Various news updates are posted below.
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We start this week’s roundup in Leeds, where we had four runners representing Wales at the Masters International Cross Country!
Dave James was part of the M65 team that took home 🥇! A huge well done to Louise Flynn, Laura Jones, Dave Cundy & Mick Tabor for also competing in their respective age groups. You all are amazing ambassadors for the club on the national stage 🫶
From Leeds to Conwy, we had 5️⃣ runners participating in the half marathon! Alice Johnston took 🥇 female in an incredible 1:20:39, followed closely by Emily Jones who took 🥈 female in 1:22:05, an outstanding result! Congrats to Tomos Parry, Howard Owen & Sara Louise-Davies for also running!
5️⃣ runners also jetted out to the Netherlands on Sunday to take part in the Seven Hills 15k! A route which does everything it says on the tin, it looks like an amazing race congrats to:
- Phil Hambleton finished in 50:39
- Craig Blake in 54:50
- James Bull in 55:34
- Emily Fell in 56:36
- Nynke Kuiper 57:10
Elsewhere abroad, Dave George completed his trio of Spanish Half’s, finishing the Media Maratón Nacional Orihuela in 1:49:35, and great to see Claire run the 8km race! 👏
From Alicante, to Gosport, congratulations to Lee Treadwell for completing the half marathon in a strong 1:50:10!
Steve Chadwell was also in action on the weekend, completing the Fulham 10km in a brilliant time of 46:46! ⭐️
From the flat streets of Fulham to the hilly trails of Bath, congratulations to James Bruce on finishing the Bath Hilly Half in 2:04:41! Looks like a brutal race 🙌
Speaking of brutal races, Mark Palser took part in the Maverick Dark Castle race in Dorset. A hilly and slippy course, let alone in the dark, Mark did an amazing job and finished 🥇
Lastly, but very much not least, Mia Goddard had an amazing race at the BUCS duathlon on the weekend, finishing a hugely impressive 🥉! A magnificent result from Mia who’s in impressive form
Cardiff Cross is one of the key fixtures of the year for many Croups members. Saturday was no different, we had a hoard of members competing in all different age groups.
No matter if it was your cross debut, or 50th cross race, it’s always so unpredictable, so well done everybody for getting out there and racing!
First home for the women was Georgia Palmer in 23:37, finishing a brilliant 🥉 overall in the Gwent League standings. An astounding debut in club colours! 🔴🟢
We also had a number of age grade results:
🥈 W35 Louise Flynn
🥉W23 Georgia Palmer
First home for the men was Tris Rees in a fabulous 31:30, finishing an impressive 7th overall!
The men also had some great age graded results:
🥇M65 Dave James
🥈M35 Phil Hambleton
🥉M45 Vaughan Edwards
Team wise, our Senior Ladies finished 🥇 and lead the way in the standings 😍 our senior men came 🥉 and are 4th overall in the standings! 🫶
We also had a number of age grade team successes:
🥇 F65
🥇 M45
🥇 M65
🥉 F35
🥉 M35
🥉 M55
Stunning achievements! 🙌
See you all at Blaise Castle on December 6th 😍
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We start our roundup in Puglia, with Lowri Morgan competing in the UTMB World Series. Lowri finished an amazing 4th place in a stacked international field, completing the 85km ultra involving over 1,800m of elevation gain in an amazing 9:38:16. Lowri was also 🥇 in her age group. A truly, truly amazing run from an inspirational woman 🫶
The key fixture for the club this weekend was the Cardiff Cross Challenge, this will have a dedicated post later in the week as we await the full results!
Elsewhere on Saturday, Danielle Phillips finished 🥇 Female in the Mo Run which took place in Bute Park. Great running Danielle! 👏
Turning to Sunday, Dave George was in action in Spanish half marathon 2/3. He completed the La Gran Carrera del Mediterráno in a fab 1:46:24, with a customary beer at the end to celebrate! 😍
From Gran Carrera to Marbella, congratulations to Emily Musgrave and Lucy Marland who completed in the half Ironman world championships in Marbella! Lucy finished an impressive 48th in her age category in an international field, with Emily finishing a fab 62nd in her age category!
