News Report 24th February 2008

Oswestry was the venue recently for the 5th, and final, fixture of the 2007-08 Majestic Travel North Wales Cross Country League and glorious conditions greeted the seven Bro Dysynni athletes who took on the challenge.

As ever, it was the consistently reliable ladies team who outnumbered their male counterparts, on this occasion by a 5:2 ratio. Leading home the five, as well as claiming victory in the Female Over-50 category on the day was Debbie Evans of Tywyn, completing the challenge in a time of 24.49mins. Also claiming age category victory, on this occasion in  the Female Over-65 section, was Brenda Jones of Llanelltyd, home in 28.36mins. There was another steady performance by Marit Evans of Dolgellau, finishing in 29.26mins, with Yolanda Marconi-Nolan following in 30.38mins. The fifth female Dysynni athlete home was Marj Griffiths of Aberystwyth, whose time of 33.20mins also claimed 3rd place in the Female Over-60 category.

The evergreen Richard Griffiths of Tywyn was the first of the 2 Dysynni male competitors home in a time of 48.22mins, whilst Barrie Jackson of Bala followed in 51.14mins, a time which also claimed 2nd place in the Male Over-65 section.

After the event, the end of season league tables were published. In the Ladies Team Division 2, there was a 5th place finish for Bro Dysynni whilst their Meirionnydd Running Club counterparts followed in 12th place in the same division. The Bro Dysynni Ladies Veteran Team claimed an excellent 7th place in the 'Ladies Masters League'.

In the Male Team Division 2, Bro Dysynni claimed 13th position whilst their Meirionnydd Running Club colleagues followed in 15th position.

There were also notable individual performances over the course of the 5 race season, most notably amongst the Bro Dysynni Veteran Ladies. Brenda Jones won the Ladies Masters Over-65 Class, whilst Debbie Evans claimed 2nd place in the Female Over-50 category. Tied for 2nd place in the Female Over-55 category was Yolanda Marconi-Nolan whilst Marj Griffiths followed up with 3rd place in the Female Over-60 section.

Following on from their success at the cross country, two of the Dysynni athletes highlighted above took to the road at the Village Bakery Wrexham Half-Marathon. The race had added importance this year as it also constituted the North Wales Championships over the 13.1 mile distance. As ever, this brought out the best out of Brenda Jones as she set an age-group category record as she won the Female Over-65 class in an outstanding time of 1hr 48.16mins. Also showing well, as she enters the final part of her London Marathon training, was Marit Evans, crossing the finishing line in a highly creditable time of 1hr 58.06mins.

A.Unwin