K of the year was the Buff 10K where yet again Niki was first of our members across the line with Jamie Vanstone not too far behind. Brand new member Steve Loveluck was next up and won an age category prize for his efforts whilst his wife, Annaliese was 3rd female overall as well as an age category winner. The Loveluck’s could be shaking up the Ogmore Phoenix record books over the next few months.

Neil Jones ran the Gloucester Marathon in an incredible new club record time of 02:46:57 knocking a massive 7 minutes off his previous best.

In the first of 2 West Glam XC fixtures in the month, Ryan Evans made his club debut in some style running the 5.6 mile Margam Reservoir course in 34:56. Gareth Richards, myself, Kris Denholm and Dai James completed the scoring places for the men’s team. For the ladies, Sian Price ran quick enough to have scored for the men’s team and was joined by Josie, Claire DB, Emma Loyns and Liz Sim. Great results for both teams particularly with this being the same day as the Buff 10K and Riverbank Rollick meaning a lot of members spread across a number of events.

As for the Riverbank Rollick, there were 20 members running this year including several completing their furthest trail race (9 miles). Dan Clark lead the club members back through the thick sticky mud, rope required climbs and ice cold river at the end. Sharon Pritchard and Debbie Bennion were our final finishers in their longest trail race to date.

34 members took on the rearranged Merthyr Mawr Pudding Run on the new route. No change to the lung busting Big Dipper start but soon the race descended into muddy paths and mixed terrain with much of the course used for the Rabbit Run. However, the big difference being that this is January not July! Multiple river crossings (10 maybe??) which were all icy cold and some up to waist deep – it certainly wasn’t for the faint hearted in cold wintery conditions. Niki was our first member across the line and was 3rd veteran male overall. Annaliese Loveluck would have almost certainly been in with a chance of a veteran female prize but fell badly on the beach section with around 2 miles to go and required rescuing to be taken to the finish. Huge thanks to the organisers for quick response and thankfully Annaliese was OK with no long lasting injuries.

Neil Jones, Jamie Vanstone and Paul Johnson also braved the weather to run the Craig yr Allt fell race which was the first fixture in the clubs 2018 trail championships. Mark Gabb, Nigel Rees, Shawn Cullen and Julie Ransom ran the inaugural Barry CF64 Winter race which included some equally muddy conditions to the Pudding Run with some equally deep water crossings as well.

The final weekend of the month saw another Sunday were the club were split across a couple of big events. We had 33 at the Lliswerry 8 ranging from Dai Kembery as our only sub 1 hour finisher in 59:39 to Claire Taylor, Vickie Cameron-Davies, Helen Perry and Nicola Allen who all finished in just over 1 hour 40. A great effort by all.

Meanwhile there were 19 for the Margam Park fixture of the West Glam XC. An extremely strong mens team with Neil, Niki, Jamie, Gareth R and Simon Harrison our points scorers. For the ladies team, Claire DB, Emma Loyns, Emma Morris, Sara Vowles and Eryl James scored with Denise just behind.

As usual, I really wish I could comment on everyone’s achievements during the month and appreciate the blog often only references a few but a massive well done to everyone who ran one of these events or parkruns. A great start to the year.

Chairmans runner of the month

I’ve said in the past that my chairmans runner of the month may very well change it’s selection criteria on a whim.  They’re not statistical as that’s statto’s job.  Often the accolade might be bestowed for an achievement that has a build up through previous months.   It’s a very difficult decision to make with so many members doing so many wonderful things and I want to credit those who make achievements at all levels and not just those of wondrous proportions.

Some people run long.  Some people run fast and short.  We’re all different and tend to target different distances.  Rarely do we do both.  It’s usual to favour one over the other as the training is often so different.  However, it’s sometimes the case that with training going well, increasing the distance with dedication and care so it’s effective, the endurance obtained can lead to improvements in speed at the shorter distance naturally.  My male chairmans runner of the month has long been an ultra runner and despite injuries impacting progress at times he has bounced back – taken the sensible approach and come back with a-vengeance.  A sensible approach is something the coaches will back me up celebrating.  It has led to a improvement in short distance performance that even took this runner by surprise himself.  Dipping sub 19 (twice) for the first time during January after gradual improvements over the last couple of months he is flying high.  He is still training and racing long smashing both disciplines with apparent ease.  My chairmans male runner of the month is Jamie Vanstone.

