Hobbs makes history at the Porthcawl Parkrun 5k
ATHLETICS
PORTHCAWL Parkrun 5k history was made last Saturday when Rowan Hobbs (Brackla Harriers) carded a fourth consecutive victory, writes Tony Poole.
The previous week, he equalled the record that Peter Avent (Shettleston Harriers) had held for two years on the back of three straight wins.
The Hobbs success story began on May 13 when he won the event for a first time, taking the 215th staging in a time of 17mins 58 secs.
He followed it a week later with a winning time of 18:03, and on May 27 he was first home courtesy of a personal best 17:45.
And on Saturday the 218th staging of the event from Porthcawl seafront to Rest Bay and back was conducted in overcast weather conditions with Hobbs clocking 17:53.
Runner-up was St Mary’s golf star Mark Hiddlestone, who honoured the event with his presence for a first time since December.
And handyman Hiddlestone, who is a member of Port Talbot Harriers, sawed 28 seconds off a personal best of 18:42 that he set last October.
Seven other personal best times were recorded by the top-11 finishers with thirdplaced Tom Wright (unattached) following the trend with a pb of 18:20.
Other sub-20 minute times came from Nino Gatti (Port Talbot Harriers) pb 18:23, Dave Bennett (Porthcawl Runners) pb 18:45, former Aberavon, Bridgend and Kenfig Hill rugby star Brendan Roach 18:45, Niki Puleio (Cwm Ogwr) pb 19:03, Michael Gray ( Clapham Pioneers) pb 19:16, Luke Wyatt (unattached) pb 19:44, Daniel Glen (Bridgend) 19:50, Andrew Stratford (unattached) pb 19:51, Dave Moore (Brackla Harriers) 19:57 and Jobe Owens (unattached) 20:00.
Top female finisher and 18th overall was Meg McCloy with a pb of 20:27 from Clare Hughes (also Bridgend) 32nd in 21:14, Deborah Goule (Porthcawl Runners) 36th with 21:28 and 51st-placed Sian Price (Cwm Ogwr), who clocked 22:05.
Meanwhile, James Hunt drove to victory last week in the Merthyr Mawr 5k event.
The picture postcard village on the doorstep of Bridgend played host to 600 runners, and it formed the second event on the Bridgend Running League calendar.
And a superb turnout of runners was garnished by the presence of Great Britain Olympics Triathlete and Wales Commonwealth Games competitor Helen Jenkins, who acted as starter and presenter along with Rory McLaggan of Merthyr Mawr Estate.
In a one-two for the Bridgend club, Hunt motored to victory in a time of 14mins 53secs, and finished just 10 seconds in front of team-mate Morgan Davies.
Third-place went to Adam Bull (Aberdare Valley), who charged late on to collect third spot in a time of 15:30.
Bridgend also won the team award from Les Croupiers and Brackla Harriers.
In the Ladies Section, victory went to Caryl Mair Jones (Swansea) in 17:08 from Clara Evans (Cardiff) 17:26 and Kate Roberts (Bridgend/ Swansea) 17:55.
Fine runs from Gemma Roche-Clarke, Ffion Higginson and Georgie Dando led to Bridgend Ladies finishing runners-up to Swansea in the Team Event with Brackla Harriers third.
Other fine top-40 times from local runners in Merthyr Mawr came from Mark Emery (Bridgend) fourth 16:37, Sean Lewis (Brackla Harriers) 13th 17:04, Richard Dando (Bridgend) 14th 17:05, Rowan Hobbs (Brackla Harriers) 19th 17:27, Neil Jones (Cwm Ogwr) 20th 17:29, Carl Pointer (Bridgend) 21st 17:30, Geraint Lewis (Porthcawl Runners) 23rd 17:47, Phil Welch (Bridgend) 29th 18:04, Dave Moore (Brackla Harriers) 30th 18:16, Dave Dickson (Porthcawl Runners) 31st 18:17, Devin Coombes (Bridgend) 33rd 18:19, Robert Hunt (Bridgend) 34th 18:23, R Jeynes (Brackla Harriers) 36th 18:31, Daniel Nicholas (Cornelly Striders) 37th 18:33, Stephen Jenkins (Bridgend) 38th 18:38, Dave Bennett (Porthcawl Runners) 39th 18:38 and Paul Speyer (Bridgend) 40th 18:41.
Next month competitors will return to the village for the second Merthyr Mawr Trail Running Festival with the Giant Rabbit 18-mile run forming the main event.
On July 15, there is also a Bunny & Family Run (2k), River Run (4k), Toddler Dash (1k) and a Rabbit Run (7.3 miles).
Further details are available on www.runbritain.com/ races
Earlier, the opening Bridgend Running League event of the year was the Cwm Ogwr Five-Mile run, and results were as follows.
Male: Colin McQueen 18:79, John Lloyd 18:30 and Joe Beech (all Brackla Harriers).
Female: Melanie Williams 19:41, Libby Lavis 18:58, Charlotte Johns (all Brackla Harriers).
Team Result: Brackla Harriers 283, Bridgend 551, Cwm Ogwr 559, Porthcawl Runners 784, Cornelly Striders 1,024, Pencoed Tri Club 1,075, Pencoed Panthers 1,234.
The next Bridgend Running League fixture takes competitors to the seaside on June 28 via the Porthcawl Seafront 4k Race.
It’s followed on July 19 by the Kenfig Nature Reserve 5k event.
There was no Bridgend Junior Parkrun last weekend, owing to the Cancer Research Race for Life event in Newbridge Fields, but Junior Parkrun returns as normal on Sunday.