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Weekend Round-Up (30 November - 1 December 2024)
03/12/2024 00:00, In Blog /
GWENT LEAGUE FIXTURE 3 – BLAISE CASTLE, NOVEMBER 30
Round three of this year’s John H. Collins Gwent League was held at the scenic Blaise Castle Estate near Bristol on Saturday.
Once again hundreds of athletes from south Wales and the south West of England took part in the hugely popular event.
The 8.8k senior men’s race saw more than 400 starters with Ciaran Lewis (Les Croupiers Running Club) emerging victorious from the pack to win in 27.20.
Lewis was followed home by Felix McGrath (Bristol and West Athletic Club) in 27:29 and Steve Denby (Bristol University) in 28:04.
Bristol and West took the team honours in the senior men’s race with Parc Bryn Bach Running Club second and Les Croupiers Running Club third.
The 6.7k senior women’s race, which attracted more than 300 runners, was won by Gemma Tutton (Swansea Harriers), who crossed the line in 25:36 just ahead of Lucy Marland (Les Croupiers Running Club) in 25:39 and Jessie Sanzo (Bristol and West Athletic Club) in 25:45.
The team positions were Bristol and West Athletic Club in first place, followed by Swansea Harriers and Les Croupiers Running Club.
The age group races saw a win in the Women’s Under-23 6.7k race for Niamh McDonald (Cardiff University AC) in 26:14. Second was Jessica Hyland (Carmarthen Harriers) in 26:37, ahead of Lucy Richards (Swansea Harriers) 27:05.
In the Under-20 men’s race, there was a win for Ethan Esteban (Cardiff Athletics), who finished in 16:11, ahead of Thomas Claridge (Cardiff University AC) in 16:16 and Ben Hughes (Pontypridd Roadents) in 16:40.
There was a Swansea Harriers one-two in the women’s under-17 where National Development Programme athlete Millie Gold finished first in 16:39, ahead of team-mate Holly Humphreys in 16:45. Rebecca Harries (Cardiff AC) was third in 16:52.
There were a number of other excellent performances by Welsh athletes across the other various age groups throughout the event, including a win Tom Garrod (Newport Harriers) in the under-15 boys race.
The fourth fixture in this year’s league will take place at Margam Park, Port Talbot, on Saturday, February 8.
DAVID ALUN WILLIAMS NORTH WALES CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE – FIXTURE 3, ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY, NOVEMBER 30
Fixture three of the David Alun Williams North Wales Cross Country League, was held in Aberystwyth – the first time the fixture had been staged in the town for 30 years.
Perhaps fittingly given the venue, the men’s senior race was won by Janos Vranek (Aberystwyth University AC), who crossed the line first out of more than 120 finishers, in 29:59.
Daniel Kashi (Meirionnydd RC) was second in 30:00 and Matt Benson (Maldwyn Harriers) was third in 30:45.
The senior women’s race, which saw 130 finishers, was won by Madeline Williams (Shrewsbury Harriers) in 23:15, ahead of under-17 athlete Maddison Hughes (Maldwyn Harriers) in 24:24. Gemma Moore (Eryri Harriers) was third in 24:32.
In the Pyramid Consulting North Wales Junior League, the Under-15 Boys race winner was Zac Campbell (Deeside AC), who broke the tape in 15:25. Second place went to Alfie Bartley-Rose (Deeside AC) in 15:50 with Xander Brandon-Higgs (Maldwyn Harriers) third in 16:28.
The Under-15 Girls race was won by Martha Bown (Menai Track and Field) in 13:16 with team-mate Tamsin Seguin second in 13:39 and Gwen Tompsett (Aberystwyth AC) third in 14:58.
VALENCIA MARATHON – DECEMBER 1
Dan Nash (Pontypridd Roadents), Chris Thomas (Thames Valley Harriers) and Clara Evans-Graham (Pontypridd Roadents) made up the Welsh team competing at the Valencia Marathon on Sunday morning.
The Welsh performance of the day came from Nash, who was the fastest British finisher in the men’s race – taking more than two minutes off his previous marathon best which was set at the same event last year.
The Great Britain international clocked 2:13.02 – moving him up from 15th to seventh on the list of fastest Welsh marathon runners of all time.
Thomas also ran a new PB as he clocked 2:16.36. Evans-Graham, who competed for Great Britain at last summer’s Olympics, finished in 2:33.16 in the women’s race.
Away from the official Welsh team, there were PBs for Daniel Hamilton (Pontypridd Roadents) with 2:15.03, Rhodri Owen (Meirionnydd) with 2:19.40 and Paul Graham (Pontypridd Roadents), who clocked 2:22.25.
The men’s race was won by Kenya’s Sebastian Sawe, who ran the fifth fastest marathon time in history – 2:02.05 – on his marathon debut.
The women’s race was won by Ethiopia’s Megertu Alemu in a new PB of 2:18.35.
WELSH ATHLETICS JUNIOR INDOOR OPEN DAY 1 – CARDIFF, DECEMBER 1
The Welsh Athletics Junior Indoor Open Day 1, which incorporated the regional championships for south Wales, east Wales, west Wales and the south west of England, was held at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff on Sunday.
More than 350 athletes took part in track and field events across a number of age groups from Under-13 to Under-17.
Among the outstanding performers on the day was National Development Programme (NDP) athlete Darcy Coslett.
The Llanelli AAC sprinter, who has set new Welsh age group records this year, was in winning form again on Sunday.
Coslett recorded the fastest Women’s Under-17 200m time of the day with 25.08 as 49 athletes competed across 13 heats.
In the final event of the day – the under-17 women’s 300m – Coslett again recorded the fastest time of the event, clocking 40.03.
Another NDP athlete Lucas Salvage (Newport Harriers) was in winning form in the Men’s Under-17 400m, where he clocked the fastest time of the day – 51.89.
In the field events, NDP athlete Lachlan Robbie (Cardiff Archers) enjoyed a comfortable win in the Men’s Under-17 shot put, finishing over half a metre ahead of his nearest rival with a best of 13.05m
Promising multi-eventer Aiden Angilletta (Deeside AAC) won the Men’s Under-17 triple jump with a best of 12.74m, ahead of another talented multi-eventer Cobie Phillips (Cardiff Archers) with 12.34m.
Amongst many other notable performances, Freya Birt (Swansea Harriers) won the Girls Under-15 triple jump with a best of 9.34m, ahead of Mabli Ramasut Rhys (Cardiff Athletics) with 9.24m.
ABERYSTWYTH CHARITY 10K 2024 – DECEMBER 1
The 26th Aberystwyth Charity 10K took place on Sunday, starting and finishing at the town’s football club.
The men’s race was won by David Cole (Carmarthen Harriers) who competed the fast, flat course in 32:32. Runner-up was Ollie Thorogood (South West Road Runners) in 33:39 with Owain Schiavone (Aberystwyth AC) third in 34:15.
The women’s race was won by Sioned Howells (Swansea Harriers), who also finished 11th overall, in 37:02. Earlier this year, Howells won the Ammanford 10K and in October ran a marathon personal best of 2:46.12 in Chicago.
Next home was Emma Price in 38:08, while Layla Omar-Davies was third in 42:26.
RESULTS
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