From time to time the club will gain new members who come with a pedigree.  We have some amazing runners in our midst but this month we’ve had newcomers from the North.  OK, I’ve probably given the game away already but the build up to this was always going to be difficult to make discrete.  The impact of our new arrivals has been dramatic.  During January we’ve seen a 3rd female finisher overall in the Buff 10k – which people will know is a challenging route – and recognising the placement at the point of disaster another accolade was on the cards in The Pudding Run.  Anyone there will know that a fall on the beach brought an end to that chance but it was well and truly on!  A startling introduction to the club that warrants instant recognition.  Anticipating good things to come over 2018 but recognising the impact on the club in the first month my chairmans female runner of the month is Anneliese Loveluck.

Well done guys.

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December 2017 review

December parkruns

December saw 201 finishers across 42 parkruns and impressively 24 different parkrun venues in 4 different countries. Whilst Porthcawl and Maesteg remained the most popular parkruns for our members, there was plenty of tourism in the month. Phoenix tourism around South Wales included Cardiff, Cwmbran, Grangemoor, Haverfordwest, Llanelli, Llyn Llech Owain, Pontypridd and Swansea.

Further afield, Aled, Chris Stanlake, Kris Denholm, Brett Bonnell and Karl Johnson ran at Forest of Dean, Emma Loyns and Chris Stanlake ran at the Eden Project parkrun on separate weeks, Sarah Littlewood ran at Wyre Forest, Shawn and Julie ran at Sedgefield and Darlington South Park, Karl, Matt and Aled ran at Lydney, Karl also ran at Stonehouse and Poppintree, Kris ran at Exeter, Saul at Dartford and the Sheards ran at St Andrews .

Even further afield, Chris Roberts ran 3 different parkruns in Australia (including a Christmas Day parkrun) whilst out there over the festive period and for good measure had run 3 different tourist venues earlier in the month making him the only member to have not only run 6 parkruns in the month, but 6 tourist parkruns at that.

Some of the parkrun highlights include a 14th place finish in Cardiff parkrun for Niki Puleio with a 18:22 PB. Claire Dunbar Bowen was 2nd female at Maesteg parkrun and 6th overall. Sarah Littlewood was first female at Maesteg with Victoria Hillman 3rd female at the start of the month. Aled was 3rd overall on the same day. Maria Lalic also volunteered for the 150th time at parkrun during the month.

December races

With the last minute cancellation of the Pudding Run, it really only left the Aberavon Santa Run 5K, Cottrell Park 10K, Nos Galan and the Boxing Day runs as the well attended races in December.

Starting with the Santa Run where we had 26 runners led home by myself in a time of 21:40 for 15th place out of 398 runners dressed as Santa. Carole Bartle was our first lady across the line closely followed by Jo Betty.

Cottrell Park 10K saw Neil Jones run a blistering time of 37:58 around the off road course to finish 2nd overall. Angela Parry who was our first female across the line with Jayne Powney for company was 6th in her age category in the same event.

At the Glynneath 5 mile on Boxing Day, the female club record which had stood for 3 and a half years was shattered by over 2 minutes by Sian Price who was our first runner across the line in 36:10. There was also an age category club record for Denise Bradley with her PB of 41:25. A huge course best for Joanne Rowling who ran 6 minutes quicker than her time the previous year.

There was the usual big turnout for the Porthcawl Lions Boxing Day run. Unfortunately, full results are still not available but Neil Jones finished 3rd overall whilst Niki Puleio was 12th.

The final race of the year was the Nos Galan 5K. We had 5 runners in the Elite Race with a PB and 26th place finish against some of the best 5K runners in Wales for Neil Jones. A 19:34 PB for Jamie Vanstone in what I’m sure is only a temporary return to ‘normal’ distances having run several ultras including a 100 miler this year. Josie Bishop was our first female across the line in 22:42 whilst Emma Morris and Chris Pratt completed our line up in the Elite section.