Links to Paul Stillman's images from Sunny Llandaff Fields can be found below:
Howard Kent's footage of the senior Men's race is here:
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We start our roundup in Gloucester on Saturday, where Matt Hopkins indulged in his love for cross country by guesting at Gloucestershire XC in Cirencester! Hope you had a great run Matt! 😍
The most popular race for Croups on Sunday was the Richard Burton 10k, a dedicated post will be coming later this week!
Therefore, we start abroad in Porto, where Ryan was 🥇 Welshman in Porto 10k, finishing in an impressive 35:29! Although she is not a member of Croups, shoutout to Elle Farrah who’s not a member of croups (yet 😉) who completed the Marathon 👏
Taking a short hop over the border now, congratulations to Dave George who completed the Media Maratón Pilar de la Horadada. This is the first of a trio of Halfs he plans to complete during his time in the Sun ☀️
From Sunny Spain to the sunny hills of Caerphilly, we had several members running in the Twmbarlwm terror, a 7️⃣ mile multi terrain race involving lots of hills & mud!
Carl Nealon was first home in,60:41, followed by Nathaniel Palmer in 73:50.
Aileen Lyons was next in 74:05 finishing a brilliant 6th female Senior, with Cassie Summers following shortly after in 75:19! Da iawn Pawb 👏 🏴
To the streets of NYC, several members took part in the New York Marathon on Sunday! First home for the club was Susie Bowes in 3:21:06, followed by Claire Jacobs in 3:36:15. Phil Smith was home soon after in 3:51:59, with Owain Griffiths back in 3:58:31! The formidable Judi Rhys was in action too, finishing 33rd in her age category (W65) in 4:01:19! 😮
And finally, turning to Bergen, congratulations to Mark Palser who finished 🥇 in the Alphen Bergen 19k trail race, continuing his brilliant form from Cross Country 👏
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M65 in a brilliant 3:24:25! Steph finished in a brilliant 3:15:54, with Phil in a stunning 2:46:20! 
Bring a running light, glow sticks and your family and friends.
The route will take us from Llandaff Rugby Club, down the cycle path to the Castle, heading back up Cathedral Road through Llandaff fields and finishing at the club.
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A huge roundup greets us this week!
Starting in Madeira, Mel James ran leg 3 of the M80 4x100m! He helped the team achieve gold, and set a new British record 64.17!
Elsewhere in Madeira, Andy Blair helped GB to a team gold in the Half! Andy was second Brit home, finishing 6th overall in his age category in 1:24:55. A masterclass of a performance! 👏 Dave Coles was also in action in the half representing GB, finishing in a brilliant 1:36:56 🥳
More GB representation came in the form of Jen Coleman, who raced in the 24 hour ultra in Albi, France! A huge feat of endurance, and a future post dedicated to this will be coming soon! 😮
From one autumnal sun destination to another, Claire and James Bruce were in action in Toledo, with Claire taking part in the Nocturnal 5k, and James tackling the 8k! Looked like a vibey event 🤙
Janneke Van Beijnum & Emyr Morgan were also running at night, partaking in the Bilbao night half! Janneke was home in 1:33:44, 5th in her age category, with Emyr finishing in 1:25:28! 👊
Turning to the UK, we first head to Abingdon, where we had a number of runners starting in Abingdon Marathon! The race was also a Wales vs England Masters race, and we had Louise Flynn, Paul Francis & Angela Potter repping 🏴
Summarising the results:
- Louise Flynn was 🥇 woman in 2:46:41
- Paul Francis big PB of 2:48:43
- Shannon Walker big PB of 3:44:47
- Jim Horner finished in a brilliant 3:09:33
From one Marathon distance to another, we had 3️⃣ runners taking part in Amsterdam! TWK was first home in 2:50:57, a sublime result 🥹 Arwel Evans was next home in 2:55:50, his first marathon! 🤩 Eliana Basini - Gazzi completed the course in 3:19:07 👏
From Amsterdam, to Abergele a huge congratulations to Ella Jennings who achieved🥈 female in the 5k race, coming home in 19:56, a big new sub 20 PB for Ella! ⭐️
From North Wales to southern England, Yvonne and Richie Bullen braved the wet and wild conditions in the Great South 10 mile in Portsmouth! Yvonne was home in 1:20:34, with Richie not far behind in 1:20:40! 🙌
Closer to home, on the Taff Trail, we had runners taking part in the Half on Sunday morning! Emily Musgrave finished🥇woman in 1:28:05, with Tom Flitcroft winning the event in a mightily impressive 1:15:12!
