News Report 16th March 2008

With no local race results to hand for last weekend, it was left to a current and former member of Bro Dysynni A.C. to write the headlines, both of foreign soil.

The former Dysynni member in action was Adrian Bailey, formerly of Barmouth, now settled on the South Island of New Zealand. His latest outing was over the 42.2k marathon distance at the off-road Matatapu Icebreaker Mountain Marathon held between the South Island towns of Wanaka and Arrowtown. Using the race as part of his build-up for his 2nd attempt at the 90k Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa in June of this year, Bailey achieved a terrific finishing time of 2hrs 58.36mins over the punishing course, a time good enough to earn a 4th place finish out of the 475 athletes who completed the event.

Moving on to North America, a current Dysynni member, namely super-veteran Alan Morton of Tywyn, tackled the Little Rock Marathon, held within the state capital of Arkansas. As part of his ever-growing record of completed marathons, a finishing time of 6hrs 05.51mins ensured a fantastic 2nd place finish in the Male Over-75 category.

Moving much closer to home, there is local action this coming Saturday afternoon (22nd) as Llanuwchllyn plays host to the Organic Aran Lamb sponsored Ras Yr Aran Fell Race, which is also the final race in this years Meirionnydd Winter Race Series. Covering 2,500 feet of climbing, the 10 mile race will provide a stern test for all those who tackle it. The race headquarters on the day will be the Eagles Inn in Llanuwchllyn. With the main race due off at 1.00pm, there is also the added attraction of the much shorter Ras Y Garth, which covers a 2 mile distance. This race is open to budding athletes over the age of 10, as well as those eager to tackle a fell race, albeit in far greater moderation than the main event. Ras Y Garth is due off at 1.15pm. Further details relating to the two races are available on www.run-meirionnydd.co.uk.

A.Unwin