It’s called the Pipedream Race but in the early stages it’s more of a nightmare.
Five members of Prestatyn Running Club were among competitors in Saturday’s race in Dolgarrog which unofficially marks the opening of the fell-racing season.
Though only 4.2 miles long and involving 390 metres of a climb it is uniquely challenging as runners have to negotiate the steep steps alongside the large pipes up the side of the valley and then face a tricky technical descent through the woods.
Long legs are a definite advantage on the ascent, and so it was no surprise that Sophie Johnson led the Prestatyn squad home.
She finished 58th overall in 57.34, and was followed by Mandy Cartwright (61st, 59.29), Ann Claire Jones (80th, 69.09), Cara Jones (81st, 69.55) and James Rogers (85th, 70.59).
On his Far Eastern travels Dave Ellis completed a weekend double. On Saturday he finished 21st in the Futakotamagawa Park in 21.04 and 24 hours later joined the huge field for the Tokyo Marathon, in which he set a new pb of 3-19, taking 13 minutes off the time he set in Manchester last year.
Alex Ryder, who has an excellent record in races in the North West of England, used Sunday’s Trafford 10k largely as training run but still managed a time of36.46, placing him 331st in a field of just under 2,000.
Two veterans were the club’s top performers in the weekend Parkruns. Steve Stocker finished second in the Nova run while Tom Carter, who was second in that event last week, this time won the Greenfield Valley race, finishing two minutes clear of the runner-up.
Placings:- Nova: 2 Steve Stocker 19.04, 5 Cam Askan 19.27, 13 Marc Jones 22.09, 19 Martin Cortvriend 23.29, 21 Steve Weedman 23.50, 35 Andy Clark 25.10, 42 Gareth Hughes 27.15, 51 Mike Davis 28.50, 57 Andrew Scott 29.28, 58 Claudia Smith 29.29, 63 Nem James 30.17, 66 Lesley Furneaux 30.30, 87 Debbie Weedman 32.18, 109 Suzanne Evans 37.15 (pb), 123 Steve Hatfield 41.11.
Greenfield Valley: 1 Tom Carter 19.05, 25 Debbie Jones 29.19.
Conwy: 27 Darren Thompson 23.22.
Ruthin: 16 Andrew Carter 24.01.
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