News Report 24th September 2006

Having won the Llanddoged 12.5k road race for 3 consecutive years, Bro Dysynni athlete Steve Gilliland was recently thwarted in his quest for a fourth consecutive victory in the race held in the hills above Llanrwst. On this occasion, a runners up spot behind race victor Brendan Rothery (Eryri Harriers) was the best the Tywyn based athlete could achieve as he crossed the finishing line in 48.12mins. In an excellent squad effort which saw Bro Dysynni pipped for the team event by Abergele Harriers by a mere 2 points, Dewi Roberts of Blaenau Ffestiniog was next home, in fifth overall, in a time of 50.31mins. Jos Jones of Tywyn was the third Dysynni team counter as he crossed the line in 54.51mins whilst fellow Tywyn athlete, Walter Marsh, completed the team as he finished in 56.21mins, which was good enough to claim victory in the male veteran over-50 category. Also running the race, as part of his strict training regime, was Frankie Vaughan of Ganllwyd and the Meirionnydd Running Club athlete was happy with his finishing time of 65.06mins.

One athlete taking to the hills recently has been John Marsh of the Tarren Hendre club. His latest outing  was over the gruelling 18 mile Stretton Skyline Fell Race in Shropshire. As well as the long distance, competitors also had to compete with 5 major climbs within the race which included an overall 4,500 feet of climbing. However, the Tywyn based strongman rose to the occasion as he finished in 3hrs 15.22mins to claim 18th position out of the 76 race finishers as well as claiming victory in the male veteran over-60 category.

Another long distance racer recently has been Gwyn Jones of Pwllheli who tackled the 26.2mile Anglesey Marathon last Sunday. Warm conditons prevailed as the Bro Dysynni athlete tackled the course to eventually finish strongly in 3hrs 50.46mins. Alongside the main event, the marathon organisers had also included both a 10k and a 5k race as part of the days proceedings. Three local athletes tackled both the 10k and 5k which started 2 hours apart. Nigel Evans of Dolgellau returned respective times of 42.03mins and 21.36mins, Rob Thomas of Llanelltyd returned 52.07mins and 31.42mins whilst Dolgellau's Marit Evans finished her two outings in 54.59mins and 31.50mins. Tackling the 5k only was a beaming Andy Unwin of Harlech who completed his event in 28.23mins.

Perhaps the performance of the week came from Brenda Jones of Llanelltyd who tackled the Swansea Bay 10k which also incorporated both the Welsh 10k Championships as well as the British Masters 10k Championships. As ever, the Dysynni athlete rose to the occasion as a time of 49.35mins claimed a gold medal within both Championship races in an event which attracted a field of over 3,000 competitors.

Finally, Jos Jones of Tywyn and a busy Frankie Vaughan of Ganllwyd were in action again last Sunday, on this occasion in Cheshire for the Sutton 10k race held near Chester. The trip proved worthwhile for the duo as respective times of 40.07mins and 46.42mins resulted, the latter proving to be a personal best over the distance for the Ganllwyd based runner.

A.Unwin