A CLUTCH of North East Wales athletes have been muddy marvels in international competition.

Racers from Wrexham AAC and Buckley Runners headed north to take part in the British and Irish Masters cross-country event in Glasgow.

The standard across the board was very high, as masters athletes from Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland took on the challenging course at Tollcross Park.

Competing the the M35 event were Wrexham duo Ryan Davis and Luke Northall.

Davis clocked 26.18 for 13th position, with Northall crossing the line 21st in 26.48.

Six Buckley athletes ran for Wales on the day, with one representing England.

They produced a fine set of results, including two contributing to team medals in their respective categories.

Eric Campbell was 15th in the M60 category and the third counter for Wales, which helped the team to a silver medal.

Meanwhile, Tracy Rogers was sixth in her W35 category and the first counter for England, who bagged a bronze medal.

First counters for Wales were Jen Rambaldi (17th W35), 18th M45 Chris Callaghan and 22nd M50 Jez Brown, while Jane Doughton finished 20th in the W45 section and 26th M50 Simon Roberts was the third counter for Wales.

There were no rollercoasters or attractions for competitors at Alton Towers!

Wrexham AAC’s Connor Rogers (33.26) crossed the line fourth in the Alton Towers 10k.

Deestriders’ Andy Billington ran a three-minute personal best of 1-37.29 at the undulating Alton Towers half marathon.

Clubmate Nige Parr completed the 60k Pen Llyn Winter Ultra on Saturday, starting and finishing in Pwllheli.

The weather held out on the scenic course and although his time of 7-47.50 wasn’t what he was hoping for, due to difficult conditions underfoot resulting in a couple of falls, he still finished in the top 25 per cent of the field and enjoyed the day.

Deestriders’ Allan Mckeown and Matt Davies took part in the Clwydian Hills fell race in wet and muddy conditions.

Despite losing their way in the fog, the duo finished in a creditable 2-21.

Parkruns have once more proved to be popular ventures.

Deestrider Debbie Parry ran 29.26 at her home Millennium Country event in Bedfordshire, while Darren Low ran his quickest ever 5k (23.21) at Birkenhead.

Wrexham’s Mike Robbins (23.50) claimed seventh position at Wepre, while Richard Westwood (fifth in 20.44) and Anna Moccia (18th in 24.52) competed at Ruthin.

Over at Llangollen, Macey Quick clocked 27.52 for 32nd spot, with Charles Ashley (30.12) in 46th.

Peter Hughes (18th in 24.42) was the leading Wrexham racer at the Erddig event.

He was followed by Simon Williams (42nd in 29.07), Isobel Gunn (71st in 31.45), Steven Gunn (83rd in 33.39) and Lucy Morris (98th in 37.20).

There’s a busy Saturday coming up for athletes.

Newtown will play host to the Welsh inter-regional cross-country championships, while the Penmaenmawr fell race takes place in Capelulo and Betws-y-Coed hosts the Betws trail challenge. On Sunday, it’s the Conwy half-marathon.