Conditions were ideal for Saturday's parkruns - Gareth's press report 16th Febuary 2025

The weekend results provided further proof that training for April’s Manchester Marathon is going very smoothly for Prestatyn Running Club’s Jonah Armstrong. On Saturday he once again finished second in the Nova Parkrun and the following day he set another pb in the Village Bakery Half-Marathon in Wrexham. In a very high-quality field he finished 139th in 77.52, almost two minutes inside his time in last month’s Four Villages Half.

In the Wrexham race Marc Jones also set a new pb of 92.15, about a minute off his previous best. He was 532nd, with Craig Smith 677th in 87.44 and Reg Jonas, competing in his first road “half” in 15 years, 1,056th in 1-52.21.

After just two weeks’ training after injury Alex Ryder returned to competitive action in the Ruthin 5k and although he was well outside his best for the course he was happy to finish inside 20 minutes, clocking 19.47 in fifth place.

Also in Ruthin, seven members competed in the 10k, two of them gaining podium places. They were: 4 Dan Williams 38.07 (1st M40), 7 George Williams 38.59, 14 Dafydd Montgomery 41.17 (2nd M20), 19 Darrell Jones 43.59, 45 Andy Clark 50.16, 47 Zack Webster 51.07, 62 Martin Gill 53.45.

Conditions were ideal for Saturday’s Parkruns, resulting in several pbs. In the Nova run the club’s ladies claimed another 1-2, Leah Hughes coming 9th overall and Meg Lewis 21st.

The placings were: 2 Jonah Armstrong 19.10, 4 Dafydd Montgomery 19.49 (pb), 9 Leah Hughes 21.51, 12 Canyon Wilson 22.24, 14 Tom Coen 22.34 (pb), 17 Judah Eastwell 23.28 , 21 Meg Lewis 23.58, 22 Neil Davidson 24.40 (pb), 55 Ally Reid 24.47 (pb), 42 Zach Webster 25.06 (pb), 45 Mark Dakeyne 24.42 (pb), 55 Geoff Lloyd 26.45, 57 Rachel Jackson27.13, 83 Claudia Smith 29.17, 106 Martin Cortvriend 31.43, 156 Steve Hatfield 42.11.

Five members took the “Feel, Find, Mind” breast cancer awareness message to the Alderford Lake Parkrun in Whitchurch, and it marked Dave Ellis’ 100th Parkrun. The placings were: 9 Dave Ellis 22.49, 44 Vic Manley 30.11, 61 Emma Birchall 33.00, 69 Clare Manley 36.08, 80 Julie Evans 42.13.

Sophie Johnson and Mandy Cartwright also carried the same message in the scenic but muddy Monsail Trail run in Derbyshire, finishing together in 28.27.

Closer to home, Debbie Jones finished 33rd in the Greenfield Valley Parkrun in 28.56, and Andrew Carter was 37th in 29.24.

 Next Sunday (23rd) sees the fourth fixture in the Borders Road-Running League on the Mon Racing Circuit in Anglesey. The race was postponed in December and the exposed venue makes it susceptible to windy conditions.