Gareth's Press Report - 15th March 2026

The Reds were in great form outside the Blues’ stadium in Liverpool on Sunday – the Reds in question being the members of Prestatyn Running Club.

 A record 17 members were among the nearly 12,000 participants who lined up  Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium for the Liverpool half-marathon and all had good reason to be pleased with their performances.

First of the contingent home was Alex Ryder, who was making his debut at the distance and surprised even himself to finish in 1-23.23. “I was aiming to break 1-30 so was over the moon,” he said.

Just four minutes behind him was Tom Coen, who is setting pbs in every race these days, while slightly lower down the field Zack Webster took 15 minutes off last year’s time.

The placings were (chip times): 294 Alex Ryder 1-23.23, 483 Tom Coen 1-27.59, 493 Lewis Pierce 1-28.15, 1,042 Marc Jones 1-33.48, 1,146 Darrell Jones 1-34.51, 1,175 Eve Manifold 1-37.05, 1,836  Meg Lewis 1-43.40, 2,142 Zack Webster 1-39.41, 2,597  2,597 Judah Eastwell 1-43.37, 3,041 Tilly Jones 1-50.57, 3,974 Paul Robson 1-50.10, 5,652 Owen Gibson 2-04.51, 7,516 Kieran Williams 2-002, 7,845 Casey Blake 2-12.26, 9,455 Claire Manifold 2-23.46, 11,209 Chris Snow 2-28.53.

Instead of pounding the streets of Liverpool two members opted for more varied – and muddier – terrain. David Hudd took on the Howarth Hobble 32-mile race on Howarth Moors in North Yorkshire. It was his third time in the event and he finished an excellent 69th out of 717 starters in 5-38.34, taking five minutes off his  2018 time.

Andy Thomas, meanwhile, competed in the Bryn Kinalt 10k trail race, near Chirk. He finished in 53 minutes, but the full results were not available at the time of going to Press.

The previous day 10 of those who raced on Sunday had loosened up at the Nova Parkrun,

The placings were: 3 Oliver Birch-Jones 19.39, 14 Alex Ryder 22.25, 15 Adam Jeffers 22.26, 16 Paul Sanders 22.40, 17 Dean Longley 22.54, 20 Eve Manifold 23.03 (1st female), 21 Lewis Pierce 23.04, 22 Darrell Jones 23.05, 24 Kieran Jones 23.23 (pb), 25 Tom Coen 23.28, 28 Lisa Lines 23.32, 35 Zack Webster 24.10, 36 Reg Jonas 24.16, 40 Tilly Jones 24.24, 42 Neil Davidson 24.39, 50 Andy Thomas 25.09, 56 Steve Weedman 25.44, 61 Jamie Betts 26.13, 75 Andy Scott 27.05, 82 Mark Dakeyne 27.37, 98 Jack Lally 28.31, 108 Alice Archer 28.59, 134 Mike Davis 30.37, 135 Nicki Triggs 30.37, 149 Claire Manifold 31.36, 168 Debbie Weedman 33.16, 174 Claudia Smith 33.52, 269 Jo Edwards 69.15 (Tailwalker).

Other Parkrun results were:- Llandrillo yn Rhos: 85 Beth English 23.51 (pb), 210 Rachael Peel 29.41 (pb), 340 Judah Eastwell 35.19.

Greenfield Valley: 11 Jenna Bagnall 24.26.

Flint: 32 Martin Cortvriend 23.58.

Delamere Forest: 59 Nem James 28.35, 216 Emma Birchall 40.12, 270 Julie Evans 48.37.

Ruthin: 42 Arwel Jones 26.53.

This weekend the club’s veterans will be hoping to collect individual and team awards when the British and Irish Masters’ cross-country championships are held at the Faenol Estate in Bangor.

Then, on Sunday, the men’s and women’s teams will be out in strength for the penultimate fixture of the Borders Road Running League in New Brighton. The women currently lead Division 2 and the men lie in third place.

After last year’s successful venture the club has again been offered a place in this year’s Welsh Castles Relay in June.