Anneke Crosby organised an away day for Red Rose Road Runners via the Away Days group to the Conwy 1/2 Marathon. 23 club members set off early for the Conwy due to it being a 10:00 start. There were 15 running and 8 supporting which is brilliant for a race that’s not local.
The Conwy 1/2 Marathon is now in it’s 7th year and usually has a field of approx 3,000 runners and is the second largest half marathon in Wales. It is also voted one of the top 5 most scenic half marathons in the UK by readers of Runners World.
There was heavy rain prior to the start of the race which was slightly delayed but this didn’t dampen everyone’s spirits. It was a tough start to the due to the poor conditions but the sun later came out for the runners.
The Red Rosers started on Conwy quayside and ran along the bridge over Conwy River towards Deganwy. From there they proceeded along the beach at West Shore and then they headed towards Llandudno. The red vests then began their ascent up The Great Orme at mile 4.5 from Llandudno Pier and proceed to climb for approximately 2.5 miles before beginning their descent. Once off The Great Orme they headed back along the coastline and West Shore beach to Conwy quayside.
Along various parts of the course the runners were cheered on enthusiastically by club members Gary Mercer, Carol Heaton, Emily Ingham, Wendy Ward, Megan Gore, India Ward, Eric Ward and Annes Shaikh in typical Red Rose fashion.
First over the line was Mike Hall in 1:27:24 securing 88th place out of a field of some 3,000 runners! Next home was Dave Raynor in 1:41:45 (465th) shortly followed by Rich Ward in 1:46:45 (465th) improving on last year’s time of 1:51:18. First home for the ladies was Lisa Bolton in a fantastic time of 1:49:48 (834th). Anthony Barnes and Alison Parkinson both came in under 2 hours with 1:55:21 (1124th) amd 1:57:27 (1230) respectively. Anneke Crosby paced Judi Ingham to a new PB of 2:05:27 (1575) on a very hard course. Other results Alison Mercer 2:03:19 (1472), Susan Tonge 2:04:38 (1536), Tim Sullivan 2:06:08 (1596), Vicky Gore 2:06:52 (1627), Cathy Karn 2:09:17 (1717), Mary Conwy 2:18:53 (2026) and Nikki Bentley 2:42:03 (2335).
15 Red Rose Road Runners enjoyed near perfect running conditions at the 2nd running of the Chorley Fire 10k in aid of The Firefighters Charity, which supports serving and retired firefighters, fire personnel and their families. Karl Hodgson (36:33), Steven Whitney (40:08), Barry Wheeler (41:56) Gareth Bell (42:03), Philip Davidson (43:00), Damien Russell (43:57), Ian Wharton (44:20), Stuart Humphries (44:37), David Anson 55:31, Pita Oates (56:31), Debbie Porter (56:31), David Orritt (59:32), Amanda Berry (59:55), Sarah Haslam (61:56) and Nina Colquhoun (68:00) all enjoyed the relatively flat course on the quiet lanes around Euxton, with many returning personal and/or seasons bests for the expertly organised race from Fylde Coast Running.