COED y Brenin has unfortunately been in the news for the wrong reasons recently but the venue continues to offer excellent events such as the seven mile Winter Trail race.

It attracted close to 450 competitors, all ready to take up the gauntlet of running in challenging terrain while surrounded by stunning scenery.

Eight Aberystwyth Athletic Club members made the trek northwards with Owain Rowlands leading the Aber contingent home in an excellent 12th position overall in a time of 51.09.

Patrick Finney finished within the hour mark in a time of 59.41 with Karen Kemish securing 2nd in her age category in 1.13.12, followed closely by John Williams in 1.13.47 and Elaine Rowlands in 1.14.21. Cara Rainbow finished in 1.18.00 with Mark Bloomfield in 1.19.18 and Ian Brandreth crossed the finish line in 1.47.02.

According to Owain Rowlands, a challenging course with some fun descents, “Having grown up in Dolgellau it was great to finally tick off a race at Coed y Brenin.

“The cool temperature and slight drizzle on the day were ideal running conditions, and there was an amazing atmosphere at the start line.

“The ‘Sting in the Tail’ ascent at the 5th mile mark certainly lived up to its name! I really hope I’ll be able to compete at Coed y Brenin again in the near future.”

Travelling further northwards, and four of Aber AC’s best took part in the popular Village Bakery Wrexham half marathon.

In a strong field of over 1,400 runners Owain Schiavone led Aber home in a time of 1.12.30 with Edd Land finishing in 1.18.32. Paul Williams crossed the line in 1.24.26 with Paul Jones completing the course in 1.28.03.

A bitterly cold day according to Owain Schiavone: “This is by now a hugely popular race and draws a high quality field.

“Knowing it was a fast race, I’d targeted this as a PB so had to go for it. It was a bitterly cold day though with a freezing wind so you had to run fast to keep warm!

“I’d heard you always get some Welshcakes and crumpets at the end of this race so that’s an added incentive!”

Coming back down south and another popular set of races is the Llanelli 10k and half marathon. Charlie Priddy completed the 10k in a time of 56.33 while in the half marathon Martin Tranter, Rachel Richards and Helen Williams crossed the finish line in a time of 3.19.30.

Martin and Rachel are in the midst of their training block ahead of the London marathon as Rachel explains: “We were both fortunate to secure a place in this year’s London marathon so we have been training together for a few months now.

It has been great to have the support of Aberystwyth Athletic Club and many have been joining us on our training runs and giving us plenty of encouragement. The Llanelli half marathon is a wonderful course – as it’s so flat – the only issue can be the wind coming in from the sea – good preparation for London but we need now to up the miles.”

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