This Club trophy began life as The Welsh Shield 30 years ago.
The intention was to provide a very prestigious competition, reflecting the more adventurous nature of running that was developing in WRR at that time.
It was designed to be tough to win, with three extremely difficult races across the calendar year, meaning you had to keep your fitness at a very high level.
Your cumulative run time is added up and divided by the total miles run (59) to give an average pace, fastest overall pace wins!
Past Winners
| 1993 – Jan Johanson | 1994 – John Barr | |
| 1995 – Martin Crabb, | 1996 – Keith Morgan | |
| 1997 – Glenda Duester | 1998 – Colin Hibberd | |
| 1999 – Brian McCreadie | 2000 – Jeanette Ashton | |
| 2019 – Graham Ferris | 2022 – John Green |
It was not contested in 2001 or 2002, then the Offa’s Dyke Race stopped being run so the Shield fell into abeyance until The Offa’s reappeared in 2019. Graham Ferris discovered the Shield gathering dust at the Leisure Centre and resurrected it, duly winning it himself that year. 2020 and 2021 obviously vanished into oblivion but it’s now firmly back on the agenda and up for grabs!!
So now is the time to be planning your running exploits for 2024 and next year is a chance for you all to try and win this fabulous new Trophy, replacing the battered old and dusty shield.
If you feel you are Man or Woman enough and would like to be the proud possessor of the Trophy for one year, this is what you need to do….you need to get cracking though!!
1. Rhayader Round The Lakes 30K, 02/03/2024. Rhayader
40th Anniversary so likely to be very popular!!
ENTRIES ARE OPEN NOW £27
2. Offas Dyke 15 miles, 15/06/2024, Hay-on-Wye.
ENTRIES ARE OPEN NOW £28
3. The Veloforte Wales Marathon, 23/06/2024. Tenby
ENTRIES ARE OPEN NOW £55
Tenby have a running festival over the weekend, with all distances catered for.
ONLY the Marathon qualifies for the Welsh Shield
OR
Snowdonia Marathon, 26/10/2024
Snowdonia is the tough one to get into, as they have introduced a ballot system due to very high demand. The ballot opens at 9am on 1/12/2023 and closes at midnight on Thursday 8/12/2023. **NOTE – JUST A ONE WEEK WINDOW!!!** You will not find out if you are successful until 1/1/2024
My suggestion is to enter Tenby anyway, then go into the ballot for Snowdonia. If you are successful then pay your money (you get 2 weeks to pay, after that you lose your place) if you change your mind later on, you can get a refund, or transfer your place to someone else by the end of September 2024.
You can run Tenby AND Snowdonia of course, and then use your best time as the qualifier.
Anyway, if you fancy it, go for it!!! But do it NOW!! Good Luck!
Steve Hopkins