Three age cat wins for Road Runners at bright and breezy Conwy parkrun.

Three age cat wins for Road Runners at bright and breezy Conwy parkrun.

Report by Don Hale. Photos Steve Jeffery.

It was bright and breezy at Conwy parkrun last Saturday where an increased number of top club and social runners enjoyed the excellent weather to record some fast times and PBs.

Adam Jones was the first man home over this picturesque 5k course in just 16 minutes 59 seconds, with Tom Carterjust 3 seconds behind, despite a new PB time of 17.02, with Osian Griffiths 3rd in 18.59. The first lady was the speedy Alice Johnson (Les Croupiers), who finished 7th overall in 19.27.

The parkrun attracted another bumper turnout of 234 runners from across the UK, and it also welcomed back a couple of remarkable ‘super’ veterans in Sandy Johnston (Les Croupiers), a highly respected MV70 runner – and the father of the ladies’ event winner – Alice Johnston, who finished in 32nd place overall, and he too was the victor of his age cat in a very fast time of 22.37.

And it was also good to see another remarkable local athlete in action, with Roger Harrison Jones (Prestatyn RC), returning to Conwy for the first time this year to celebrate his 50th parkrun, and enjoy a good run in 157th place in 30.12.

The Road Runners entered 12 members and two juniors, but there were a few tired NWRRC legs at parkrun however, after two tough championship races this week, yet despite some times being slightly down, they still celebrated six age category wins, including three 1st place finishes.

Stuart Culverhouse led the team home in 12th place overall in 20.21, with Will Williams 20th in 21.15, and Jamie Tharme claimed the 3rd spot in his M40 cat in 26th place in 22.12. Steve Roberts also enjoyed a fast-paced finish to record 22.30 in 31st place and he was 3rd in his MV55 cat.

Veteran Rob Fryer continued with his good form to win his MV65 age cat in 72nd place in 25.05, and both Karen Butler and the ever-improving Vicky Taylor both won their respective age cats. Karen ran home in 87th place and won her FV60 cat in 25.34, with Vicky recording 26.37 to win her FV45 cat in 26.37.

Young Joe Culverhouse finished 2nd in his JM11-14 age cat in 26.46 in 103rd place, and Dave Spofforth running with his young son Ben finished together in 145th/146th places in 29.17, with Ben also claiming the 2nd spot in his JM10 age cat. And Rachel Morris ran her fastest parkrun time this year following another positive performance in 152nd place in 29.52.

Meanwhile, Dave’s Spofforth’s wife Nicola and daughter Elowen ran together in 192nd/193rd places, and both runners celebrated new PBs in 34.10. In addition, Sue Smith, fresh from her recent medal winning performance, finished in 160th place in 30.20, with Ceri Jones 185th in 32.50, and Sue’s husband Mike, and another previous medal winner, finished 190th in 33.42.

*This is the link to the provisional results from Conwy parkrun:

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/conwy/results/latestresults/