Wrexham (Village Bakery) half marathon

No repeat of last year's fun and games, when some mischief maker switched the signs and ruined the race. Or indeed the snow-related cancellation of a few years back. Today, conditions were good apart from an upsetting headwind that affected the last 3 miles and destroyed a few well laid plans! A small turnout from our club this year, but good performances: particularly notable was a big pb for Eddie Davies. There were awards in the N Wales Champs and Open Race for Jack and Simon. Sorry if I missed anyone.

15. Simon Roberts, 77.48
68. Eddie Davies, 85.04
323. Rob Davies, 112.52
344. Jack Thomas, 115.57

North Wales XC Champs

A good turnout for the championships given that the original date had to be shifted due to the weather. The going was soft to very very soft in places! Performance of the day has to go to John Morris, who did the tough Tarren Hendre fell race at midday, then leapt in the car to make the start-line at Rhug in the nick of time! We managed to win the Veteran team prize (Jeff, Paul S and Simon R), and there were numerous other prizes for Buckley including fine performances from Rob and Jane.

Update for beginning of February

After a tough weekend we deserve a night out! So why come to Pub Night tomorrow Tuesday 5th to relax and congratulate ourselves on a job well done!

The Cross Country at Oswestry was tough going. Although parts of the course were drier than in some years, other parts were incredibly wet with deep muddy water. It was so wet that the course had to be re-routed as some bit were virtually un-runnable, and running them would have done a lot of damage to the field. We had full teams out in both ladies and men’s races and there were many fine performances. We picked up several individual awards; Jez was 2nd M40, Eric 3rd M45 and Les 2nd M60. Both teams held their own in the league, keeping in the middle of the top group. That is a huge success against some big clubs and teams that can turn out specialist runners for these events. The disappointment, if being second is a disappointment, was not winning the male masters. We needed to beat Eryri on the day, by a small margin only, to finish ahead. But Eryri had done their maths and dragged out some of their “big guns” and on the day won by a huge margin over everybody else (15 against our 60, Oswestry 65, Wrexham 70). Still, 2nd is brilliant. Well done and thank you everybody.

Sunday Borders League at Ty Groes was always going to interesting. We were missing several key runners through injury and other problems, not helped by being the second race in less than 24 hours. Again we had full teams out and that was really good news. Thanks to everybody especially the stalwarts who did the back-to-back races. And we fared much better than other clubs. Turnout for the event was down with only 202 runners competing (compared with 294 at Birkenhead) so our very respectable scores helped us maintain our places in the league. Well done and thanks.

It was sad that so few people decided to compete at Ty Groes because it was an amazing venue for a race. You couldn’t ask for more contrast from Saturday's running surface; 10 metre wide perfectly smooth tarmac, sweeping curves although surprisingly hilly and fantastic views back towards Snowdonia. Excellent facilities too, masses of parking space, access to the big sheds for shelter and changing, cafe and even showers. It was definitely worth the journey.

Rob

Twin Piers 10k

What a difference a year makes. In 2012, this race gave us a lovely tailwind which propelled many to PBs. This year, a bitter easterly headwind made life rather more trying: times well down. It didn't stop Jack winning first V70, or Margaret finishing 6th lady overall, and many other good performances from the small band of Buckley runners who headed to the only snow-free corner of Wales for the race!

6. Simon Roberts, 36.35
7. Jez Brown, 36.52
54. Mike Jones?
71. Margaret Ludden, 46.42
111. John Morris, 47.35
195. Jack Thomas, 54.47

A busy weekend

Congratulations to all the Buckley Runners who have contributed to a great weekend of competitions with a good turn-out at both the Cross Country and Border League.

No results for CC yet but the results for BL show we are holding our places well; - Ladies 5th in Div 1, Men 4th in Div 1 and Vets are 2nd overall.there are some excellent individual results to. With 3 races to go Margaret (LV45) Eric (MV45) and Jack (MV70) all leading their age groups. Other fine performances from Dawn (3rd LV40) and Jane (4th LV45). For the men - Simon (3rd MV40), Jeff  (3rd MV45) Shaun (5th MV45), Les (2nd MV60) and John ((2ndMV65).

