Weekly Roundup, December 10th – December 16th

December 16, 2018

Vests on Tour

Holmenkollen Olympic Ski Jump, Oslo, Norway

Albert Embankment, London

parkrun

There were no PBs to report this week but that’s not surprising given the conditions.

parkrun Tourists

Dave Kempton and Stephen Williams were at Aberdare this week. Dave came first in his age category which was a great result for his 300th parkrun! It was also Steve’s 200th parkrun! Dave joins quite an elite club with only around 1,000 runners worldwide in the 300 milestone club.

Skirrid Fell Race

Sam Jones braved the awful conditions on Saturday and raced the Skirrid Fell Race. With the tough final hill at the Christmas Cracker the following day, Sam was probably regretting running up the Skirrid the day before!

Thanks to Tosh Simpkin for braving the elements to take the photo.

Run4All Santa 5km Run

Mark Williams braved the stormy conditions on Saturday for the fifth annual Run4All Santa 5km Run in Aberavon.

Cottrell Park Christmas Cracker

Taking part on the same day as the Christmas Tree Race, it’s a toss up between going full on fancy dress mode at the Christmas Tree Race or running the Cottrell Park Christmas Cracker and having a chance at winning the Giant Chocolate Hamper (can confirm it’s giant!).

This year Kath Jervis, Rhys and Nicola Lewis, Hayley and Harry Jackson, Alison Holton (hope it wasn’t too hilly for you!) and Rebeccah Williams took part.

Christmas Tree Race

The annual Christmas Tree Race deep in the Forest Dean is a fun, muddy, hilly and usually misty trail race that always sells out. Most runners run in fancy dress and our club members always make an effort. Unfortunately I couldn’t run this year so the award-winning Parc Bryn Bach Christmas Tree costume didn’t make an appearance.

Awards

Congratulations to Sam Jones for finishing 2nd overall and Helen Williams for taking 1st FV40!

Next Year’s Race

Based on this year’s appearance of the Three Kings, it’s been proposed that next year we go all out and dress up as a full nativity scene. Richard’s already signed up to be a star.

Who’s in?

Welsh Masters Indoor Championship

Huge congratualtions to Mark Williams who took gold in the Men’s 3,000m at the Welsh Masters Indoor Championship on Sunday.

Cardiff Met Grand Prix 1 – Christmas Classic

Lauren Cooper and Sam Jackson were also competing on the track in the Cardiff Met Grand Prix Christmas Cracker. Both Lauren and Sam had huge PBs in the 3,000m with Lauren finishing in 09:57.7 and Sam finishing in 10:19.3.

Honorary Members

The Annual Christmas Party saw Clive Cooksey receive an Honorary Membership in recognition of his ongoing commitment to the club including tireless work behind the scenes. It was also Clive’s brainchild 10 years ago to rebrand Club 69 to Parc Bryn Bach Running Club.

Kath Jervis also collected Steve Jones’ Honorary Membership who was made our first honorary member in 2017.

From Clive:

Last night was one of the proudest moments of my life to be awarded an Honorary Membership, of the Club that’s been such an important part of my life for many years. It was a very emotional evening for me and the reception I received when I went to collect the award was awesome.

I owe a big thank you to Damian and other members of the management who considered me for this award , it really was unexpected and to be in the company of so many lovely friends was the icing on the cake.

Thank you all for making it such a memorable night for me ( Bec would have been so proud).

Sunday Runs

Dai Parry’s Big Pit Run

Dai Parry, Laura Hire, Adrian Markey and ~~Mike Williams~~ Father Christmas headed up to Big Pit for a Sunday run. Wonder if they met Mr Jolly who happened to have also ran to Big Pit to meet the real Father Christmas.