Denbigh Harriers Dinbych

Saturday was the final fixture of the North Wales Cross Country League which always can be an anxious day because this is when titles are won and lost as well as the peril of relegation and the joy promotion in the air. Denbigh Harriers turned out one of its strongest teams of the season to make sure there were no unexpected surprises. A total of 22 Denbigh Harriers went to Oswestry to compete against 27 other clubs for the prizes on offer. Despite the fine weather the course presented the usual set of obstacles of hills and mud with the added bonus of streams to cross. The women ran a 5k course with Rhian Pierce running one of her best races of the season to clinch the bronze category F35 prize. Emma Collins was in a close battle for her age category but in the end produced an emphatic gold winning race in her F55 category. Alaw Medi was one place behind her in her best race of the season with Mel Morris a further place back missing an F45 bronze medal by one place. There was a strong runs from Katy Baugh, Mari Williams and Carys Davies to push competitor teams back.  Menai Baugh ended the season with an excellent run to win the F60 category gold. This superb team performance meant that Denbigh Harriers ended up fourth in Division 1, just missing missing out on third. Interestingly they were also the second Welsh team in the league. The team also won the masters silver medal. 

Women

16th Rhian Pierce 22.16

27th Emma Collins 22.59

28th Alaw Medi 23.06

29th Mel Morris 23.11

36th Katy Baugh 23.35

48th Mari Williams 24.12

55th Carys Davies 24.56

82nd Menai Baugh 27.19

In the M65+ 5k race Fred Jones was on form finishing in 4th and winning the Bronze medal for the age group With his teammates Chris Baldwin, Bob Neale and Jeff Jones they were rewarded for their consistent performance over the season with a silver team medal. 

Men Over 65

4th Fred Jones 24.15

9th Chris Baldwin 26.59

14th Bob Neale 28.25

18th Jeff Jones 29.55

The men ran an 8.5k course which by this time had become even muddier and churned up making it difficult to maintain running  rhythm. Despite this there was an excellent run from Shaun Jones for his best performance of the season to finish 12th in this very high class field. He was well supported by improved performances from Joe Welch and Tony Wood with Huw Williams having the his race of the season finishing 30 seconds ahead of Glen Price who was recovering from illness. On the day Mat Jones got the better of David Baugh and Duncan Jones using his skill on the hills finished ahead of Tony Benton. Gareth Powell had his first taste of Cross Country with Denbigh Harriers and hopefully will become a regular next season.  These results ensured that Denbigh comfortably secured promotion to Division 1 and received the runners up silver medals for Division 2. 

Men

12th Shaun Hughes 33.38

45th Joe Welch 36.39

56th Tony Wood 37.31

72nd Huw Williams 38.43

76th Glen Price 39.15

93rd Matthew Jones 40.46

97th David Baugh 40.54

121st Duncan Jones 44.22

127th Tony Benton 45.00

141st Gareth Powell 47.22

Parkruns

Conwy Parkrun

267th John Llewelyn THOMAS 01:00:58

Wepre Parkrun

44th Joseph WELCH 00:26:55

Saturday saw the penultimate fixture of the North Wales Cross Country League held in Shrewsbury. Although Shrewsbury is not in Wales Shropshire and Cheshire clubs compete in this league too. This was a new course and proved to be much hillier than expected. In the women’s race of 5.5 kilometres there was a large turnout from Denbigh Harries and other clubs, especially from local Shropshire clubs. First home for the women in a field of 137 runners was Rhian Pierce in 20th overall in 20m29s who found the course hard work. She was followed by Emma Collins in 26th place in 25m05s and first F55. After a good race between the two Emma was closely followed by Mel Morris at 28th in 25m19s. Staying ahead of her sister the next Denbigh Harrier home was Katy Baugh at 39th in 26m21s with Elen Baugh at 45th in 27m00s.  The next Harrier home was Alaw Medi in 52nd (27m48s) followed by Mari Williams in 55th (28m12s) and Carys Davies in 63rd (28m37s). Menai Baugh kept her North Wales age group title bid on course with a good run finishing in 83rd (30m50s) and as 2nd F60. This performance put the women 3rd on the day and 4th in Division 1. 

In the M65+ race run over the same course as the women Fred Jones put in another strong performance to finish 7th in 27m36 followed in 13th by Bob Neale (30m22s), Chris Baldwin in 15th (30m47s) and Jeff Jones in 19th in 33m12s. This result puts the team in 3rd place but with all to run for in the last fixture.

The Men’s team was a little depleted on the day with a couple of usual high placing runners absent or carrying injuries. Nevertheless, there was a strong performance from the team meaning that if everyone turns up for the final fixture in February the men will be making a return to Division 1. The team was led home on the 8.3 kilometre four lap course by Joe Welch in 60th (34m42s) who was not fully fit for the race. With a superb final lap Glen Price was 70th in 35m44s ahead of the closely packed Owen Conry in 81st (36m36s), Huw Euron Williams 88th (36m54s) and David Baugh 89th (37m02s). Mat Jones who was also carrying an injury was 112th in 39m06s with Duncan Jones finishing in 129th (40m50s) beating Tony Benton 133rd in 41m16s.

Parkruns

Bushy Parkrun

824th Sian PRITCHARD 00:28:34

Conwy Parkrun

21st  Philip HAYES 00:22:27

247th John Llewelyn THOMAS 01:03:21

Wepre Parkrun

38th Victor BELSHAW 00:25:41

Denbigh Harriers had a successful day at the North Wales Cross Country Championships held at Coleg Cambria, Northop on Saturday. This course was hilly and consisted of differing laps of about one mile in length. The women ran first on a course of three and half miles. The first Harrier home was Rhian Pierce well up at the front of the field and winning her a place in the North Wales cross country squad as well as a great silver medal in her very competitive age group.  She was well supported by Mel Morris who ran a strong race. To complete the women’s team were sisters Katy and Elen Baugh.  In the final placings this team won a well deserved overall bronze medal in North Wales. Mari Wyn Williams ran great race showing her strength on the hills followed by Carys Davies who looked strong throughout the race. Menai Baugh had a competitive battle to retain her F60 gold medal with a good performance on the hills.  The veteran team of Rhian Pierce, Mel Morris and Carys Davies won a bronze medal for this championships as well. 

In the M65 race run over the same distance as the women Fred Jones had a storming run to win a gold medal with 200 metres to spare despite being behind the eventual silver medal winner for the first lap. He was followed by Chris Baldwin who is returning to form and winning the bronze medal. The team was well supported by Jeff Jones who ensured that Denbigh Harriers won a gold medal in the category. 

In the men’s race covering just over six miles there was a great run from Shaun Hughes giving him selection to the North Wales cross country squad.  He was supported by Tony Wood recovering from a cold to finish well up the field. Glen Price also had a strong run to finish ahead of his normal rivals. Owen Conry continued his good form to finish very strongly followed by Vic Belshaw. In the M60 race David Baugh ran a steady race to pick up a Bronze Age category medal followed three places later by Duncan Jones. 


Parkruns

Kingston Parkrun

289th Sian PRITCHARD 00:29:21

Nova Prestatyn Parkrun

47th Bob NEALE 00:25:45
97th Gwenno WOOD 00:30:02
184th John Llewelyn THOMAS 00:52:37

Credit NeeNeeJ and Jo Hoppes