In the ‘Fun Run’, we had 18 runners led home by Aled who finished 3rd overall across the line but had the 2nd quickest chip time with a 20:32. Gareth Richard and Kris Denholm had top 20 finishes whilst I was 35th out of the 824 finishers. Denise Bradley was our first female across the line and was 4th in her age category with Jo Betty close behind.

Other races in the month (or maybe this should be called the Emma Morris section) included Westonbirt 10K where Emma was the official 55 minute pacer, and another event on New Years Eve before then doing Nos Galan in the evening.

Stato Runner of the Month – Neil Jones

When you’ve been running for years you will inevitably reach a point where to even knock a single second off your PB requires increased, focussed training and dedication. Neil came into this year with a 5K PB of 17:08 and despite thousands of miles of training runs, it remained his PB going into December. Then this happened – a 17:01 PB at Porthcawl parkrun, a first sub 17 with a 16:55 at Pontypridd, another 17:01 and 17:06 all inside his PB going into the month followed before the Elite Race at Nos Galan. As I said, to knock at second off at that level is amazing, but Neil crushed his old PB with a 16:37. Add to that a second placed finish at the Cottrell Park 10K and a 3rd placed finish at the Lions Boxing Day run and it’s easy to see why he is my choice for Stato’s Runner of the Month.

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2017 review

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October 2017 review

A small change to the blog for this month as I will round up all parkruns first before going onto the big races in October.

October parkruns

October saw 119 finishers across 24 parkruns over the 4 Saturdays. A much lower total than usual with attendance affected by Storm Brian, Snowdonia Marathon and training runs leading up to it. Whilst Porthcawl and Maesteg remained the most popular parkruns for our members, there was plenty of tourism in the month. Phoenix tourism around South Wales included Haverfordwest, Llanelli, Gnoll, Pontypridd, Pontypool, Cardiff and Rogiet parkruns. Further afield, Saul Harris ran at Peckham Rye, Jo Betty and I ran at Milton Keynes (where Jo actually ran twice in the month), Nicola Allen ran at Minehead, Dawn Hopkins ran at Blackpool and Chris Roberts ran at Shipley Country parkrun. Even further afield, Dermot and Rhian Nolan ran at Waterford parkrun in Ireland whilst Fiona Drysdale ran Paris parkrun.

October saw Aled celebrating his 100th parkrun with Storm Brian turning up for the occasion at Maesteg. Storm Brian also caused the first Porthcawl parkrun cancellation in 4 and a half years.

Niki Puleio and Neil Jones both had first place finishes during the month whilst Juliet Anmer was first female finisher at Maesteg parkrun.

October 1st – Cardiff Half Marathon

A massive 90 runners at the Cardiff Half Marathon led home by Neil Jones in 1:20: 16. The PB list is a long one with Niki Puleio up next in 1:24:03 and John Burridge with 1:28:36 making it 3 Phoenix Runners under 90 minutes. Stephen Davies, Simon Williams, Dai James all clocked PB’s. Sian Price smashed the female club record with 1:41: 44 with Keith Coleman, Karl Johnson, Dan Clark and James Littlewood all adding to their impressive PB’s lists for this year. Coming in with their first sub 2 hour half marathons were Jo Betty, Martin Cowan and Sara Bayliss. David McCann, Claire Goldworthy and Ashley Howells all got PB’s and are edging their way towards their first sub 2 hour halves. Jackie Lewis was 3rd in her age category with an outstanding time of 2:08:45. The PB’s continued with Bev Sheard, Jayne Powney, Rebecca Newton, Donna Radford, Natasha Jordan, Stephanie Dyke, Hannah Bartle, Jayne Bissmire, Kaye Pedler, Jamie Bevan, Lisa Jenkins, Cath Griffiths and Leah Boon. Several of those listed running their debut half marathon.

Several used the race as a training run ahead of Snowdon Marathon and many paced other club members to PB’s.

October 7th – Gower 50

Three Phoenix took on the challenge of the Gower Ultra 50 miler. Gareth Richards was first back in 12:49 with Kris Denholm smashing his time from the previous year with a 13:48. Wayne Hayhurst added to his year of Ultra running with a 15:26.

