On Saturday 26th October, Matt Ward had a terrific battle with club colleague Matt Fortes for the Llyn Brenig 9 mile trail race title, eventually pulling away to win in a time of 56:37, with Fortes 2nd in 56:48.
Johnny Moore ran well to finish 5th overall and 1st MV/45 in 60:48, while Andrea Rowlands had a more comfortable win in the ladies section finishing 8th overall in a time of 63:00.
There were 48 finishers in all and among them: 10th Phil Targett 63:36. 16th (3rd Female) Becki Law 68:49 and 39th Iorwerth Roberts 88:43.
The following day at Newborough Forest, 99 competitors took part in the Half Marathon trail race that included two laps of the scenic Llanddwyn Island in what were quite warm conditions. Former Eryri Harrier Gwyn Owen made his intentions clear from the start as he left everyone in his wake to comfortably win in a time of 1:19:06 ahead of Menai athlete Steffan Sayer 1:23:01.
Eryri’s Dewi Owen running well to finish 3rd 1:29:15 followed by 4th Karl Ashworth 1:29:48, just pipping Dyfed Whiteside Thomas in a sprint finish as Dyfed clocked 1:29:49 ahead of Arwel Lewis in 6th & (1st MV/50) 1:30:06.
Other notable Eryri Finishers: 8th Huw Owen 1:32:22. 13th (1st MV/40) Brian Wills 1:37:56. 28th and (3rd Female) Tammy Lewis-Jones 1:45:55.
In the 10k trail race incorporating one lap of the Half Marathon course, Siobhan Evans finished 8th overall and 1st Female in a time of 44:20. The race was won by Chester Tri’s Alex Hall in 37:57 ahead of promising young Menai athlete Iolo Hughes 38:58 who beat his coach(!) Andy Walling (1st MV/40) 40:47, with Eryri’s Dylan Jones 4th in 41:21. Gary Porter-Jones finished 7th overall and 3rd MV/40 in 43:44. There was a very good turnout of 181 for the 10k race and along with the junior races prior to the senior events, a good day all round for The Always Aim High well organised event.
ARWEL LEWIS
