Clwb Athletau Aberystwyth Athletic Club

    

Club History - Hanes Y Clwb

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Publication of the Club History 50 Golden Years

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"50 Golden Years - The history of Clwb Athletau Aberystwyth Athletic Club has now been published and can be purchased from Ottaker's and various other book shops and newsagents around  town. Priced at £9.99 it is excellent value with plenty of photos and anecdotes as well as facts and figures. For mail order sales add £2.50 for packing and postage. Cheques should be made payable to Aberystwyth A. C. Please contact the author Brian Ashton at bba@aber.ac.uk with your address and number of copies required.

 

 50th Anniversary awards

 

Back row: Frank Thomas, Peter Foale and Dai Roberts; mid row:  Ron Cullum and Gwynn Davis, and front row Liz Hughes and Ffion Morgan.

Honorary Life Member = Ron Cullum - the man that started it all, his brainchild. An accomplished athlete in himself that all the others tried to equal or better. A very shrewd coach and friend to all his athletes. A gentleman, an icon, the perfect role model, loved by all as testified by all his old friends turning up for the dinner to honour Ron for all his hard work and dedication to athletics in Aberystwyth. He is the 'father' of the club.
 
Outstanding Junior Female = Ffion Morgan - an outstanding young athlete who swept the board with her impressive list of achievements, who has now just turned senior.
 
1 - winner of the premier Cross-Country league in Wales, the Gwent League.
2 - winner of the Shropshire Young Athletes Cross-Country League.
3 - she was 4 times the winner of County and Regional Cross-Country Championships, 3 of them consecutive.
4 - winner of the Welsh Inter-Regional Cross-Country Championships.
5 - she has made numerous appearances for Wales both at Cross-Country and Fell Running, in this country and abroad.
 
Outstanding Junior Male = Frank Thomas - an absolute legend in athletic circles, amongst anyone that have been involved with running in Aber and indeed Wales. His achievements span 30yrs plus, from a junior, through being a senior, to a veteran.
In 1981, Frank competed in the inaugural London Marathon and set the quickest journey ever for an Aber vest around the streets of London, in a fantastic 2hrs. 23mins. 4secs. in 42nd place. Whilst a veteran in 1994, his career peaked with a personal best time over the Half Marathon distance at Lake Vyrnwy in a time of 68mins. 36secs. and winning the Wolverhampton Half Marathon in 70mins. 14secs. There were also many appearances in a Welsh vest.
 
However, it was decided by the committee to award Frank the Junior title for his World Record at the 6 mile distance. This truly was an amassing feat for a young 15yr old boy to bring the record to Aber from a Philip Corey of Waterloo Harriers. On the 21st July 1966 and supported by local athletes, the record was broken by Frank on the old four lane cinder University track at Penglais. Under strict IAAF rules, three timekeepers had to be used, Wyn Hughes, Ron Cullum and the late Ron Arthur. The watches had to be calibrated before and after the race by Dr. Merfyn Hughes of the Physics Dept., UCW. Frank won the race in a time of 31mins. 14.5secs, beating the previous record by 29.1secs. Dic Evans was second and the only other to finish the punishing race in a time of 32mins. 52secs.
 
Outstanding Senior Female = Liz Hughes - quite simply untouchable performances from an Aber lady athlete that was literally plucked off the street by her mentor and coach Dic Evans and moulded into an accomplished international athlete.
 
1 - Welsh Senior Marathon Champion.
2 - Twice Scottish Marathon Champion.
3 - World Masters Champion 25k., 1hr. 33mins. 31secs
4 - Welsh 10mile Champion, 56mins 57secs.
5 - 1st Lady in the Great North Run, 74mins. 13secs
6 - 10th. Lady in London Marathon, 2hrs. 47mins. 8secs.
7 - Numerous Welsh appearances on the Road, Cross-Country and Mountain running.
 
Outstanding Senior Male = Gwynn Davis - by far the most difficult award to decide, with names like Ieuan Ellis, Chris Loosley, Gary Davies, Dic Evans, Frank Thomas, Gerallt Owen, Martyn Jenkins and others to consider. However, by following the adopted criteria of picking those that had achieved the highest achievement, whilst representing the club, there emerged one athlete that touched a pinnacle not quite scaled by any of the other 'greats' mentioned.
First appeared for the club in 1964 in a 1mile race in an ok time of 5mins 12secs. Still finding himself at this stage, he competed creditably in the triple jump, long jump and high jump. Represented the UCW and in 1965 was the University Champion in all three jumping events.
In 1966 was the North Wales Cross-Country League Champion. However, on the 13th July 1968, as a member of the club and being the current Welsh 1 mile champion, he put the club well and truly on the national map when he competed in the AAA 880yds championships at the White City, reaching the final where he finished 6th, in a creditable time of 1min. 52secs. In the previous evening semi-final race, he recorded a time of 1min. 51.6secs.
The pinnacle of his career came two years later when as an Aber club member, competed for his country in the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, at 1500mtrs and the 5000mtrs. events. Although sadly he failed to reach the final in both events, he still remains the only club member to represent his club and country in the Commonwealth Games.
 
Outstanding Clubman = Peter Foale - since his arrival in Aber. some 25yrs ago, this individual has thrown himself into every aspect of running an athletics club, as an accomplished athlete, organiser, club officer and coach. Has been organising events such as the Marie Curie 10k and now the McMillan 10k races that have raised thousands of pounds over the years. The committee's final wording read of this individual, 'for his outstanding loyalty, dedication as a runner, coach, motivator and friend to all, as well as being an all-round good egg'.
 
Special Athlete's Athlete Award = Dai Roberts - this award could only go to one person, the most loved athlete and person that has ever graced an Aberystwyth vest. No one athlete in the club's 50yrs history has ever raced as many times for the club as Dai and he has never owned a car. His exploits in getting to races are legendary and a book could be written about them alone. Probably the most popular award of the evening.