Weekly Roundup, September 24th – October 1st
Last Week’s Leftovers
What a Fantastic Club We Have Become!
Our club …. to me there’s no other club like ours out there. No matter what race is going on we are there in numbers. Whether its a Welsh championship race, Gwent league or just a small race down the road ‘we’ are there in big numbers. What a fantastic club we have become! – Lee Aherne
I feel privileged to be part of family Bryn Bach. – Lesley O’Connell
Thanks to people in the club like Lee encouraging us from C25K right through to joining the club. Thanks to all you amazing people! – Alison Stevens
Best club I’ve ever ran for, feel good factor and great morale wherever we go! – Stephen Carter
– James Thomas
Bottles vs Gazelles
A number of members took place in a two team cross country event on Sunday organised by Merthyr Running Club. Members who participated were Keyll and Katherine Collins, Michelle Jayne, Robert King, Andrew Gunter and Dai Smout.
Run for Lauri and Eva
Thanks again to all that supported the run for Lauri and Eva last Saturday. A total of £313 was raised for Neuroblastoma UK with still more being raised. Thanks Caroline Matthews for the photograph.
Run Deep Magazine
Myself and Sam Standerwick were featured in a newly-released trail running magazine last week. Sam was interviewed about her journey through C25K to marathon and ultra races and I provided a review of the tough Preseli Beast race.
Swansea Bay 10K Souvenir Special
Lee Aherne graced the cover of a special Swansea Bay 10K souvenir special earlier this week.
Matthew’s Long Trefil Run
Matthew started the week off with a long 20-mile run out of Llangynidr. The run was part of his training for the Snowdonia Marathon taking place on Saturday 28th October. He was joined along the way by Richard Sheehy and Sam Lewis Jones.
Monday Night Track Session
The fortnightly track session took place on Monday and like previous sessions was well attended. Richard Sheehy of the tough task of trying to catch our speedy runners blazing their way around the track at Brynmawr School. Despite most runners appearing a blur, I think most people, myself included, thought they looked rather arty.
Upcoming Track Sessions
The next track sessions are October 16th and 23rd. All upcoming sessions will be posted on the Calendar on the website as well as on Facebook.
parkrun
At a wet and cold Parc Bryn Bach, Callum Schofield snook under 21 minutes for the first time securing a parkrun PB. Also at the Parc, Claire Sullivan convinced husband Dean to join her on her 100th parkrun by running his first!
Tourists this week were Danielle Phillips in Cardiff, Gary Bartram in Penallta and Lee Griffiths at Riverfront.
Aneurin Leisure Triathlon
Stephen Williams, Mathew Ellis, Helena Hunt and Nathan Harper participated in the first Aneurin Leisure Triathlon in Ebbw Vale. The even consisted of a 400m swim, followed by a 10K bike ride and a 5K run. Mathew did superbly finishing 2nd overall.
British Masters 1 Mile Championships
As part of the Cardiff University of Festival of Races which includes the half marathon, Saturday saw the British and Welsh Masters 1 Mile Championships. Lee Aherne, Rachel Lewis,Keri-Lyn Jones and James Williams all competed and they walked away with a whopping 6 medals!
Lee Aherne took the gold in both the Welsh and British MV50 category, Rachel took the Silver in the Welsh and British FV40 category and Keri-Lyn took the silver in the Welsh and British FV45.
James Williams accidentally entered the open race and ended up competing against some extremely fast runners. That said, it was great experience for him and he got a mile PB too!
Great Oaks Yorkley Gallop
Owen Davies and Roger Freeman represented the club at the Great Oaks Yorkley Gallop which is a 6 mile hilly and muddy trail race organised by FODAC. Great XC practise! Dai Smout was also in attendance but couldn’t hide that Mynydd Du vest behind just two green vests!
Cardiff Half Marathon
The Cardiff Half Marathon is one of the biggest races in the local calendar with many members aiming to join the many thousands in the second biggest half marathon in the UK.
Notable Results
- Alex Thomas – A 2 and a half minute PB (02:15:06) and a 25-minute course record.
- Gavin Patterson – a new PB of 01:21:25
- Claire Sullivan – a new PB of 01:53:18
- Sam Lewis Jones – a new PB of 01:19:36
- Suzie Tew – Although not as quick as Swansea HM, Suzie was under 2 hours again and was 18 minutes faster than last year.
- Sam Standerwick – Sam managed to find the longest queue for a toilet mid-race!
- Ruth Davies – Knocked 10 minutes of last year’s time.
- Sam Jackson – a new PB of 01:42:28.
- Andrew Gunter – a new PB of 01:34:05 (5 minute PB!)
- Laura Hire – a 12 minute 6 second course best.
- Andrew Meadows – just a few minutes quicker than last year – 25!
