Two off road events held on the same day (April 7th) meant a parting of company for some teammates albeit temporarily. The Rivers family, Simon Hall and mud lover Dan Hooper travelled south to take part in the rescheduled Ras Dewi Sant Half Marathon organised by Man-Up Uk while Dee Jolly, Mitchell Readwin and CarwynDavies travelled east to race along Sugar Loaf Mountain in Mynydd Du’s 7 mile fell race.
Four Sarn Helen men travelled some distances to take part in four different half marathon events through the month of March, with all posting some great times around some beautiful cities. Severe weather has resulted in the cancellation and down scaling of many events this month but despite this ‘The Big Half’, a brand-new event in the centre of England’s Capital, prevailed and drew some enormous crowds on March 4th. Our firefighting senior male, Terry Wyn Jones made it to the start line and was pleased to finish the 13.1-mile run (and warm up!) in a time of 1:54:40.
Sarn Helen has ended the usually dreary month of Feb on a particular high with some outstanding results in the cross country, on the roads and along the trails. A mentionable feat was the launch on of the new Llanerchaeron Parkrun on Feb 10th, a free weekly 5k timed event that is safe and suitable for the while family and was supported by Clwb Rhedeg Sarn Helen and runs in conjunction with the National Trust. A dedicated group of volunteers, many of whom are active members of Sarn Helen, are responsible for getting the event up and running and after only 3 weeks has seen near 200 walkers, joggers and runners take to the trails. For more information on how you could take part or volunteer please see the Llanerchaeron Parkrun website.
A large crowd of over 250 runners took to the scenic and sloping grounds of the National Botanic Gardens on October the 15th at a new event, The Royal Welsh Run. On the day there were two main events, a 5k and 10k, as well as numerous fun runs and children’s activities, raising money and awareness for the famous Builth Wells summer show. A spectacular performance and time, 20:23, from one of our juniors, Dafydd Lloyd, saw him place 6th overall in the 5km run and a massive 3 minutes in front of his father, long standing Sarn member Haydn Lloyd, who finished in 23:55.
A day to cover all eventualities with fierce hail, subtle snow showers and a surprise visit from the sun could only mean one thing, that morning had dawned for the annual Ras Cors Caron Half Marathon! Held on Sunday February 11th from the old market town of Tregaron the event drew a great turn out of 131 runners ready to brave the elements; this said, special mention must go to those involved with the local rubgy club whom not only provide heart warming cowl but brave the icy cold for hours to marshell the event, and superbly i might add!
‘Sarn Helen On Tour’ over the weekend of Saturday 28th October took in the usual spectacular sights, twisty roads and changeable weather that has come to be expected of the glorious event ‘Brooks Snowdonia Marathon’ or ‘Marathon Eryri’.
The cold and dark winter months can make training hard for even the most dedicated athletes but there seems to be no stopping the Sarn Helen Running team as they have trained hard, raced well and as a result have clocked some brilliant positions and times.
After the birth of child number three Sarn Helen member Martin Darby decided to take on a big, two day challenge pushing him to his limits over two disciplines as he completed a 70 mile bike ride one day and a furiously fast 10k race the next. Saturday 2nd of September Darby travelled to Warwick to take part in the Wiggle Tempest Sportive, where he covered the massive distance in 4 hours 21 minutes. The following day, back over the border, he completed the Cardiff Kidney Wales 10k in 51:56.
There is no bigger honour than representing you country and for our two legendary veterans, Dawn Kenwright and Richard Marks that accolade is one they have repeated time and again. This years’ British Cross Country Championships took place is the beautiful surroundings of Derry in Ireland on Saturday 18th Nov.