October 8th – Merthyr, Chester and Bournemouth Marathons

We had 6 runners at the inaugural Merthyr Marathon with Neil Price leading the Phoenix in over the hilly course in 3:32:47. Antony Lewis ran with Nicola Prior helping her along to a 4:23:04 PB. Graham Hillman also achieved a PB in 4:35:00 putting his Waterford demons behind him. His wife Victoria just missed out on beating her Waterford time with a 4:47 whilst Liz Davis completed the course in 4:53. There was also a last minute decision to add a Half Marathon option which Melanie Thomas signed up for finishing in 2:17.

Kirsty Evans ran the Chester Marathon, agonisingly missing out on sub 4 hours by 39 seconds. Eryl James ran Bournemouth in an impressive PB time of 4:21:32.

October 22nd – Stroud Half Marathon and West Glam XC League

Wayne Hayhurst and I signed up for this one after Wayne had entered the previous year. We ran the first 5 miles together before Wayne dropped back having felt ill during the week. Despite planning to take it easy, I ended up going past the 1:45 pacer that we had been following close behind for the first 5 miles and ended up finishing in 1:42:32. A little quick 6 days before Snowdon Marathon. Wayne finished in a more sensible 1:55:18. Reccomend this event as not too crowded and definitely PB potential with even less elevation than Cardiff.

We had 29 runners for the second West Glam XC fixture at the Gnoll. Leading the ladies home was Sian Price in 20th place and 4th in her age category. Claire DB, Denise Bradley, Fiona Drysdale and Samantha Thomas completed the top 5 scoring finishers. Great to see 16 ladies running after just 3 for the first fixture and including some trying their first XC event. Neil Jones lead our male club runners home over 2 laps (it was 1 lap for the ladies) and finished 8th overall in a field including some of the best runners in South Wales and even Welsh and GB internationals. Niki Puleio, Jamie Vanstone, James Littlewood and Steven James made up the other top 5 scoring finishers.

October 28th – Snowdonia Marathon

28 brave souls traveled up to North Wales with more than a dozen supports to take on the self titled ‘toughest road marathon in the UK’. Almost 3,000  feet of elevation over 26.2 miles. Niki Puleio lead our runners home in an unbelievable 3:15:00 – only 3 minutes slower than his time at Waterford on a much flatter course. Neil Price was next in with a few race wounds after a fall late on. Gareth Richards, Aled Hughes, Chris Truman and Dai K all got in well under the 4 hour mark with times ranging from 3:49-3:54. For Aled and Dai it was over a 10 minute improvement on their previous times at the same marathon 2 years ago. Nick Harris, Dave Evans and myself were next in – all having run the course in previous years. Daniel Clark finished in an impressive 4:21 in his first marathon with David Sheard getting his best time since joining the club with 4:22. Josie Bishop was our first lady in 4:25. Richard LJ got a 4:45 PB with Wayne just a couple of minutes behind. Caerwyn Lewis and James Littlewood both got debut marathon PB’s.

Elizabeth Sim completed her 4 nations (Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland) challenge of running a marathon in each accompanied by Mark Burgess in just under 5 hours. Chris Pratt ran with friend of the club Roni in 5:10 which included assisting a Cornelly Strider on the way round, once again showing the incredible sportsmanship and camaraderie between runners.  James Beynon was next up in 5:20 followed closely by marathon debutantes Adam Rowe and Dai McCann.  Christie Coleman and Mark Worrall finished just over the 5:30 mark. Jo Betty who almost had to pull out with a knee injury just a week before employed a sensible walk / run strategy to finish in 5:53. Kimberley Thomas ran with Stephen Davies and former member and now Cornelly Strider Bethan Cross just over the 6 hour mark for her first marathon finish. Completing an amazing day for the club were Matt Murray and Ian Lewis in 6:07.

October round up

Alun Wylde and Christie Coleman ran the Ponty Plod 11 miler. A hilly off road race which several other members have run in previous years. Natalie Aryal ran the Royal Parks Half Marathon in a 2:52 PB.

Emma Morris ran the Great South Run 10 miler setting a new female senior club record of 1:24:40 a week after running a 10K race in Majorca. Emma is likely to set all sorts of female club records for most events with the amount of races she has entered and has lined up. If she was able to do parkrun every week then she would be challenging myself and Christie for most events overall.

