ONLY five members of Prestatyn Running Club - much fewer than usual -
turned out in last week's Chester Spring 5 race which attracted a good field
of over 300.
Matt Sims again led the contingent home in 29th place overall with a time
of 29.29. He was followed by George Nicholls, 40th in 30.02, Aaron Aspinall,
99th in 33.51, Gareth Hughes, 120th in 35.04 (3rd M60) and Brenda Tiedtke
174th in 38.21.
There was also a smaller turnout than usual by the men in Sunday's Borders
Road Running League at Helsby, which is the toughest in the seven fixtures.
Some of the regular competitors were among those missing, but at least
three of those who ran - George Nicholls, Gareth Brandrick and Gareth
Bailey - had the satisfaction of claiming their best ever positions.
It was also good to welcome back super-veteran Frank Reilly, who made his
first appearance of the season, and credit should also go to club captain
Paul Brandrick, who ran despite suffering with a knee injury.
Of the excellent squad of nine ladies Jo McDonough continued her impressive
improvement, coming home 125th overall.
The club placings were: 34 George Nicholls, 52 George Nixon, 55 Gareth
Brandrick, 62 Gareth Bailey, 67 Martin Cortvriend, 88 Frank Reilly, 91 David
A Jones, 97 Arwel Jones, 124 Paul Brandrick, 125 Jo McDonough, 151 John
Hughes-Roberts, 155 Steve Hatfield, 160 Rebecca Robinson, 174 Gay Waring,
175 Brenda Tiedtke, 179 Colin Barnett, 198 Eleri Goddard, 208 Tracey
Colligan, 213 Eleri Jones, 214 Glenda Davies, 228 Gill Brandrick.
Phil Jones was the club's only representative in the Llangynhafal Loop
mountain race in the Clwydian Hills, which had a nasty and unexpected sting
in the tail. The 5-mile race involved over 1,500 feet of ascent and Phil
completed it in 59.24 in 52nd place overall.
Good wishes go to all the club members who are competing in this weekend's
London Marathon, several of them making their first attempt at the distance.
