This is a new page which relies on members telling me whats going on, so I can add updates. My email address is morfey@tiscali.co.uk.

13/11/06The annual run from Rudry to the Garth is next Sunday 19/11 meet at the Lewis Arms car park at 9:45 to share transport to Rudry or at Mynydd Rudry car park at 10:15

23/7/06 Congratulations to Chris Blackmore and Zsuzsa on the birth of Kati on 5th July. All 3 doing well. The lack of sleep should be good preparation for the next 24 hour bike ride.
Otherwise more cycling than running seems to be going on, except for Paul Morris who ran an incredible 3:03 at the London Marathon.
There is some enthusiasm for the Tintern Trot on 20th July with a car load of Harlequins going down - a good run if you can make it.

19/3/06The Winter is hanging on into spring, with quite a lot of snow in the hills in recent weeks. This has led to more sledging than running on my part. The 7 Winter League in a day (WILIAD) took place yesterday 18th March in a freezing East wind but at least it was dry. No Harlequins runners though among the 10 or so who took part,unless petes turnout for just one race, the SugarLoaf, counts as a partial turnout. Too many injuries at the moment for some of us, but this didn't stop Phil from completing 75 CONSEQUTIVE GWENT LEAGUE finishes. Well done Phil, official recognition was with the presentaion of a plate witnessed by fellow Harlequins Pete, Rhidian, Neil and Will in a moving ceremony.

7/10/05 Not much news is being sent in! The Llyn y Fan race saw only Ed from Harlequins make the journey to the western fringes of the Brecon Beacon National Park. He came a very creditable 8th. The winter hill series details are now out, with the first race at Fan Fawr on 8th Oct and a new run up Table mountain (I must remember to tell my south african colleagues at work that Wales has got a table mountain too, funnily enough not quite as well known!)on 5th November. Paul Morris is the only Harlequin to do the full marathon on Sunday 9th Oct after Chris B has had to pull out with shin splints. (Anyone want a late entry?). Dan & Rhidian are doing the half marathon. Triathlons results for Neil Welch are at www.ironman.ca, he did a very good 14 hours 50 minutes. Chris B did a local half ironman in 5 hours 43' which just shows how well Neil did.

13/08/05Today was the well attended Waun Fach race - 7 miles. Very different conditions to last year, when it was very hot. We were lucky today with lots of heavy rain around but during the race it was mostly OK. Fairly wet underfoot though. 3 Harlequins made the journey, but Phil had a bad ankle after pulling out of the Bob Smith Traverse last weekend so was acting as driver, support and coach. Ed and myself ran, with Ed being not so far ahead on the climb, just about on the edge of visibilty at around 30-50 metres, but got away from me on the ridge and then the final descent. Last weekend I ran a new route, the Black Mountain traverse, which covers all the 700 metre summits. This was done in 17 hours, and run from East to West starting at Capel-y-ffin and ending at Llandeussant.Full details will be put on this website. I heard from Neil Welch recently who is back in full training for an Ironman event on 28th August - good luck Neil. he will be back in Britain early September for a visit. Full ironman details are at www.ironman.ca Here in Cardiff lots of Harlequins are doing the half marathon in early October, at the last count Dan, Rhidian, John Gwatkins, John Price and probably others, training is in full swing.

20/07/05The race season continues with the Sugerloaf (17/7), the SSAFA 5K at Blackweir (20/7) and Tintern on the 21st - tomorrow. The sugarloaf was very hot as Jan and myself, the only Harlequins, struggled up the long hill from Abergavenny in what must be the longest single hill race around at 7 miles. Lots of Chepstow runners in a field of 42. Jan was 2nd lady - well done. Neil, Jan and me were at Blackweir tonight in good running conditions which saw Neil get a personal best of 19'15

27/06/05Last saturday (June 25th) Ed and Dan Booth from MDC had another go at the South Wales Traverse. Dan made it in just over 22 hours but Ed stopped on Pen Cerrig Calch, but up to that point he was going well and was more than an hour up on a 24 hour schedule. A really good effort thwarted by feeling ill after the long road run (8 miles) from Pyrgad to Cwm Gu. But next year who knows - none of us at Harlequins have managed to get round in 24 hours yet!

13/06/05Well the South Wales Traverse, the Welsh 1000 metres and various triathalons, bike rides etc have happened in the last month. Ed seems to be dogged by bad weather, both in the SWT with me where we were forced off Pen-y-Fan in a downpour (full write up is being added to the South Wales Traverse page of this site)and then in the 1000 metres race on 4th June where he still finished well in just over 6 hours. Chris B finshed well in the Brecon Triathalon coming 20th out of 200 or so with Phil and then Will not too far behind.