Shawn Cullen, Julie Ransom and Samantha Thomas entered the Run Walk Crawl Ghost Run 5 miler. In the Dublin Marathon, Antony Lewis clocked a PB with a 3:56 finish. Peter Walsh finished in 5:23 whilst Angela Walsh clocked a 5:37 debut marathon PB.

Stato’s Runner of the Month – Niki Puleio

A tough decision with so many PB’s and improvements during the month but it’s hard to ignore another spectacular month for Niki who I think becomes the first runner to have my vote on 3 separate occasions. An outstanding 1:24:03 PB in Cardiff Half Marathon, a first place finish at Maesteg parkrun just 6 days later, a superb time at the Gnoll XC and then a phenomenal 3:15:00 marathon time in Snowdonia.

Chairmans Runners of the Month

Every month I’ve contributed to this I’ve said the same thing…  It’s a tough choice!!  With over 200 members doing incredible things every month it’s very difficult to identify who warrants the accolade – especially when there’s no specific criteria.

Two people particularly caught my eye…

The first person has had a rocky running career dogged with injuries.  These have been overcome with an equal amount of grit and determination that always pulled them through.  Someone who is very vocal about liking the longer distance events – sharing them on Facebook often and trying to draw in people to join him on these quests… He admits himself that some are actually a pipe dream… But dream he does!  At the beginning of October he tackled the 50 mile trip around the Gower… again.  I had visions of him losing his shoes like he had in The Witches at the Merthyr Mawr Trail Running Festival last year.  But he didn’t.  He soldiered on and despite experiencing tougher conditions than last year knocked 90 minutes off his time!  But that was just the start!  He’d signed up for a challenge to do 200 miles in October.  I have a particular interest in challenges and this one caught my eye… 200 is a high mileage for a month!!  Obviously, 50 is a good start, but even with 150 left it’s as good as 5 miles a day!  Sure enough, his character and tough legs got him through!!  So congratulations to Kris Denholm – chairman’s male runner of the month.

My second choice is currently on a mission!  Everyone has a different approach to running.  Some tackle distance events.  Some tackle short, fast events.  Some just train.   Some people enter every event known to man!!  Ironically October itself was a bit of a relative drought for this person only actually completing two events other than parkruns, but it’s the build-up through September that makes is admirable…  Three half marathons on consecutive weeks followed by a marathon on the fourth week.  But these have also been spread far and wide in Swindon, Budapest, Bristol and Loch Ness!!  Into October and another trip abroad to Majorca for a warm 10k (not that I’m jealous at all) and then back home for a place in the Great South Run breaking the women’s senior 10 mile club record!!  Brilliant running and determination and a well deserved chairman’s female runner of the month – Emma Morris.

Just remember though, accolades aren’t always given for huge distance or quick times and so in future months I will be recognising all kinds of different aspects of running.

 

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November 2017 review

November parkruns

November saw 132 finishers across 33 parkruns over the 4 Saturdays. Whilst Porthcawl and Maesteg remained the most popular parkruns for our members, there was plenty of tourism in the month. Phoenix tourism around South Wales included Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, Riverfront, Bryn Bach, Llanelli and Pontypridd parkruns. Further afield, Shawn Cullen, Julie Ransom and Jayne Powney ran at Forest of Dean, Jo Betty and I ran at Linford Wood (Milton Keynes) which was 1 of 3 tourisms in the month for both of us, Karl Johnson ran at Gloucester North and Thornbury where he was joined by Aled Hughes, David Kembery and Nick Harris. Even further afield, Peter Harrop ran at Milan parkrun whilst Paul Johnson added another new parkrun country to the clubs list with Greenpoint in South Africa which had over a thousand runners..

In month John Burridge became the fourth club member to run a sub 19 parkrun. Gareth Richards finally did his official 50th parkrun after being on 49 for several weeks and forgetting his barcode on a couple of occasions.

November 5th – Richard Burton 10K

46 runners for this one led home by Aled in 42:58 just a week after running Snowdon. Simon Harrison was the first of PB crew in 43:42. Our first club female was Claire DB with 50:18. Other PB-ers included Joanne Rowling, Rhiannon Buckley and Suzanne Harrison.

