Having been travelling far and wide in recent months it was back to supporting some great local races for Aberystwyth Athletic Club runners in the past weeks.

The Dolgellau 5 mile race is a potentially fast race with plenty of downhill slopes, coupled with some uphill naturally, and run in the beautiful shadow of Cader Idris.

The conditions were ideal although perhaps a little windy and overnight rain contributed to making some of the country lanes a little damp and slippery in places.

75 runners completed the course from 12 different running clubs and Aber AC had a significant presence. Shelley Childs led Aber home in 11th position overall and 1st in his age category in a time of 31.06, just beating Llyr ab Einion in 12th place who finished in 31.27.

Aber AC coach Ian Evans finished in 33.50 with Kevin Holland securing 2nd place in his age category in 40.35 and Gwilym Jones finishing 3rd in the same age category in 41.58. John Gwynn Evans won his age category in a time of 48.44 with Helen Stretch coming 2nd in her age category in 53.06.

For Shelley Childs, this was a good way to mark his move from one age category to the next: “This is a great little race and the course allows for some fast times. We even had a water feature this year as the underpass was flooded with a couple of inches of rainwater, all contributing to a memorable race day experience. I hope to be back next year aiming to win my next age category!”

Although in its 32nd year, the Helena Tipping Wrexham 10k road race had a new route this year and that was enough to tempt four Aber AC members to make the journey northwards. Owain Schiavone led the Aber contingent home in 34.29 with Edd Land not too far behind in 36.06. Paul Jones completed the course in 43.42 with Lina Land crossing the line in 52.18.

Incorporated into the Helena Tipping 10km was the 2023 Inter Regional 10km Championships and the West Wales Men’s Masters team won a fantastic bronze medal. The team itself was made up of two from Aber, Owain Schiavone and Edd Land with Alec Williams completing the trio.

Owain said it was great to fly the flag for west Wales: “With over 600 runners this is a wonderful race to run in and I was delighted to be able to represent west Wales and, alongside my two colleagues, secure the bronze medal against some tough competition. It was also good to see two of the three on our team coming from Aber and hopefully we will see more success in future.”

Back to Ceredigion and Cardigan Running Club are again staging the Poppit Sands 5km series of three races. The popular Poppit Sands 5km is a multi terrain course that starts and finishes at Crwst Poppit Cafe. The route includes two loops that starts on the road for half a mile, then runners hit the sand.

Aber AC had two representatives with Dave Humphreys completing the course in a time of 26.21 and Mel Gaul finishing in 31.06.

According to Dave, a great race, but running on sand is tough on the legs: “This is a beautiful location as many who know Poppit Sands can testify. Starting on the road and the hard surface is pretty easy but once you hit the sand you feel the energy being sapped from your legs. Seeing the Crwst café at the end does ease the pain somewhat and I look forward to returning for the next two races.”

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