ATHLETICS
STEPHEN Davies last Saturday made a decisive break to take the 208th staging of the Porthcawl 5k Parkrun, writes Tony Poole.
Glorious spring sunshine greeted the 383 runners along the Wales Coastal Path with Davies of the Cwm Ogwr Running Club on cue in the event for a second time in 16 starts.
And a winning time of 17mins 58secs saw him lop 10 seconds off his personal best time.
Three-time winner Mark Robinson (Cornelly Striders) followed him home in 18:10 with Rowan Hobbs (Brackla Harriers) third, clocking 18:26.
Laurence Pole (Pontypridd Roadents) claimed fourth spot with 19:09 ahead of two members of the local Porthcawl Runners club – Will Edwards 19:14 and Dave Bennett 19:24.
Top female finisher was Ffion Higginson (Bridgend), who recorded an exceptional personal best time of 19:41.
There was also a personal best from eighthplaced Richard Self (Les Croupiers) via 19:46 while an unknown runner was next to finish.
Tenth spot was occupied by Jesse Coombs (unattached) on the back of a personal best 19:50.
Also under the 20-minute mark were Matt Edwards (Pencoed Tri Club) 19:53, Simon Bowen 19:56 and David Johns (both unattached) 19:59.
Two first-time competitors – David Pugh 20:01 and Jacob David 20:02 - then made a mark on the event.
The other females who secured top times were 19th-placed Lisa Griffiths (Pont-y-Pwl & District Runners) in a personal best 20:18; 33rd Katrin Higginson 21:04 and 41st Meg McCloy (both Bridgend) personal best 21:19.
In Sunday’s 81st Bridgend Junior 2k Parkrun, victory for an 11th time went to Bridgend runner Dafydd Pratchett.
A winning time of 7mins 47secs was just 11 seconds outside his best while Luc Martin (Pencoed Tri Club) carded a personal best 8:07 for second spot.
Third-placed Alex Pow- ell completed the course in 8:38 and another personal best came from Dylan Jones 8:42.
The remaining top-10 places in a field of 82 competitors were occupied by Thomas Green 8:45, top female finisher Ffion Howe (Bridgend) pb 8:53, Lily Stephens 9:04, Joshua Morgan (Bridgend) 9:06, Taylor Greig (Bridgend) pb 9:06 and Ami Fraser (Bridgend) pb 9:13.
Other sub-10 minute times were registered by Matthew Bridges 9:30, Georgia Smele (Bridgend) 9:36, Harry Rees pb 9:44, Euan Jenkins 9:49, Jude Jenkins 9:59 and Elin Vigus 10:00.
A further 18 competitors carded personal best times, and they came from Maya Bilal, Luke Woodhouse, Ewan Harris, Dylan Maus, Lara Martin, Taylor Fraser, Hannah Green, Aled Rees, Henry Williams, Eden Elizabeth Goss, George Evans, Melana Caffull-Freear, Lily May Crump, Tegan Burroughs, Indi Jones, Joshua Marshall, Zachary Marshall and Alex Rhys Harding.