November 12th – Mo Run 10K

Just 3 runners for this one with Emma Morris getting her first official sub 50 despite being in fancy dress with a 49:30. She had also run the Bristol Mo Run the day before. Nigel Rees and Jackie Lewis also ran coming in just under the hour mark.

November 18th – Warwick HM

Emma Morris continued her amazing run of form this time getting her first sub 1:50 half marathon with a 1:48;58.

November 19th – Pembrey MT10

9 runners for this increasingly popular race which sells out quicker each year. Niki Puleio led our runners home in a storming 1:07:58 over the sandy multi-terrain course. A few first time 10 miler PB with Simon Harrison, Lloyd West and Ashley Howells.

November 26th – Gnoll XC League

Some fantastic performances with Neil Jones leading the way for our runners whilst Sian Price lead the way for the female runners. The men are top of their division after 3 fixtures whilst the ladies are 9th in theirs at the half way point in the season.

Other races

Jamie Vanstone and Karl Johnson ran the inaugural Caer-hilly trail race with Jamie finishing in 11th place overall. Jamie was joined by Denise Bradley and Fiona Drysdale for the Black Mountains 9 mile trail race. A special mention to Louise Bennett who completed a personal challenge of running 100 miles during November. Plus more than 20 members completed the Virtual Half Marathon challenge in the first half of November as part of fundraising. More details on the link below…

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/noahandevelyn

Stato Runner of the month – Emma Morris

After being awarded Chairman’s Female Runner of the Month for October, Emma is my choice for Runner of the Month for November as the stats are amazing again. More races than anyone else, plus a 10K and Half Marathon PB.

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September 2017 review

Saturday 2nd – parkruns and Roman Run

41 runners across 7 different parkruns. Most taking it steady with thoughts of Cardiff 10K the next day. However, there were PB’s for Nigel Hitchings, Debbie Bennion and a parkrun PB for David McCann. Tourism included several at Maesteg, Nick Harris at Worcester, Elaine at Tees Barrage, Wayne at Colby and Saul at Grangemoor. Tourism King and Queen, Shawn Cullen and Julie Ransom took the club record off me for parkrun tourism with their 34th venue which was Caldicot.

Juliet Amner, Richard Lowcock James and Ian Lewis took on the 16 mile Roman Run which is a challenging point to point trail race over multi terrain from Brecon to Merthyr. A shame the event is the day before Cardiff 10K as I’m sure many more of our runners would have been interested in giving this one a go and personally it’s still on my to do list.

Sunday 3rd – Cardiff 10K, Oldbury 10 Mile and Joust 24 hour relay

Christie Coleman, Shawn and Julie completed the Thornbury series of events which include Riverbank Rollick, Thornbury 10K and the Oldbury 10 miler. It was also Shawn and Julies first 10 mile event for the club meaning brand new PB’s.

Nick Harris kept it quiet that he was doing the Joust 24 hour relay. This event is organised by Ultra Runner Ltd who I am familiar with having done two of their half marathon events on consecutive days back in February. The event involved laps of a roughly 5 mile loop and can be entered in teams of up to 8…. however.. Nick chose to enter as a solo entrant, therefore signing up to attempt to run for 24 hours. Unfortunately things didn’t quite go to plan but despite cramp at just 9 miles in, Nick continued and managed 9 laps and therefore around 45 miles before retiring after 10 hours. The laps weren’t at all simple either with mixed terrain, gates, fences and hills. An incredible effort and I’m sure he’ll be back for more, if not in this event, then another 50+ miler.

Cardiff 10K saw 69 Phoenix take on the new course in the capital. The route started and finished near City Hall as it had before, but zig zagged it’s way to Roath Park Lake and included the ‘incline’ which is towards the end of the Cardiff Half route. Many including myself thought it might be a tougher course to achieve a PB but that was certainly wasn’t reflected in the results with 38 of our runners achieving PB’s. Many of our runners got to the event on a double decker bus arranged and driven by Karl Johnson with a rousing inspirational speech by Chairman Chris Pratt on the way to the event. The weather threatened to soak us to the bone by in the end we were lucky with mostly dry conditions for much of the race if not a tiny bit warm even though most of us wore the charity vests provided in support of Kidney Wales.

