Gareth's Press Report - 5th October 2026

Prestatyn Running Club came through a testing weekend with flying colours, managing a strong turnout in a number of competitions.

On Saturday the club, jointly with Denbigh Harriers, hosted the first fixture of the North Wales Cross-Country League at Llanerch, St Asaph, and the meeting was again a great success.

The following day saw the opening fixture of another season – this time in the Borders Road Running League. The new venue was Llandegla Forest, with a hilly 8.2k off-road course.

Some members deserve extra credit for “doubling up” to back the teams’ efforts.

There was a record field of almost 200 in the opening senior race at Llanerch for the women, men over 65 and youths under 18.

After missing last season through injury Gordon Jones took up where he left off, winning the M65 class, with Helen  Ashworth leading the women’s team, though she was closely followed by Michelle Meredith-Roberts, who made an excellent return after years away from cross-country.

The senior men’s race saw a tussle between the experienced Steve Skates and League debutant Ryan Bateman, the former pulling away on the final lap.

The placings were: Ladies: 53 Helen Ashworth 31.24, 56 Michelle Meredith-Roberts 31.37 (3rd L55), 86 Rhian Edmondson 34.24, 89 Ann Claire Jones 34.56, 100 Rachel Jackson 37.13, 103 Nicki Triggs 37.44, 107 Laura Rich 37.56, 111 Sue Hughes 38.17, 120 Cathy Wood 39.33, 125 Glenda Roberts 40.38, 129 Cara Jones 41.47, 135 Emma Birchall 47.25, 140 Clare Manley 48.52, 144 Julie Evans 53.36. Team: 7th in Division 1.

Men over 65: 1 Gordon Jones 26.28, 19 Philip Howarth 34.27, 20 Neil Davidson 34.33, 28 Mark Dakeyne 37.56, 36 Roger Harrison-Jones 54.48 (1st M85), 37 Steve Hatfield 57.03. Team: 3rd.

Men over 40: 37 Steve Skates 32.52, 38 Ryan Bateman 33.01, 50 Jonah Armstrong 35.03,

57 James Williamson 35.50, 106 Paul Robson 41.19, 112 Ben Thomas 42.59, 121 Nem James 50.35. Team: 3rd in Division 2.

Twenty-four hours later over 30 members turned out in Llandegla Forest, both men and women having been promoted to Division 1, and it was encouraging to see several making their League debuts.

Eight gained podium places in their age-groups, with Gordon Jones following up his M65 victory. The club, in fact, claimed first place in the M65, M70, M75 and M80 classes.

Emma Collins’ omission from the draft results is being queried, but the provisional list is: 19 Tom Carter 31.52 (2nd M40), 45 Alex Ryder 34.15, 68 Daniel Gallagher 35.42, 71 Darren Blazier 35.53, 79 Jamie Betts 36.24, 100 Gordon Jones 38.03 (1st M65), 126 Jack Hughes 40.00, 137 Rachel Shipley 40.45, 148 Judah Eastwell 41.35, 158 Jenna Bagnall 42.14, 220 Tony Benton 46.00, 228 Owen Gibson 46.28, 241 Martin Cortvriend 47.22 (1st M70), 247 Alice Archer 47.45, 255 Neil Davidson 48.47, 256 Darren Thompson 48.49, 264 Ann Claire Jones 49.26, 292 Geraint Blackwell 52.39, 295 Rhian Jones 52.54, 295 Philip Howarth 52.56 (3rd M70), 302 Nem James 53.33, 304 Glenda Roberts 53.42 (2nd L65), 305 Sue Hughes 53.45 (3rd L65), 307 Nicki Triggs 54.07, 308 Brian Williams 54.19, 313 Gareth Hughes 55.24 (1st M80), 318 Jo Lewis 56.21, 331 Cara Jones 59.04, 334 Helena Cox 61.20, 335 Katie Colley 62.09, 342 Mike Davis 64.58 (1st M75).  Teams: Men 6th, Ladies 7th.

The men’s and women’s teams were understrength on both days as 15 members were among the competitors in Sunday’s Cardiff Half-Marathon.

Their chip times and placings were: 349 Oliver Birch-Jones 1-21.12, 543 Dafydd Montgomery 1-23.02, 1071 Lewis Pierce 1-28.11, 2158 Tom Coen 1-33.32, 2186 Jack Lally 1-35.15, 2328 Marc Jones 1-37.36, 2793 Zack Webster 1-38.37, 2823 Dan Williams 1-38.55, 2802 Kieran Williams 1-40.48, 3383 Beth English 1-42.21 (pb), 2848 Eve Manifold 1-42.08,,3572 Meg Lewis 1-43.34, 6531 Tilly Jones 1-58.01, 17721 Andy Scott 2-30.58.

Meanwhile Katie Baker sliced a massive 15 minutes off her half-marathon pb in Bangor, crossing the line in 2-01.13.

In the 10k at the same venue Andy Carter finished 72nd in 57.55. while in the Everton 10k also set a pb of 43.25, taking 44 seconds off his previous best.

Two off-road enthusiasts had prepared for the cross-country season by running the Carlam Ceiriog Canter race. Tim Cahill was 77th in 1-27.11, with Mark Dakeyne three places behind in 1-31.10.

Parkrun results:-

Nova: 11 Dafydd Montgomery 21.33, 15 Dave Ellis 22.25, 16 Alex Ryder 22.26, 23 Lewis Pierce 23.35, 26 Robert Grima 23.44, 27 Paul Sander 23.54, 32 Stephem Langley 24.36 (pb), 35 Eve Manifold 24.49, 36 Tilly Jones 24.50, 54 Jack Lally 26.40, 58 <illie Robinson 26.55, 59 Meg Lewis 26.55, 66 Martin Cortvriend 27.19, 78 Graham Williams 28.02 (pb), 82 Nem James 28.25, 83 Rhian Jones 28.26, 155 Judah Eastwell 35.08, 164 Julia Evans 36.40, 196 Katie Newe 204 Julie Evans 46.34.

Greenfield Valley: 29 Geraint Blackwell 27.49, 47 Debbie Jones 31.11.

Llandrillo yn Rhos: 111 Brian Williams 26.53.

Tremorfa (Cardiff): 4 Ben Lewis 19.35, 21 Zack Webster 24.05, 22 Oliver Birch-Jones 24.06.

Cardiff: 183 Marc Jones 24.32.

Croxteth Hall: 188 Andy Carter 28.35.

Park in the Past: 17 Owen Jones 22.09.

Conwy: 114 Claire Manifold 32.37.