There have been three rounds of the 2023 club championshop that have now taken place, Teifi 10 back in April, Dyffryn Cledlyn on the 8th of May and most recently the Sarn Helen Hill Race Festival.
The Dyffryn Cledlyn race held at the school as a fund raiser each year is becoming more and more popular, This year raising over £6000! There were over 150 entries in the children’s races and 88 in the adults race. Owain Schiavone from Aberystwyth AC took the win and the course record with a time of 28:32 and his fellow team mates also finished strong to take home the team prize too. Emma Price of Aberystwyth Harriers was the first lady home in a time of 34:20 followed by our very own Dee Jolly and Steph Davies. There was a total of 36 Sarn Helen club members who took part, Samuel Harrison Paul being the quickest of our club runners in a time of 30:32, closely followed by Dylan Davies and Irfon Thomas. Other category winners included Dee Jolly (F35), Michael Davies (M50), Lou Summers (M55) and Richard Marks (M60).
The infamous Hill Race was back again this year with more hills, thrills and the odd spill! The weather was perfect, overcast warm and dry. The event had 31 finishers on the 16.5 mile route, 15 in the mini race and 14 in the kids races. Sarn Helen’s Steffan Walker led off the line, out into the lanes and to the top of Wish’s Hill but by the top of the Graig had slipped to 3rd place with Owain Schiavone taking the lead and being hunted down by Jon Bowie of Shrewsbury AC close behind. Steffan Walker went on to finish in 3rd place, well under the magical 2 hour mark to be the first Sarn Helen club finisher, followed by another strong run by Samuel Harrison Paul in 2:03:45 with Glyn Price running as strong as ever in his preparation for Coed Y Brenin Trail Marathon in June coming in at 2:07:48.
There were many other notable performances by our club member of the past few weeks in races across the country, including The TCS London Marathon where a good few Sarn Helen runners had managed to secure a place through good for age qualifications and fund raising, though for Carwyn Davies has the golden ticket, he was selected (“out of a hat”) to represent the club at the Marathon last year.
I’ve not got time to cover all the races in detail but a few exceptional achievements that are putting the club on the global stage are those from Johnathan Price, taking the gold medal (AG Junior) at the World Standard Distance Duathlon Championship in Ibiza. Ollie George winning at Sialens Y Barcud Coch Trail Running Championships and qualifying for the Trail Running Championships in France. Steffan Walker coming in 3rd place with a time of 2:36:57 in the Great Marathon Wales, we believe this is the quickest marathon run by any Sarn Helen club member (from memory).
There have been so many races and so many achievements and PB’s that we cannot mention them all. You can however follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more regular updates.
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