As for the results, I’m ignoring Neil Jones who ran for Pontyclun and not mentioning his amazing time of 36:29. So first Phoenix runner across the line was Gareth Jenkins (me!) with a PB of 41:33 with my teammates in the ‘Corporate Challenge’ finishing close behind with Aled 41:45, Neil Price getting a 41:55 PB and David Kembery also PBing with 43:10. Our time were combined and was good enough for us to finish 2nd overall in the team competition!

My Stato Runner of the Month for August, Sian Price was next up with an outstanding female club record time of 44:42 knocking nearly a minute and a half off the previous record.  The amazing times continued throughout the field with dozens of our runners smashing personal goals whether it was to complete their first 10K, or get a certain time, or a best time since injury or for the year. I wish I could write about every performance but I want to at least list out plethora of PBers as below…

Gareth Jenkins, Neil Price, David Kembery, Sian Price, Graham Mackleworth, Dan Clark, Chris Roberts, Karl Johnson, Nigel Hitchings (second PB in 2 days), Mark Burgess, Martin Beard, Jo Betty, Alun Wylde, Liz Davis, Louise Foster, David McCann, Jackie Lewis, Steven Taylor, Claire Goldsworthy, Ian Lewis, Rebecca Newton, Matt Murray, Kim Thomas, Jayne Powney, Kay Pedler, Hannah Kinsella, Joanne Rowling, Donna Radford, Natalie Aryal, Martyn Cameron-Davies, Sharon Delahunty, Nicola Allen, Vickie Cameron-Davies, Claire Taylor, Helen Perry, Maria George, Elaine Christian and Suzanne Harrison.

Saturday 9th – parkruns

41 runners again but this time over 8 parkruns and remarkably in 4 different countries with the various Welsh contingent joined by Chris Pratt in Huddersfield, David Sheard in Dundee and Peter Harrop in Milan.  Windy conditions at Porthcawl meant a rare week of no PB’s. A few travelled down to Llanelli parkrun which assume was equally as windy being an out and back coastal run but Elizabeth Sim managed to bag a PB accompanied by Gareth Richards. There was also a PB for Karl Johnson who shaved another second off his best overall 5K time with a 22:07 with a rare run at his home parkrun of Pontypridd.

Sunday 10th – Budapest HM, Great North Run, New Forest HM, Shepley 10K

Just because there aren’t any local races doesn’t stop our members. Adam Rowe bagged himself a 2:03 PB at the New Forest HM. Karl Johnson made it 3 PB’s at 3 different distances within 8 days with a 1:47 at the Great North Run with Dawn Hopkins running for the 4th year in a row. Meanwhile Emma Morris made it 5 different countries with Phoenix runners this weekend coming in at just under 2 hours in the Budapest Half Marathon.

Chris Pratt returned to his native Yorkshire for the weekend running the Shepley 10K in just under an hour. An event he’d last run 3 years previous before joining the club.

Saturday 16th – parkruns

45 runners across 7 different parkruns.  Gareth Richards lead our runners home at Porthcawl with a 19:45 PB. Jayne Bissmire knocked a massive 87 seconds off her PB for her first sub 30 parkrun at her 4th attempt. It was almost a 2 minute PB for Michelle Alexander in her 5th parkrun. Relatively new parkrunners Debbie Bennion and Andrea Self also shaved a few more seconds off their PB’s as well. Away from Porthcawl, there were 10 of our runners at Maesteg parkrun whilst parkrun tourist King and Queen, Shawn and Julie visited Andover parkrun.

Sunday 17th – Bristol HM, English HM, West Glam XC

Emma Morris ran an impressive 1:52 at Bristol whilst new member Steven James ran 1:48 at the English Half Marathon.

It was the first fixture of the West Glamorgan XC League where we had 13 runners at Llanmadoc. A multi terrain course with forestry trail followed by sand dunes and a 2 mile beacTh section before a short uphill section and then downhill finish. As I didn’t make it, Pippa Clark becomes the only member to have completed all West Glam fixtures since the club has been in the league. Niki Puleio lead our runners home followed by Gareth Richards and Dai James. Denise was the first of our 3 females in attendance followed by Bev Sheard and Pippa.

