Living with Doris!

Living with Doris! – Ras Dewi Sant 2017

After 4 years of nigh on perfect weather conditions for Ras Dewi Sant our game of Russian roulette was over with Doris sweeping across the Atlantic to batter the west coast of Wales it was inevitable the wind and rain would be against us. The discussions were there as to whether we cancel the event but after careful consideration “No” was the answer the path was in good condition and the wind was blowing you inland so we thought yes it will be hard and an unforgettable experience! But one with no more danger than usual!!

One thing we were expecting was a lot of no shows however that was not to be the case, which says a lot for the quality and determination of those who had signed up and turned up.

The full which has been described to me by a couple of runners who collectively have over 300 marathons under their belts as the toughest they have done was going to be extremely hard as the North Coast was going to get the brunt of the weather and the feedback we have received is

“That was brutal” “in a funny way I quite enjoyed that” “that was hard but still my favourite race” and there were a few more colourful comments that can’t be printed mainly from Nick and Sean on their return. Not to mention Stacey from Neath who came in with ripped clothes and skin after trying to do a Steve Mcqueen and jump some barbed wire fences!!!

The Race itself was dominated by Daryl John of Trots who led from start to finish and completed the course in an extremely impressive 3hrs 35mins and why is it that when these guys finish they look so fresh. 16 minutes behind him was Nathan Flear of 3M Gorseinon who actually managed to clock up an extra mile as did the excellently named 3^rd Place “Dar Mc Cool” all the way from Donegal so Dar should be use to a bit of wind.

4^th and 6^th Place were taken up by age group champs for the 40+ and 50+ categories by H/west boys Sean Rice and Nick Davies, we were delighted that Nick was racing for Man-Up UK this year and we eagerly await his feedback but first he had to go home and sleep.

The first lady in was Nerys Jones who also boasts an impressive 5^th overall, this victory meant that the Trots club took 1^st in the female and male categories – well done. With the Over 60’s winner being Lenny Hughes of Maldwyn Harriers with an impressive 4hrs 30mins and not bad for someone who say’s they’re struggling with injuries.

There was also a couple of husband and wife teams out there, it goes without saying that Helen Platel (2^nd female) beat Carl quite comfortably with the gap getting bigger each year, could be something to do with Carl using poles (what’s that all about) whilst Luisa did the honourable thing and waited for her husband Chris!

Both races were also littered with a number of competitors running for good causes one of these being David Jamison from Glastonbury raising over £1000 for the teenage cancer trust always s nice to speak with the competitors and hear their stories and what motivates them.

Finally the uttermost respect for all who battled the course and elements, you won’t get a 26.2 mile race much harder than that and hopefully it’s a memory that will stay with you for a long time!

The mentality of those who do it was summed up by Gillian, Stephen and Alison coming in just over the 6hr 30mins mark and realised they were short of distance due to some signage issues, so they turned around and run back a mile – because you’re only cheating yourself!!!

The Half

1^st and 2^nd was dominated by the boys from West Coast Tri with John Collier taking first place in 1.32.35 and on finishing stated he was taking it easy because of the weather and his HR didn’t go above 155!!! Mine only dropped below 155 when the last runner came home! 2^nd Place and only 2 mins behind with a victory for the 40 somethings was Scott Patrick with Pembrokeshire Harriers Roscoe Howell taking 3^rd and in 4^th with a category win for the 50 + age group showing age is no barrier was Martin Evans of Team Cemais.

The First lady in and with an impressive 10^th place overall was Pembrokeshire Tri’s Ellie Astins whilst the second lady in and sister of Dar Mc Cool was Clodagh Llewhellin racing for Hwest Ladies RFC.

Now a 121 did the half and it’s fair to say you had every standard covered from the British duathlon team member to the ladies who had never done anything like this before and walked jogged around the course in 4hrs 20mins. We must admit knowing these local girls and knowing the course and the weather conditions we did think that this might not be the best day to take on such a challenge, but they did and they proved our doubts wrong by getting around and finishing it and that’s what it’s all about so Well done Fiona, Nat and Sarah not to forget Katy who showed great determination to break the 4hr mark and also in that category was Nicola Page Broughton who was nervous by the task in hand but smashed it in 3hrs 30 mins all very impressive and well done to you all.

Starting out on their “going long” events career where two young local lads who both comfortably broke the 2hr mark namely, Dafydd Cotton whose father created the RDS and Man-up logo and Harvey Godkin who since the age of 12 has marshalled every RDS before taking on the 2017 challenge – The things you’ll do to get out of marshalling!!! And that takes us nicely onto Marshalling and Volunteers, a massive thanks to all who helped because we literally could not do it without them! And when we saw the weather forecast our thought’s turned immediately to the marshal’s because it’s a long, cold, wet day standing out in the elements with most of them giving up their Saturday and doing shifts of 7am to 3pm so without the likes of them we couldn’t do it so thank you, we even managed to acquire the services of our Scottish friends Sickboy and Begbie who were in the area for a 20 year reunion, we know how to push the boat out!

And finally how can we not mention (you may have noticed or heard) that our regular timekeeper Adrian decided to have a crack at this year’s course, not built for running or not gone this distance before it was a massive challenge for him and fair play he did it and he did it for his Cousin’s little boy Ethan raising £600 for his ongoing battle with cerebral palsy and the families campaign to fund this. Mind you Adrian did say he only spent so long on the course because he’d overheard a rumour that he may get blown off by Doris but after 3hrs 45 mins without anything happening he decided to give up waiting and come back!

Thanks to all who helped out before, during and after, to all the competitors for turning up and taking on what they knew would be a tough challenge

The day ended with Sean Holley doing an impromptu Q&A during the Rugby and a few chorus of We sailed on the sloop John B and Flower of Scotland down the farmers; all the right words but not necessarily in the right order!! Hope to see you all again in 2018

As always if there are any errors in the results or omissions please contact us and we will rectify them asap

RDS 2017 Marathon Results

RDS 2017 Half Marathon Results