Inter-County Stone 10k

MATCH REPORT FOR THE STONE 10km INTER COUNTY MATCH

On 25^th June, the N. Wales team headed over to Staffordshire for the annual Inter County match at the Stone 10km. It was a hot and humid day, far from ideal for road racing, but over 400 runners toed the line at the start, including teams from hosts Staffs, Cheshire and Shropshire.

With other events clashing on the day, we only had 4 men in the week beforehand, so Darren Blazier (Abergele), who had already entered the event, was brought into the side to ensure that should anyone be unable to finish, we would still have a scoring team. Men: Connor Rogers (Wrexham) came into the team on the back of wins in the previous weeks at both the Barmouth 10km (32:55) and the Park Hall 5km in Oswestry (15:48) and what an impression he made on his debut for the Region. Lying in second place at the end of the first of two laps, he surged to the front in both the last mile to win in a new p.b. of 32:19. Scott Nixon (Wrexham), who was team captain for the day, is coming back to the form he showed last year when he won the Rhyl 10 miles in 54:18 and in 2021 when he won the Abergele 5km and the Bangor 10km. Here he finished in 33:15 for fifth place. James Yarwood (Wrexham) hung on for 10^th in 34:09 and Elliot Cox (Buckley), back in the team after some years away from the sport, finished a creditable 13^th in 34:40. Darren Blazier (Abergele) in 42^nd with a year’s best 37:50. Result: 1. Staffs 16; 2. N. Wales 26; 3. Shrops 40; Cheshire 70.

Women: Two very late withdrawals the previous day meant that no replacements could be called up, so we started with only 3 runners, meaning we had an incomplete team. Tracy Rogers (Buckley) was 4^th and 1^st senior woman, breaking the 38 minutes barrier (37:52) for the second time this year. Team captain for the day Rachel Shipley,(Abergele) who had won the Deganwy Dash 5 miles two weeks earlier, was 7^th and second senior woman in 39:17. Our third lady was Jennifer Rambaldi (Buckley), who ran her fastest 10km this year, in 39:54 for 12^th.

Our next competitive race will see the return of the Welsh Inter Region 10km championships, after a gap of seven years. The venue is the Helena Tipping 10km in Wrexham on Sunday 23^rd July, where we will have 20 athletes in green and orange vests: 6 senior men, 6 senior women, 4 master men and 6 master women.

Paul Brooks