Saturday 16th November was a big day as far as Welsh secondary schools and Regions were concerned, as all roads from the Eight Welsh Districts – Afan Nedd Tawe, Cardiff & Vale, Dyfed, Eryri, Glamorgan Valleys, North East Wales, Powys and South East Wales led to the Penlan Arena / High School in the centre of Brecon.
The 43rd Welsh Inter-Schools and Colleges Cross-Country Championships and the 21st edition of the Welsh Athletics Inter-Regional Cross-Country Championships combined into one fixture for the first time in Mid Wales on the weekend.
Welsh Schools Athletic Association and Welsh Athletics launched their cross-country programme as the fixture list presented its first serious test of the winter with these annual events over a difficult course.
The event took place on the same Welsh Inter-Schools & Colleges course used in 2018 due to the construction work that has been in progress on the new Brecon High School on parts of the old route outside the Leisure Centre in the past year
The course in Brecon offered a different challenge to those experienced at the John H Collins Gwent Cross Country League match at Pembrey Country Park just seven days earlier, where many club runners had competed the Saturday before.
There were three sections which consisted of a small lap, medium lap and large lap with the finish for everyone situated near the throwing cage end.
The Inter-Schools & Colleges Cross Country Championships made a return in its usual Mid-November slot. Having been open to every school to attend, over 50 different schools and colleges were represented which again incorporated the Welsh Colleges Championships.
Medals were presented to the top 3 individuals and winning teams which consisted of four school athletes in a team.
Having been cancelled the last time it was due to be held in Brecon due to wintry conditions (December 2017), the Welsh Athletics Inter-Regional cross-country championships in 2018 headed to a new venue of Trefonnen School in Llandrindod Wells for its 20th staging.
The four regions from the West, South, East and North selected teams of 15 in each age group and competed in Brecon as another action-packed year in 2019 slowly heads towards its climax.
The Senior Men & Women again attracted the most totals, which comes as no surprise looking at John H Collins Gwent Cross Country League and other cross-country league attendances so far this winter.
Matt Edwards and Alaw Beynon-Thomas were in great form heading into the Brecon fixture, following their excellent performances at the John H Collins Gwent League in Pembrey. Alaw, representing West Wales followed up the Gwent League victory by winning the women’s Inter-Regional title for the third successive year a day after celebrating her birthday. Meanwhile Matt, third last week was a comfortable winner in the men’s race leading his South contingent home.
More than 800 competitors wore the red, purple, white and green vests of the region or their school vests as age group distances varied from 1,370m for the primaries up to the senior men’s total of 9,530m.
As in previous years, the 12-event programme began with two primary school races for boys and girls. This was a great opportunity for those in years 5 and 6 to get involved in this high-quality event and get to see what they’ll be up against in years to come once they get to secondary age. Fifty-Five youngsters took part in this element either as an individual or as part of a team.
Selection for the West Wales team was at Cardiff on Saturday 12th October as part of the British Athletics Cardiff Cross Challenge & John H Collins Gwent Cross Country League round 1 in the Welsh Capital.
Representing the region were athletes from the following West Wales clubs: Pembrokeshire Harriers, Carmarthen Harriers, Llanelli AC, Swansea Harriers, 3M’s Gorseinon, TROTs, Amman Valley Harriers, Neath Harriers, Celtic Tri, Sarn Helen, Aberystwyth AC, Run4All Neath and Port Talbot Harriers.
West Wales picked up several individual medals for finishing in the top 3 and also claimed team medals in the following age categories: Senior Women, Master Female 35, Under 13 Boys, Under 17 Men, Under 20 Women, Under 20 Men and Master Men 35.
Individually, 13 medals were won consisting of 5 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze.
West Wales Team Managers Rob Campion, Kelly Griffiths and Brian Fox with the support of Andrew Jenkins (Network Officer) thanked all those runners who travelled to Brecon on Saturday to represent the region in these annual championships.
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