Special mention to the stalwarts (heroes) who did both Lilleshall and Birkenhead; Dawn, Jane and Fenn. Chris, Eddie, Les, Eric, Jeff, Ian. Thank you

Upcoming events
26th Jan North Wales CC Champs at Rhug (You have to pre-enter - No EoD)
31st Jan Buckley Runner AGM (Provisional)
2nd Feb NW Cross Country Race 5 at Oswestry (worth it for the cakes!) 
3rd Feb BL Race 5 at Cybi (Will be on the race track - will be interesting)
Sorry but its another double header.
5th Feb Pub Night -  I think we'll deserve a pint by then.
17th Feb Wrexham Half (No entries on the day)

I have compiled a lengthy list of events for the rest of 2013 (see below). It is based on events that I am aware of Buckley Runners having done in the past. Please let me know of others.

Rob

January 2013
19	Twin Piers	Llandudno	1.00
20	4 Villages Half	Helsby		Event full
26	NW CC Champs	Rhug		No EoD
February 2013
2	NWCC Race 5	Oswestry	2.00/2.45
2	Nick Beer	Llandudno
3	BL 5 Cybi	Holyhead	11.00
9	Tarren Hendre	Abergynolwyn	12.00
17	Wrexham Half	Wrexham	11.00	No EoD
25	Moel-y-Ci	Bangor	12.00
March 2013
3	Pipedream	Dolgarrog	12.00
3	Anglesey Half	Anglesey
6	5km on the track	Marsh Rd Rhyl	7.00/7.30	EoD only
16	Round the Lake	Rhayader	1.00
16	Vale of Clwyd 10Km	Denbigh	???
16	Llantysilio	Llangollen	11.00
23	Excalibur Marathon	Moel Famau	9.30?
24	Yr Aran	Llanuwchlyn	13.00
30	Fron Four	Caernarfon	1.00
31	Air Products 10K	Crewe
April 2013
3	Spring 5	Chester	7.00	Champs Road
7	Fron Four	Caernarfon	13.00
10	BL 6 Buckley	Mold	7.00
20	Y Moelwyn	Blaenau Ffestiniog	2.00
21	London Marathon
24	BL7 Wrexham	Wrexham	7.15
27	Wrexham 10	Wrexham		Champs Road
28	Snowdonia Half	Betws-y-Coed		Run Wales event
May 2013
4	Llangynhafal Loop	Llangynhafal	1.00
4	Red Kite Challenge	Aberystwyth	1.00
11	Moel Elio	Llanberis	1.00
18	Ras Cader Idris	Dolgellau	1.00
June 2013
2	Bangor 10km	Bangor		Run Wales event
1	Wincle Trout	Wincle	2.45
11	Race up the Beast	Maeshafn	7.15	Contact John Morris
19	Hotfoot up Moel Famau	Top car park	7.30	Martin Race 1
21	Tough Team Challenge	Tattenhall
22	Trail Marathon Wales	Coed-y-Brenin
23	Moel-y-Gamelin	Horseshoe Pass	11.00
26	Welsh Mountain Champs	Llangollen
July 2013
13	Tal-y-Fan	Rowen, Conwy	2.00
17	The Druid	Llanferris	7.30	Martin Race 2
24	Green Green Grass	Llangynhafal	7.30	Martin Race 3
27	Push up the Pincyn	Clawddnewydd	2.00
August 2013
7	Ponderosa	Horseshoe Pass	7.00
11	Gladstone 9	Dwygyfylchi	1.00
17	Race the Train	Twywn	12.00/2.00
26	Moel Famau Mountain Race	Cilcain	1.00
September 2013
15	Vyrnwy Half	Lake Vyrnwy
21	King John’s Castle	Llanarmon	11.00
29	Sandstone Trail	Duckington	10.00/11.00
October 2013
November 2013
3	Clwydian Hills	Cilcain	11.00
16	Pen Fell Race	Dwygyfylchi	10.30
17	Conwy Half			Run Wales event