Lastly, but very much not least, in Battersea, James Vassallo smashed his PB, achieving a sub 80 run of 1:19:49! 🥳
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The 2025 / 2026 Cross Country season began with the fixture at Margam Park on Saturday. We had Croups participating in the Women’s & V65’s race, as well as the Men’s race! Good running conditions saw croups absolutely smashing it on the day. Notable results include:
First home for the women was Lauren Kennard, and Tristan Rees was first home for the men!
🥈 F35: Louise Flynn
🥈 F65: Julie Scholey
Port Talbotside, to Stateside, 3️⃣ of our members were in action at Chicago Marathon!
Emma Wyatt-Haines achieved a wonderful new PB of 3:12:29! 🥳
James Heyman finished in a brilliant 2:52:53 🙌
Claire Johnson became the first EVER croups member over the age of 80 to finish a marathon! Her performance in Boston is also a Welsh record for 80+ marathon finishers, crossing the line in a super 6:22:56! 🤩
From Chicago to the Cotswolds, Rachel Walsh put in a brilliant time competing at the PSUK Marathon, running from Bath to the edge of Bristol and back! Rachel’s time of 3:31:36 landed her as 🥉 PSUK female 👏
To Oxford now, and we had two runners competing in the Half Marathon. Nicola Smith was first back for the club in 1:44:24, with Angharad Parry-Jones coming home in 2:27:53! Top work ladies! 👏
Finally, to Manchester, a huge well done to Owen Rivers & Rhys Thomas who competed at Manchester Half Marathon. Both ended their races with huge PBs, 1:21:20 & 1:16:13 respectively 👏
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Starting the roundup, we head to the Gower, where Lowri Morgan set the new female course record in the Gower 50, finishing the race in a time of 8:38:57 😮 this result also put Lowri 🥉 overall 👏
Anthony Smets was also in action in the Gower, taking part in the trail race. Anthony finished🥉overall over the 23 mile distance, a brilliant performance 🤩
The main headline for Sunday was of course the Cardiff Half! We had triple digits of runners and supporters on the course, making what was a lovely day, with plenty of PB’s and strong performances to boot!
Dylan Nazareth was first home for the men in 1:09:33, and Louise Flynn for the women in 1:20:01.
We also picked up a 3️⃣ age category wins:
🥇 M65: Dave James
🥈 F40: Louise Flynn
🥉 M65: Dave Coles
Louise also finished as 🥉 Welsh finisher on the day, continuing her amazing form 🏴
Big shoutouts to all of our members who were out on the course volunteering, supporting the extra milers with ensuring the event was a huge success!
A huge thank you to the Bike Lock for hosting our post race celebrations, providing lush food and drinks to all of our members who came along 🥳
From 🏴->🏴, congratulations to Kelly Crofts for completing the Great Scottish in Glasgow! Kelly was home in a great time of 2:21:01, even more impressive was the fact she did it with a cold!
From Scotland, to Kingston, we had two runners taking part in the Half Marathon. First home for the club was Alice Johnstone in 1:23:26, finishing an amazing 🥈 Female! 😮 Dave George was also in action, adding another brilliant sub 1:50 to his record, crossing the line in 1:49:57 👏
Lastly, but very much not least, Emily Jones put in a brilliant personal best performance in Chester Marathon, coming home in a brilliant 3:28:25 👏 absolutely fantastic running!! 🥳
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Starting on Saturday, Ella Jennings completed the town to tower 10k from Ruthin to Moel, involving steep elevation over trail! Congrats Ella, we bet that’s the only time that race will ever see our Croups Brat top on its traverses! 🍏
Moving to Sunday and the Forest of Dean Half Marathon, where we had 4️⃣ runners representing Wales 🏴 in their various age groups! First home for the club was Oli Williams in the M35 age group, completing the race in 1:16:27 finishing 8th overall, Matt Hurford was in next in the M50 age group, putting on a scintillating performance with 1:22:49! Susan Watson was up next in the F55’s, crossing the line in 1:45:19, followed by Judi Rhys for the F65’s, completing the race in a brilliant 1:54:36! 👏
Elsewhere in the South West, we had several runners participating in run Barnstaple, consisting of a marathon, half and 10k. In the Marathon, Carole Goddard finished an amazing 🥇 F50 in 3:24:18, Penny Coyle achieved a new PB of 3:24:16, Sarah Pryor ran a strong race in 4:09:11 & the ever formidable Julie Scholey finished 5th in her age category in 4:18:13!
