Gareth's Press Report - 12th April 2026

River Deep, Mountain High – and everything in between. That sums up the range of challenges taken on by members of Prestatyn Running Club over the past week.

From 5k Parkruns to marathons and ultra-marathons, and from bright sunshine to  hailstones, all were taken in their stride, and some completed three or even four races in six days,

The busy programme got underway on Tuesday with the first race in the Tuesday Evening Fell-race series on Moe Tryfan, near Caernarfon.

Eight members made the long journey, a couple of them making their debuts in the popular weekly series. The placings were: 33  Gareth Jones 23.12, 55Lee Bailey 24.15, 63 Ben Thomas 24.55, 106 Rachel Jackson 29.19, 109 Neil Davidson 29.42, 136 Philip Howarth 32.25, 147 Nicki Triggs 34.23, 149 Karl Martin 35.04.

The Nova Parkrun was special in many ways, partly as club members were among the pacemakers for the various groups. Two members – supervet Roger Harrison-Jones and Paul Sanders – chalked up their 100th Parkrun, and Clare Manley completed her 50th.

The placings were: 8 Jonah Armstrong 20.01, 12 Dafydd Montgomery 20.58, 14 Alex Ryder 21.03, 16 Dave Ellis 21.05, 32 Lewis Pierce 23.26, 34 Paul Robson 23.32 (pb), 39 Paul Sanders 23.41, 43 Reg Jonas 23.49, 50 Andy Thomas 24.12, 51 Martin Cortvriend 24.33, 53 Neil Davidson 24.42, 43 Ben Thomas 25.43, 64 Owen Gibson 25.45, 72 Jack Lally 26.02, 130 Jamie Betts 30.09, 131 Nicki Triggs 30.10, 133 Karl Martin 30.15, 147 Nem James 30.29, 208 Roger Harrison-Jones 36.05, 209 Gareth Hughes 36.07, 229 Clare Manley 38.43, 257 Claudia Smith 45.20, 287 Dave Hughes 60.40, 288 Jo Edwards 60.49 (Tailwalker).

Other Parkrun results were:- Llandrillo-yn-Rhos: 423 Ian Cummins 54.21.

Llangollen: 30 Andrew Carter 25.27.

Trentham Gardens: 233 Jenna Bagnall 27.01.

Hafan Pwllheli: 24 Steve Weedman 27.28.

Without doubt, the heroes, or rather heroines, of the weekend were the club’s 11 ladies who were among the 1,500 participants in the third annual She Ultra on the Lleyn Peninsular. Not only was the course extended to 55k because of landslides on the coastal path, but the competitors had to contend with wind, rain and hail between the sunny spells.

The ladies who raised a total of £5,000 for local; charities including St Kentigern Hospice and Giddi’r Gift,  were Meg Lewis (7h.03.49), Eve Manifold (7-03.50), Tilly Jones (7-03.50), Laura Rich (9-34.42), Cara Jones (9-36.13), Ann-Claire Jones (9-37.23), Emma Birchall  (9-51.02), Lesley Furneaux (9-51.03), Debbie Weedman (10-26.49), Claire Clarke (10.35.51), and Katie Newe (12-30.27). Unfortunately Julie Evans had to pull out with an injury after 16 miles.

Another who had to battle the wind was David Hudd, who found there was virtually no shelter in the flatlands of Lincolnshire for competitors in the Boston Marathon. In the circumstances he was reasonably satisfied with his time of 3-17.28.

On Sunday Ben Thomas and Nicki Triggs managed to avoid any wind by competing in the Mersey Tunnel 10k. Ben finished 221st in 44.10, his second best time for the distance, while Nicki, in 1,042nd place, set a new pb of 55.59.

The same day two of the club’s ladies led the men home in the Llangollen fell-race which, in reality, was rather longer than the advertised 5 miles.

Jenna Bagnall had a great run, coming 11th overall in 57.55, and she was followed by Rachel Jackson (31st in 64.51), Neil Davidson (32nd, 65.01), Nem James (47th, 75.00), Martin Cortvriend (48th, 75.27) and Cathy Wood (56th, 80.15).