News Report 6^th December 2009

Eryri Harriers were the host club for the 3rd of the 5 fixtures which constitute the Grand Prix Express North Wales Cross Country League recently, their chosen venue for the event being Treborth in Bangor.

The recent bad weather ensured quagmire conditions in many parts of the energy sapping course, these conditions however did not deter the 16 local athletes who headed off to Bangor to compete at the event.

In the 'Senior Men's' race, the local contingent were led home by the impressive Ifan Richards of Brithdir, the Meirionnydd Running Club athlete claiming an overall 22nd placed finish in a time of 31.12mins. He was followed by a further 6 team-mates in another impressive club turn-out for Meirionnydd R.C. They were led home by Huw Brassington of Ganllwyd in 31.25mins, he in turn was followed by Tom Roberts of Dolgellau in a time of 33.56mins, Mark Atherton of Llan Ffestiniog in 34.45mins, Frankie Vaughan of Ganllwyd in 37.09mins, Pete Nicholls of Llanfachreth in 38.27mins and John Smith of Dolgellau in 38.57mins. Once again, the sole male Bro Dysynni competitor was Richard Griffiths, the Tywyn based athlete satisfied with his finishing time of 39.37mins. The local contingent in the race was completed by Kevin Evans of Brithdir, the Meirionnydd Running Club member home in a time of 40.11mins. With three of the five cross country fixtures having now been completed, Meirionnydd Running Club are placed in a strong 3rd position in Division 2, with Bro Dysynni languishing in a lowly 14th.

In the 'Male Under-17' race, there was another impressive performance by Alex Lanz of Dolgellau, a time of 20.26mins ensuring a runners-up spot in the race for the Meirionnydd athlete.

In the 'Senior Ladies' race, it was left to Andrea Vaughan of Ganllwyd to lead home the local contingent, a  time of 24.08mins being the fastest of the Meirionnydd Running Club quartet in action. The 2nd of that quartet was Juliet Edwards of Dolgellau, home in a time of 27.04mins with team-mate, Andrea Edwards of Brithdir following in a time of 29.01mins. The first of the two Bro Dysynni competitors home was Brenda Jones of Llanelltyd in 30.02mins before Gaynor Smith of Dolgellau completed the Meirionnydd quartet in a time of 30.26mins. The local contingent was completed by Marit Evans of Dolgellau, the Dysynni athlete crossing the finishing line in a time of 32.22mins. After three of the five league fixtures, the Meirionnydd ladies sit comfortably in 5th place in Division 2, their Dysynni counterparts trailing in 10th spot.

A.Unwin