09/05/05 After a relatively harmless weekend a week ago when Pete, Ed and John Syms checked the Merthyr Common to Lyngynidr route over the moor which was good and ended up in the Red Lion for a drink. Not such a happy ending this weekend when on Saturday night Pete and Ed parked in the Grwyne valley car park, went in a fairly direct way to the top of Pen Cerrig Calch and then followed the route back round to the Grwynne valley, mostly in darkness on a clear but cold and windy night, to arrive at midnight to find the car park locked! Undaunted we almost got out in one piece with a combination of off road driving and brute force. Flowers and croissants were called for the next morning before explaining the new 'go faster' stripes carved into the side of the car. Future users of this car park take note - it closes at 7 p.m. Phil and Chris B and Alan Gillard did the Pen-y-fan to the sea race, a combination of running, mountain bike and road bike ending at the sea after running across Merthyr Mawr sand dunes. Chris and Phil had a bit of trouble with their support van, but still managed to overtake Alan on the sand dunes. Tom Gibbs was the winner despite starting half an hour after the others!
29/04/05 The Pentrych Hill race last Tuesday(6 miles) was run by over 100 folk including 5 club members - Alan Gillard who I think retired injured (I hope its not serious), Arnie Williams 76', Chris Blackmore 55', Mark Benbow 59' (welcome back) and Neil Welch 67'. Neil is training for the ironman next August but I'm not sure where that is - I'll try and find out so we can report progress.

26/04/05 A long training run last Sunday for an assortment of Harlequins and MDC runners(Ed, Alan Gillard, Alan Stone, John Syms, Dan Booth, Rhys Williams and myself), covering the last third of the south wales traverse from Cmw Gu to Llanthony in a bit less than 7 hours. This included the dreaded forest descent, now those of us not quick enough to get there while its still light know what to look forward too - I think a few fixed ropes would help. the Waen Fach area was as boggy as I can ever remember, which I suppose isn't saying that much as the first time I ran on it was on my first attempt at the traverse 3 years ago. What has Ed got in store for us next weekend - get your excuses ready.

20/04/05 London Marathon News - A total of 5 runners from the club ran this year. Paul Morris 3 hrs 16', Will Mcaree 3 hrs 18, Richard Fletcher 3 hdr 52', Neil Welch 3 hrs 59' and Gareth Withers 4 hrs 14'. Well done to all.
11/04/05 Well it seems while I've been canoeing, swimming (with wetsuit - even the meds still freezing) and drinking wine everyone else has been training hard and up to all kinds of stuff. Ed ran the Paris marathon in 3 hrs 35', as well as covering the first 6 hours of the south wales traverse as a training run with Alan G (not on the same day). Chris B has been cycling with good results in a couple of local races. Kit has been back for a couple of local races - world harmony 5k ,3rd, 17:05 atlantic college 10k, 10th, 34:34. Both PB's and excellent results. Good luck to Will, Paul Morris and Neil Welch at the London marathon this weekend

