Newyddion
Endurance Eliminator 2021
24/08/2021 00:00, I Mewn Blog /
It was great to be back on Track with a special event at the Queensway Stadium in Wrexham this weekend. North Wales hosted a new Endurance Eliminator event as part of a new series of competitions which are being delivered thanks to the Welsh Athletics Development fund.
The Eliminator race has competitors battling it out to run laps of the track with a recovery period of 1 minute after each lap which begins immediately after the first finisher crosses the finish line. The last finisher to cross that line is eliminated, thus, the next lap begins with one less competitor. The Starter gives athletes recovery time announcements with the last time announcement at 5 seconds after which a single command of "Go!" is given to start the lap. The last 3 athletes remaining will be presented with a 1st 2nd 3rd place trophy in each race.
This new event for North Wales saw competitors from Colwyn Bay, Deeside, Eryri, Menai, NWRRC, Prestatyn, and Wrexham competing in some fine racing. Some of the athletes competing included the u15’s 800m and 1500m 2021 Welsh Champion Beca Bown, as well as senior athlete Ffion Mair Roberts who has represented Wales and Ynys Mon on the national and international stage, Gethin Griffith who was a silver medallist in the 300m at the 2021 Welsh T&F Championships along with Alfie Sheiland the u13’s 800m Welsh T&F Champion for 2021.
With athletes from across North Wales battling it out in some very close races this year's Endurance Eliminator Champions include:
U13 Boys Champion – Alfie Sheiland (Colwyn Bay) fastest lap was lap 4 in 01:11.8
U13 Girls Champion – Rosie Parsley (Colwyn Bay) fastest lap was lap 3 in 01:26.0
U15 Boys Champion – Gethin Griffith (Menai) fastest lap was lap 3 in 01:03.6
U15 Girls Champion – Beca Bown (Menai) fastest lap was lap 5 in 01:07.1
Senior Men Champion – Richard Eccles (NWRRC) fastest lap was lap 3 in 01:05.2
Senior Women Champion – Ffion Roberts (Cardiff) fastest lap was lap 3 in 01:05.2
Event organiser Barry Edwards quoted:
“This is a different type of event in a new format which included music and plenty of excitement as athletes rushed to the finish line before being eliminated. It was great to see a nice mix of clubs competing and it will be an exciting journey for us all as this event will grow year on year with the eliminator race expanding in age groups and numbers."
Gethin Griffith the u15’s Boy’s champion and the athlete with the quickest lap of the day commented
“This was a fun but hard event which I had never done or seen before. It had excitement from start to finish and it was a nice, relaxed environment, I’m looking forward to defending my title next year”.
The top 3 finishers in each category were:
U13 Boys Champion – 1st Alfie Shiland (Colwyn Bay), 2nd Toby Lemon (Deeside) 3rd Elis Martin (Deeside). U13 Girls Champion – 1st Rosie Parsley (Colwyn Bay), 2nd Sophie Forgrave (Wrexham), 3rd Kiera Marsh (Prestatyn). U15 Boys Champion – 1st Gethin Griffith (Menai), 2nd Callum Fox-Byrne (Prestatyn), 3rd Will Bailey (Menai). U15 Girls Champion – 1st Beca Bown (Menai), 2nd Cara Scott (Menai) 3rd Rhian Edwards (Colwyn Bay). Senior Men Champion – 1st Richard Eccles (NWRRC), 2nd Daniel Weston (Wrexham). Senior Women Champion – 1st Ffion Roberts (Cardiff).
Special thanks to all the clubs, athletes, coaches, parents for supporting this new event which will return in 2022 as an annual event and will hopefully attract even more competitors from across Wales. Special thanks to all the officials who supported the event and made sure the day ran smoothly. Once again thanks to Welsh Athletics and the Club Development Fund for making these new opportunities available here in Wales.
