Gareth's Press Report - 1st February 2026

It was one of those weekends again, when a clash of fixtures tested the stamina and commitment of members of Prestatyn Running Club.

With Parkruns and the penultimate fixture of the David Alun Williams North Wales Cross-Country League on Saturday, followed on Sunday by the third race in the Borders Road-Running League a total of over 50 members were in competitive action, some of them turning out in two events.

Twenty members made the trip to Leaton near Shrewsbury for the cross-country fixture which saw the ladies cement their second place in Division 2 and making promotion a probability.

Once again the outstanding individual performance came from Steve Skates, who finished 8th overall in the senior men’s race. Having won the M45 class in previous races it was no surprise that he had to settle for second place this time as the overall winner was Maldwyn’s Commonwealth Games marathoner Andy Davies, making a rare appearance in the League.

The men finished 6th on the day but overall lie 3rd in Division 2, while the over-65s’ team, who were understrength on Saturday, are now fourth.

The placings were:- Ladies: 33 Leah Hughes 27.48, 34 Helen Ashworth 27.50, 38 Jenna Bagnall 28.19, 70 Sue Hughes 32.11 (3rd L65), 82 Nicki Triggs 34.30, 90 Emma Birchall 39.33, 94 Clare Manley 45.25, 95 Julie Evans 47.55.

Senior men/Vets: 8 Steve Skates 37.15 (2nd M45), 68 Lee Bailey 37.15, 78 Matty Smith 37.55, 80 Ben Thomas 38.03, 88 Marc Jones 39.02 (3rd M60), 1Andy Thomas 42.22.

M65s: 11 Reg Jonas 28.13, 15 Martin Cortvriend 29.17 (3rd M70), 25 Mark Dakeyne 31.58, 27 Philip Howarth 32.24, 30 Gareth Hughes (1st M75), 38 Roger Harrison-Jones 47.16 (1st M85).

In the Borders League race at Thurstaston the ladies did even better and now hold a comfortable lead in Division 2, while the men slipped to third. What was also encouraging was that while some of the club’s faster men were missing there were several excellent League debuts.

The placings were: 64 Alex Ryder 29.28, 78 Oliver Birch-Jones 29.51, 79 Dafydd Montgomery 29.52, 109 Darren Blazier 31.05, 123 Jon Puleston-Jones 31.47, 124 Tom Coen 31.48, 149 Lewis Pierce 32.44, 188 Adam Jeffers 34.08, 192 Marc Jones 34.20 (3rd M60), 198 Robert Grima 34.26, 202 Darrell Jones 34.40, 204 Ben Thomas 34.42, 216 Eve Manifold 35.13, 234 Zack Webster 35.50, 238 Meg Lewis 36.00, 239 Judah Eastwell 36.00, 240 Millie Robinson 36.03, 264 Nem James 37.39, 274 Tony Benton 38.10, 282 Matty Smith 38.34, 285 Beth English 38.38, 327 Patrick Haberland 41.39, 351 Sue Hughes 43.30 (2nd L65), 359 Philip Howarth 44.20, 363 Nicki Triggs 44.40, 386 Grahem Shone 49.17 (1st M75).

With other races lined up over the weekend, several members took things easy in the Parkruns, but that is not to denigrate the performance of Eve Manifold, who was the club’s first finisher in the Nova event.

The positions were: 10 Eve Manifold 22.06, 11 Alex Ryder 22.15, 15 Lewis Pierce 23.20, 16 Millie Robinson 23.23 (pb), 19 Nem James 23.51 (pb), 23 Lisa Lines 24.19, 25 Ben Thomas 24.24, 32 Steve Weedman: 24.49, 39 Tilly Jones 25.35, 40 Meg Lewis 25.36, 51 Jamie Betts 27.06, 61 Dafydd Montgomery 27.50, 70 Cathy Wood 28.39, 71 Andy Scott 28.42, 100 Debbie Weedman 31.16, 104 Mike Davis 31.45, 106 Nicki Triggs 31.47, 110 Claire Manifold 32.13, 112 Claudia Smith 32.19, 166 Steve Hatfield 45.33.

Other Parkruns:- Llandrillo yn Rhos: 126 Ann Claire Jones 27.33, 202 Cara Jones 30.09, 214 Helen Alefounder 30.34.

Penrhyn: 6 David Hudd 21.15.

Babbs Mill (Solihull): 55 Darrell Jones 22.41, 57 Dave Ellis 22.43.

Greenfield Valley: 22 Andrew Carter 26.20, 35 Debbie Jones 29.20, 42 Owen Gibson 31.27.

Flint: 6 Ben Garnett 19.29.

Next Saturday (7th) the club will once again take over the organisation of the Nova Parkrun in the hope of recruiting yet more members.