CARDIFF half marathon is recognised as the UK’s second largest race of its kind and over 22,000 runners took to the streets of the capital city this year.

On a near perfect day for running, slightly overcast with a light breeze, 15 Aberystwyth Athletic Club members joined the thousands in Cardiff and completed the 13.1 mile course.

Owain Schiavone led the Aber contingent home in a fantastic time of 1.14.00, followed by Gary Wyn Davies in 1.19.36, a second ahead of Andrew Gittins who secured a PB time of 1.19.37.

In his first half marathon of the year Paul Williams secured a PB in a time of 1.22.57 with Owain Rowlands finishing in 1.27.36 and Mel Hopins securing a Cardiff PB in a time of 1.46.44.

Paul Williams and Julie Williams at Cardiff
Paul Williams and Julie Williams at Cardiff (Photo supplied)

Bethan Rees finished in 1.53.31, just ahead of Angharad Davies, 1.54.55, Sam Ebenezer in 1.55.33 and Dave Humphreys with another Cardiff PB in 1.56.33. Deian Creunant crossed the line in 2.00.16 with Jade Gaitely close behind and securing a PB in 2.02.52.

Heather Webster finished in 2.19.16 with Julie Williams crossing in 2.25.51 and Christine Zarges completing the course in 2.40.32.

Jade Gaitely was delighted to get a personal best.

She said: “I was slightly worried coming into this race as I had a slight knee niggle and wasn’t sure if I’d be able to finish.

“But the support all the way round the course is incredible and it spurred me on and I was over the moon in the end to get a personal best in such a fantastic race.”

Entries for the 2025 Cardiff Half Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, October 5, 2025, have sold out in record time, with all general entry spots filled within 12 hours of going on sale.

Registration opened on Wednesday, October 9, and the event organisers reported high demand from the outset.

Early bird and second release entries were taken within just over an hour, and all general entries were fully booked by the end of the day.

Aber's runners at Narberth
Aber's runners at Narberth (Photo supplied)

The Narberth Nobbler Dirty Dozen is another event that is slightly quirky.

The course is made up of one muddy 4.2 mile trail lap and runners have up to an hour to complete a lap and you have 12 hours to complete as many laps as possible so in theory the quicker you finish a lap, the more recovery time you have before starting the next hour.

Seven Aber runners took on the challenge with Helen Beeson and Lyndsey Wheeler completing three laps while Cara Nisbet completed four laps.

Raring to go at Narberth
Raring to go at Narberth (Photo supplied)

Ivan Courtier managed to completed six laps while Roger Mathews succesfully completed eight laps.

But the undoubted star of the show was Dan Back who completed ten full laps and he was tired but very happy.

He said: “This is one of those events where you think beforehand should not be too challenging – but it is incredibly tough.

The first few laps, you feel ok, but then suddenly the tiredness starts setting in and the course gets muddier and heavier.

“Once I did six or seven it was just a matter of grinding one more out at a time and I was extremely happy to get ten full laps, but needed a long rest afterwards.”

If you would like to hear more about Aberystwyth Athletic Club and join in its activities visit https://aberystwythac.wordpress.com/ or find the club on Facebook.