Channel PBBRC
Sharp-eyed club members not participating in the event today managed to spot many green vests throughout the race.
Results
| Name | Time |
|---|---|
| Sam Jones | 01:19:36 |
| Gavin Patterson | 01:21:25 |
| Damian Williams | 01:21:41 |
| Ricky Jones | 01:29:49 |
| Richard Sheehy | 01:30:22 |
| Julie Cashell | 01:33:39 |
| Andrew Gunter | 01:34:05 |
| James Thomas | 01:35:07 |
| Darren Kippest | 01:39:02 |
| Rachel Lewis | 01:40:31 |
| Ian Davies | 01:42:20 |
| Sam Jackson | 01:42:28 |
| Neil Beynon | 01:43:33 |
| Gareth Williams | 01:43:57 |
| Andrew Meadows | 01:44:31 |
| Rhi Griffiths | 01:45:38 |
| Kim Price | 01:48:25 |
| James Williams | 01:47:47 |
| James Ashley | 01:48:33 |
| Melissa Pearce | 01:48:17 |
| Tony Lewis | 01:51:02 |
| Gaynor Lewis | 01:51:27 |
| Hayley Jackson | 01:51:27 |
| Jason Nash | 01:53:06 |
| Gwyn Palfrey | 01:53:53 |
| Bobbie Swift | 01:55:47 |
| Katharine Collins | 01:56:09 |
| Stephen Dallow | 01:56:31 |
| Delphine Jones | 01:56:47 |
| Alison Holton | 01:57:08 |
| Suzie Tew | 01:58:39 |
| Marcus Smith | 01:58:48 |
| Richard Price | 02:00:13 |
| Laura Hire | 02:00:35 |
| Ruth Davies | 02:02:49 |
| Lisa Cook | 02:03:02 |
| Kelly Collins | 02:04:19 |
| Jill Matthews | 02:06:35 |
| Rhys Lewis | 02:08:13 |
| Kathryn Price | 02:09:07 |
| Cerys Swift | 02:11:05 |
| Teresa Davies | 02:13:07 |
| Claire Briggs | 02:14:11 |
| Liz Beynon | 02:14:45 |
| Alex Thomas | 02:15:27 |
| Rhian White | 02:15:44 |
| Michael Lewis | 02:16:37 |
| Jordan Hawkins | 02:18:10 |
| Samantha George | 02:19:16 |
| Victoria Main | 02:21:11 |
| Sue Gray | 02:27:13 |
| Caroline Matthews | 02:27:14 |
| Debbie Dawkins | 02:31:46 |
| Lesley O'Connell | 02:36:44 |
| Cathy Johnson | 02:38:03 |
| Nicola Lewis | 02:38:52 |
| Lee-Anne Taylor | 02:39:58 |
| Katie Hamer | 02:43:49 |
| Steve Hamer | 02:48:17 |
| Karen Thomas | 02:53:55 |
Other News
Vests on Tour
Mike Williams is still enjoying the sun in Perrenporth, Cornwall and giving his vest an airing.
Margrett Monk and Nicola Jukes to Compete in Ireland
Margrett Monk announced on Wednesday that she been selected to represent Wales in the British and Irish Masters XC meet in Ireland in November. Fantastic news. In her extensive running career, Margrett has represented both East Wales and Wales on numerous occasions.
Nicola Jukes was also selected to represent Wales at the same event.
The Week Ahead
London Marathon
The first week of October is the week that those that entered the VLM 2018 ballot will discovered if they are one of the lucky few that have selected from the hundreds of thousands that entered.
GLCL XC Season 2017/18: PBB
Sunday 8th October marks the start of the GLCL XC season with PBB hosting the first fixture. From all accounts, Clive Cooksey has worked tirelessly making a fantastic route that should hopefully allow us to host a fixture here in future years.
“Logistically adaptable for the bigger numbers and hopefully a regular fixture for the next few years. Well done again Clive on your super route.” – Phillip Miles
The photo above was taken two years ago and was shot post-race so no need to worry about having to take your Mudclaws off to swim across the lake!
Blaze the Biblins
Blaze the Biblins is a new trail race organised by Monross Trailblazers. Located just across the border past Monmouth and in close proximity to the Wye, the race looks like it’ll be a cracking trail race. I’ve run the area myself and the scenery is stunning with well trodden paths.
Unfortunately the race coincides with the GLCL XC fixture but I thought it was worthwhile making people aware of it in case it doesn’t clash with XC next year.
New Trail Race
The Caer-Hilly Challenge
Caerphilly Runners are holding their first race in November and it looks like it could be a toughie. Taking place on Sunday 12th November, the 10K trail race will feature 305 metres of climbing and no doubt plenty of mud and natural obstacles.
Places are limited to 120 and registration is open now.
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