In the Half Marathon, Ed Donovan ran a brilliant race, finishing 🥉 overall and 🥈 M40 in 1:18:58!
Looking across the Channel to France, Pete Gillibrand & Stephen Hughes competed in the Biere de Flandres Half Marathon. Alongside 13 miles of running, the event also involves consuming a strong beer every mile! Both boys put in amazing performance. Polishing off the first two beer stops with ease, impressively, they negative split the next beer stops, chugging each drink with ease and finishing in style on beer 13. Truly inspirational stuff 🍺
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Firstly, we catch up with a missed result from last week. Wendy Cole was in action at the Wabash Trace Nature Trail Half Marathon in the US! In seating 30 degree heat, Wendy was 🥇 Brit home 🤩
We fly from the US, to Germany next, where we had three runners participating in Berlin Marathon. In boiling conditions, the three performed admirably, with Dave Craig returning in a time of 2:49:24, Craig Blake in 3:11:52, and Ceri Hooper in 3:54:22!
From the Brandenburg Gate, to the A4019 heading through Cheltenham, James Bruce & Mark Herbert were in action at Cheltenham Half, James was first home in 1:30:07, and Mark Herbert crossed the line in 1:41:53, a huge PB! 🤩
The other Bruce, Claire, was also in action competing in Cheltenham 10k! Da iawn ti 🙌
The Edinburgh Men’s 10k also took place on Sunday, with Findlay Smith continuing his excellent form, crossing the line in a new PB of 36:44! 🏴
From Road to trail, Amy Davies finished 🥇 female senior in the Pumsaint Trail Half! This is a tough race, which was “horrendously hilly” according to her Strava post. You crushed the hills Amy! 👏
Also on the trails, Susie Bowes completed the 10 mile trail of the Locomotion 200 year anniversary of the S&DR railway, which goes partially along the old railway route! Well done Susie, looks like you had a chuffing run 🚂
We had four athletes in action at Ironman Wales, all performing brilliantly in cold conditions!
- Paddy McDowell finished an amazing 25th overall, and 8th in his age category in a time of 10:14:56. A truly, truly magnificent performance 🥳
- Katie Beecher finished an amazing 🥈 in her age category, in a magnificent 12:49:58! 🤩
- Ian Herbert finished in an impressive 13:12:30, 8th overall in his age category. This result also saw Ian become Welsh over 60’s Ironman champion! 🤩
- Marc Williams crossed the line in 14:29:09, a brilliant effort 🥳
From one triathlon to another, congratulations to Michelle Amblin, who finished the Falmouth Sprint Triathlon! Michelle said the weather was calm, and she loved taking part! Same time again next year Michelle? 🤩
Ben Beckingsale helped out with the Hereford 24 hour run against homelessness, leading a few laps of the 5k course, completing over 25k of running! An important cause 🙌
The following advice is intended to keep our runners SAFE at all times!
It is also essential that, whilst out running as a club, we are seen to be polite, responsible, set a good example & not put others at risk.
AT ALL TIMES BE SAFE BE SEEN! You can never be too visible! During the day, always wear bright or light-coloured clothing - fluorescent is good.
At night we would strongly recommend that people ALWAYS wear light-coloured clothing plus a REFLECTIVE (not just fluorescent) bib or sash.
Clip on flashers are a great way to be seen. NEVER ASSUME YOU'VE BEEN SEEN. Always be cautious with traffic.
We would like to remind people that they are responsible for their own safety and that they run at their own risk.