Weekly Roundup, May 7th – May 13th

May 13, 2018

Devauden 10k

The Devauden 10k took place on Bank Holiday Monday with Damian Caswell, Sam Jones,Richard Sheehy, Alan Nash & Sian McGoldrick competing. Unfortunately the only photo I could find from the day was a poor quality mobile phone shot.

Craig Yr Allt Fell Race

Fell running fan Kevin Hale spent a sunny Tuesday evening running the 4 mile Craig Yr Allt Summer Race just outside Cardiff. There’s also a winter version if you fancy making it more of a challenge.

Rose Inn Series 2018: Race 1

The beginning of May signifies the start of the excellent Rose Inn Series – a fast, ultra flat 4 mile race around the Rose Inn, Redwick. Much like the first race last year, the weather was on our side although it was a little windy along one stretch. We came away with a number of prizes including 1st female for Lauren and 1st Junior Female for Beth Jones. The girls also came third in the team standings and with three fixtures to go we still have a good chance of retaining our title.

1st Female

1st Female Junior

2nd Male Junior

2nd MV55

1st Gurner

Cake! Cake! Cake!

Vests on Tour

Dominican Republic Foam Party (The Matthews)

Cala Bona, Mallorca (Nick Rhys Gregory)

Holguin, Cuba (Robert Lee Price)

Los Alcázares (Arlene Osman)

Cardiff Summer Series: 2 Mile

Tom Webb, Sharon Newell and Keri-Lyn Jones (and supported by Claire Webb!) continued the Cardiff Summer Series with the 2 mile race on Friday. Tom was first home for the Green Army in 11:48 and Keri-Lyn finished 3rd in her age group. Full results.

parkrun

There were 3 PBs to report at parkrun this week with Marcus Smith finishing in 22:55 and Kim Price hot on his tail finishing in 23:00. Nathan Harper finished in 25:32.

parkrun Tourists

There were some great results at other parkruns this week with John Evans finishing 1st at Merthyr, Gavin Patterson and Jonathon Astley finishing 1st and 2nd respectively at Penallta and Stephen Williams finishing 2nd at Hereford. Dave Kempton was also at Hereford and acme 1st in his age category. Elsewhere, Andrew Meadows was running at Newtown, Seaton Stephens was in Cleethorpes and Andrew and Delphine Jones and Melissa Pearce were at Pontypool.

South/East Wales Regional Athletics Championships

Lauren Cooper and Sam Jackson were in Cardiff on Saturday for the South/East Wales Regional Athletics Championships. Sam competed in the 1500m and came away with a silver medal in the U20 category. He also competed with Lauren Cooper in the 3000m Steeplechase again winning a silver medal in the U20 category. Lauren did superbly winning a gold medal!

White Star Running Ox Races

No stranger to back-to-back-t0-back races, Sam Standerwick was at the White Star Running Ox Races for the Dark Ox, the Ox50 and the Ox Half.

“What a weekend! Didn’t achieve the 50miler but still managed the most mileage (47.4miles) and most climb (5650ft) I’ve ever done in a weekend “

Porthkerry 5

Keri-Lyn Jones was the sole club member running the Porthkerry 5 but that didn’t stop her from taking 1st Vet and adding another trophy for the club to this weekend’s haul.

Hereford Half Marathon

Katharine Collins Stephen Dallow and Neil Lloyd were in Hereford for the Half Marathon and 10K. Katharine competed in the Half Marathon and Neil and Stephen in the 10k. Neil had a fantastic time of 40:55 finishing 11th overall and 1st in his age category. Stephen also had a PB finishing in 47:29.

Bristol 10K

Beth Jones and Fudgie ran the fast and flat Bristol 10k on Sunday with both securing big PBs. Fudgie knocked 2 minutes off his and got close to sub-40 finishing in 40:29.

The Jackson 4 (Harry not pictured) were also at the Bristol 10K and Harry bagged himself a 4-minute PB.

Tewkesbury Half Marathon

Lee Wilce ran the Twekesbury Half Marathon after winning the place a fortnight ago. He was hoping for a sub 2 hour but still knocked 2 minutes of his PB with a time of 2:04:22.

Race for Wildlife 10k

Stephen Williams, Roger Freeman, Sian McGoldrick, Nick Osman, Taff Palfrey and Nick Morgan ran the Race for Wildlife 10k in Undy on Sunday with Stephen Williams taking 3rd in his age category and Sian McGoldrick taking 2nd!

Sirhowy Challenge

It’s 10 miles, there are some tough hills but that didn’t deter the Green Army from running the Sirhowy Challenge!

And it looks like the woman behind is thinking exactly the same thing!

Sunday Runs

Chartist Shepherding Run

Mr Jolly and Clare Sullivan took 4 other club members (plus Darren Gwynne-Hamer – we’ll get him to join one day!) on a run up to Chartist Cave. Along the way, or way back, Adrian Markey discovered a new vocation – shepherding! Apparently he had to lend a hand herding a few sheep down a hill. Who knew he had such a hidden talent?

Happy Birthday Nicky

Birthday cakes always look better with a bit of green! Poor Tony Lewis was cropped from one of the photos though.

Steve Jones Statue

Lee Aherne has set up a JustGiving page to try and raise money to erect a statue of Steve Jones in his home town of Ebbw Vale.

“After holding the British marathon record from October 1984 until April 2018 (33 years and 6 months) Steve Jones is still virtually unknown in Ebbw Vale and Blaenau Gwent the place where Steve lived for 40 years. Steve in 1984 shook up the World by winning the Chicago marathon while still serving in the RAF by beating the Olympic and World champions and breaking the World record. A year later Steve won the London marathon and again the Chicago marathon and in 1988 added the New York marathon to his list of big city marathon wins. Steve during his career also held the World half marathon record as well as competing at the World, European, Commonwealth and Olympic games.

Over the past 6 years i have tried to get Blaenau Gwent council to honour Steve and tried to get the council to name the newly built leisure centre named after him and even a national honour. Both fell on deaf ears or ignored. Well now i plan to raise money to get a statue built to be placed in his home town of Ebbw Vale. What type of statue depends on the money raised because there are a few different types that can be purchased (see photos). The reason for the statue is so that Steve’s outstanding achievements will always stay remembered and that future generations from the area will be inspired and think to themselves that if he can do it, then why cant I. Believe me Steve is a bonafide athletic legend still regarded by most as one of the greatest marathon runner to ever grace the sport.”

In just a short space of time it has raised almost £700! You can donate here – https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lee-aherne?ref=pageredirect80.

PBBRC Ultra Team

A shameless plug from myself! Entries have opened for the 2019 St Illtyd’s 50k Ultra on May 5th 2019 (same day as Newport Marathon and Cardiff Race for Victory). We currently have a nice little team forming featuring some ultra newbies. This race, whilst tough as you’d expect from a trail ultra, is definitely suitable for first-timers. It’s extremely friendly, the aid stations have plenty of food and the scenery is stunning.

It would be great to have a mini Green Army there next year but if you are interested make sure you are prepared for the distance (both physically AND mentally!). There’s plenty of time to train but you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew too soon!

Entries are here and are £28 until the middle of the week – http://www.goeventswales.com/product/st-illtyds-ultra-marathon-5th-may-2019/