19/03/05 Spring having been missed out completely the weather went straight from the depths of winter to a fresh still summers day on Saturday for the Llanbedr-Blaenavon race and the Polaris. Not sure about further north in Rhyader where Will was. It seemed strange borrowing suncream for the same hills where 2 weeks ago we were throwing snowballs. A field of 50 was better than last year but still disppointing for the 25th anniversary of the race. There were lots of marshalls at check points and other families supporting their man (or woman) making for a good race atmosphere. My family were in the pub but at least they had a good time. I was fairy pleased with my run, the struggle from the Blorenge to the finish had to be seen to be believed. Theres something about the Blorenge (probably 'cos its nearly vertical) which coming at the end of the race reduces the legs to jelly for the last couple of miles to Blaenavon. Lets hope the race continues for a few more years.
12/03/05 Gwent League at Tredegar Park in Newport. 10.3K of flat fast (!) running. Phil ran despite a bruised heel. Will was the first Harlequin to finish in under 40 minutes, next John, Phil, Ed and then Pete in what was about the same as my last road 10K in 46 minutes.
06/03/05 A poor harlequins turnout at the 5 mile Sugarloaf race yesterday left Pete with the onerous responsibility of being the only club representative. A combination of having reccyd the course beforehand and the lead runners getting lost led to some notable scalps! The paths on the Sugarloaf were generally dry and runnable - quite a change from Llanthony. The pub afterwards was good too.
27/02/05 Reccy of the Sugarloaf in preparation for the Llanbedr-Blaenavon race on 19th March. Chris B, MDC member John Ledsam and Pete. The weather started cold and just got worse. It was probably because Pete was wearing his shorts that the sun, shining brightly when we left Cardiff, didn't put in another appearance. We went round the hill first joining the race route then made for the top, arriving at the same time as a snow shower from the north and stronger winds. We didn't hang around at the top. On the way back we met Adrian Woods and Adrian Orringe from the new club Mynydd Du who showed us the best race route through Abergavenny to Llanfoist. Time out 2 and a half hours.
24/02/05 Ed returns from his 4 and a half day run (or was it hours?). The BBT should be a doddle!
24/02/05 News from Kit, who is keeping up the running despite other temptations and hopes to visit us for the sugarloaf race on 5th March "after swapping training for late nights and alcohol in my first term at York Uni, I've managed to settle into a reasonable training programme (no help from the facilities up here). I,ve only entered 2 races since September- 2nd in the inter-college cross country (despite breaking the old course record, got beaten by 5 seconds) and an entirely miserable hilly 10k last month (9th but filled to the eyeballs with paracetamol)."
20/02/05Dursley Dozen, which funnily enough is about 12 miles of Gloucestershire forest, golf course and hill. Usual hard run but less mud this year making the paths good to run on. Bad tactics at the start left Will and Pete stranded at the back up the narrow lane, but Will recovered well to overtake all except Alan. Results Alan 93', Will 93', then Chris with 97' and Pete 107'. Considered too short by some (!) Ed went off on a long run instead. No report as yet (perhaps he's still running?).
12/02/05 Exciting day at llanthony 4 mile fell race was attended by Chris B, Ed, Alan G and Pete. Again Pete had been round checking the best route before the start accompanied by children Marianne and Tom. Luckily the weather was only a bit grim then. In the latter half of the race the north wind was giving it everything and the path back down to the priory never seemed so inviting, until the steep descent started. This resembled a giant slide and running on the lower fields was like running on a large jelly - I dont think I have ever seen fields so wet.
06/02/05 Merthyr Mawr this morning for 4 Harlequins members, Alan, Pete, Phil and Ed, accompanied of course by 2 MDC officials Doug and Martin. After a brisk (for me) hour and a half in the sunshine on the sand dunes and beach Alan highlighted one of the 'back doors' into the MDC training ground which involved climbing along the outside of a bridge until the barrier was low enough to get over. And all to save us from crossing the ankle deep river. All good fun.
31/01/05 Report from the 'Tough Guy' Chris B - We all survived! Really enjoyed it apart from being frozen by the end. Considering doing it next year - maybe we can get a harlequins team? It makes fell running and mountain biking look tame. I am not sure how may ran(I think somewhere near 5000). The results are up with : Ed 1 hr 50 mins 42 (485 position) Me 1 hr 53 mins 04 (565 position) Alan 2 hour 03 mins (803 position) My time on my stop watch was 1 hour 47 mins(it was a staggered start). We started about half way through the field so we were overtaking people the whole way around. Got held up on some of the obstacles - would need to be much nearer the front to have a chance of doing better on the team event.
Ed - The race was a good one, but I still can't get over how my head hurt so much swimming under the cold water, it was though someone had hit me on the back of the head, dazzed and confused!
30/01/05 News of a new MDC website - www.mdcwales.org These new websites are a bit like busses, but still very welcome and it looks good. Ed and Chris at the Tough Guy today - no news yet. Pete and Phil get lost on the Rhumney Valley Ridgeway Footpath in a 2 and a half hour trek from the club.
28/01/05 ED- The Moonlit Dune Covert (MDC) Run - Tuesday 25th Jan 2005 Cardiff Harlequins decided to take a beach trip to check out the rival running club MDC heartland training ground. Led by Alan Gillard, it was thought that it was better to do it at night undercover and we met in a lay-by near by to the run. Our plan was foiled and we were met by two MDC officials who insisted they escorted the Cardiff Hooligans (as they call us) around their heartland. We set off a good pace trying to shake them off, running across hill and river until we eventually shook off one MDC official who retired and went back home. The darkness and moonlit madness was to blame. We continued on across highest largest sand dunes to the sea and back again all in the dark with only the head torches and the moon to guide us. We raced back running part of the Merthyr Mawr Christmas Pudding route and back to the car. We didn't manage to shake off the second MDC official, however we did get a good idea of what we needed to do on a regular basis to win those hill races!
26/01/05 Neil Welch reports from Canada that freezing conditions are not stopping his London marathon preparation - "I ran 17k in -20C (and times 6ins of snow) on Sunday as part of my marathon training, followed by a very large hot chocolate in the local coffee shop!! More of the same is predicted for this weekend."
22/01/05 Marathon training for Ed and Pete - well for one of us anyway. From Blackweir to the Garth and back in just over 2 hours, except we didn't quite make it to the top of the Garth, turning round at the Pink house. Amazingingly it was dry, although it was dark at first (I suppose we might have expected that).
16/01/05 Ed - Race on Sunday was a good one, The Rough and Tumble 10 is a race with 10 very hilly miles several good climbs including one hill a short 'Fan Gyhirych' section of scramble. I didn't see the results at the end but Melissa who was waiting for me at the end thought that I was in the top 30 (I'm not so sure). The website for it is http://www.grassrootsevents.co.uk and I think it is a definite again for next year.
15/01/05 The Darren Race Ed, Chris and Pete were there. Pete had reccyd the course with children Marianne and Tom in the pouring rain in the morning. The rain stopped for the race but staying on your feet was next to impossible on the way down. Results should be on the WFRA site soon.
9/01/05 Ed, Chris B and neighbour Richard attempt a Darwin award entry with a scaling of Pen-y-Fan in a howling gale, complete with mountain bikes. The club can not of course condone such behavior, although rumour was that Chris had at least taken a map and compass this time.

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