News Report 27^th January 2008

Local athletes have been in action far and wide recently, being represented at both local & international venues.

From a local perspective, a quartet of athletes from Bro Dysynni A.C. were in action at the Twin Piers 10k Road Race, a race which started in Llandudno and proceeded along the North West Wales coast before finishing in Colwyn Bay. Of the four athletes in action, two were victorious in their respective age categories. First home for Dysynni on the day was Malcolm Taylor of Criccieth whose first competitive action of the year saw him finishing in a time of 48.11mins. Another Dwyfor-based athlete followed as Sheila Jones of Pwllheli came home in 49.54mins. She, in turn, was followed by the two age category winners as Brenda Jones of Llanelltyd was victorious in the Female Over-65 section in a time of 51.31mins whilst team-mate, Marjorie Griffiths of Aberystwyth, claimed success in the Female Over-60 category in a time of 60.19mins.

Nich Bradley of Dolgellau was the sole local representative at the recent Cyrn Y Brain Fell Race held in and around the Coed Llandegla Visitors Centre. The Meirionnydd Running Club athlete covered the 6 mile distance which included 800 feet of climbing in a pleasing time of 54.13mins.

Off to sunnier climbs recently was Tywyn based veteran, Alan Morton, who made his annual pilgrimage to Bermuda to take part in two races which formed part of the 'Bermuda International Race Weekend, 2008'. First up for the Dysynni athlete was the 10k race held on the Saturday in which a respectable finishing time of 1hr 22.15mins was achieved. Less than 24 hours later, the Tywyn veteran was back on the road, on this occasion covering the daunting 42k marathon distance. In a truly international field, the Bro Dysynni athlete was one of only three British competitors in action, achieving an excellent finishing time of 5hrs 32.44mins.

Continuing with the international theme, Adrian Bailey, erstwhile of Barmouth, formed part of the 'io' triathlon team participating in the Wanaka Ironman Long Course Triahtlon Challenge, held on the South Island of New Zealand. With 2 team-mates having covered the 3.8k swim and 180k of biking, it was left to the former Bro Dysynni athlete to take on the final challenge of the event, the 42k marathon distance, held partly on and partly off-road. As ever, strength prevailed with Bailey covering the distance in 2hrs 39.16mins to ensure his team were the 1st of the 71 teams competing to finish the event, claiming a comfortable victory in an overall time of 8hrs 12.05mins.

There is local action this coming Saturday afternoon as Abergynolwyn plays host to the Tarren Hendre Fell Race. The 6 mile event which includes an arduous 2,000 feet of climbing is due off at 12.00 Noon from outside the Railway Inn in Abergynolwyn. Further details relating to the event are available on www.run-meirionnydd.co.uk.

A.Unwin