Saturday 23rd – parkruns

37 runners across a record TWELVE different parkrun venues. 22 of which were at Porthcawl for the Elvis themed run where we were joined by parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt. Maesteg had an influx of quick runners as Niki Puleio’s 18:52 which would be good enough to finish first most weeks got him 6th overall. Ashley Howells got a PB at the same venue whilst our only tourist to get a PB was Mark Gabb at Barry (arguably not a tourist venue for him). Aled Hughes ran the inaugural Haverfordwest parkrun.

Sunday 24th – Swansea 10K, Forest of Dean 5K and Half Marathon, Loch Ness Marathon

Starting at Forest of Dean for the Autumn edition of their Half Marathon event. Apparently a hillier course than the Spring edition. A great first trail half for those looking to get into distance trail events as the terrain wasn’t too technical and mostly on firm forestry paths. A challenging course with the downhills being steep and short whilst the uphills were gentle but very long. I was first of our club across the line in 1:43, followed by Samantha Thomas in 2:17, Mark Worrall 2:24 and Pippa Clark accompanied by Simon Harrison in 3:38 in her first trail half. Pippa’s time was quicker than her previous half in Waterford. Meanwhile Suzanne Harrison ran the 5K event in a PB time of 43:51. A great effort by all.

The fantastic four of Emma Morris, Liz Sim, Gareth Richards and Mark Burgess made their way to Scotland for the Loch Ness Marathon. Emma beat her previous PB by an incredible 23 minutes for a 4:20. The remaining 3 ran together throughout all finishing in 4:27 which meant a 13 minute PB for Mark and 16 minute PB for Liz. Amazing results.

The biggest event of the day was Swansea 10K where we had 25 runners. John Burridge became the 3rd club member to run sub 40 minutes with a PB time of 39:30. Wayne Hayhurst, Simon Williams, Karl Johnson, Alyn Wylde and David McCann were next up all achieving PB’s. Jo Betty was the clubs first female finisher in 52:33 which was just outside of her PB achieved at Cardiff earlier in the month. The PB’s continued with Ashley Howells (second PB of the weekend), Emma Williams, Dawn Hopkins, Julie Ransom (accompanied by Shawn), Lisa Jenkins and Nicola Allen.

Statos Runner of the Month – Karl Johnson

In a month with so many big events, it’s normally a tough decision after trawling through the stats to decide who should get the nod… but this month was pretty clear cut. Karl achieved a parkrun PB, 10K PB’s at both Cardiff and Swansea, plus a Half Marathon PB at the Great North Run.

To end the September blog it was the Vice Chair’s choice for runners of the month so here’s Sian’s thoughts on choices…

Vice-Chair Runners of the Month

Male:

Let’s just turn the clock back 1 year and the person I have chosen for male runner of the month was so disappointed that he could not run the Snowdon marathon after being very ill with pneumonia. He came to support the Snowdon marathon and vowed that next year things would be different …

And boy have they been different. This person regularly runs half marathons, marathons and ultras and has also done an ultra marathon and half marathon the next day !!!

When the zero to hero group needed a person to assist during the summer this runner took it in his stride and volunteered.

He does his races with no fanfare, helps others achieve their goals and is always quietly training in the background …

Who is my choice for runner of the month .. Gareth Richards, take a bow

You are awesome and inspire lots of us when coming back to running from having to take time off from illness.

Well done

Female:

This female runner has been a member from the original dissolved running club. She has had a tough ride the last few years but is always smiling.

Not only does she run, very well, she has taken quite a few of us under her wing to develop us into budding triathletes. She has given us confidence in taking on sea swims and has the patience of a saint with many of us on our bikes.

What challenges has this person done this year, well I think the biggest has to be when she swam the Solent, not a mean task, 5 miles and got caught up in a rip tide at the end !

This person is always in the background, helping, supporting and encouraging and this month, you are my female runner/athlete of the month (especially when you turned up for the Bridgend League Race in jogging bottoms and cotton t shirt!

Helen Griffiths … you are amazing!