By Owen Morgan
Life couldn’t get much more eventful for athlete Dewi Griffiths.
The Swansea Harrier recently achieved his ambition of equalling Welsh distance legend Steve Jones’ remarkable record of nine Welsh cross country championships.
Over the next few weeks, Griffiths will be training for the TCS London Marathon at the end of April and a possible attempt on Jones’ long-standing Welsh marathon record.
All the while, the 33-year-old Carmarthenshire farmer will not only be in the middle of lambing season, he and his wife will be preparing for the birth of their first child!
Dewi Griffiths crosses the line to claim his ninth Welsh Cross Country title.
I suggest to Griffiths that the springtime London race is never conveniently scheduled for a marathon-running farmer, but this year’s event poses particular challenges.
“Tell me about it! I’ve got plenty of distractions,” says a chuckling Griffiths, still in his Swansea Harriers vest and glistening with sweat following his historic national cross country triumph at Pembrey Country Park near Llanelli.
“I’ll run when I can, then it’ll be chasing the sheep in between, and making sure my wife’s okay the whole time as well.
“So, yeah, it’ll be a pretty manic time. But maybe that’s a good thing, because it’ll distract me. If I have a bad run, or bad session, or whatever, I haven’t really got time to think about it.”
Griffiths preparations for the cross country championships or the London Marathon haven’t been straightforward from a fitness point of view, either.
“I had a bit of a hamstring scare about two weeks ago,” he revealed.
“With all the cold weather, ice and stuff, I ran too much on the treadmill, and it flared up a hamstring, but luckily it was nothing. I just needed to back off for a couple of days and that was fine.”
Dewi Griffiths catches his breath and savours the achievement of his ninth Welsh Cross Country title.
Looking ahead to London, Griffiths added: “I’m at the age where I’ve got nothing to lose. The interesting thing from my point of view is whether I make the start line or not.
“The baby’s expected four days after London. So, if I make the start line and I’m running, the baby hasn’t come!
“We’re really excited about the baby and in some ways, it means I’ve got a free shot at the marathon.
“I always say, as a marathon runner in the UK, if you are going to have a good day, make it London. So, I’ve nothing to lose and hopefully a lot to gain.
“Like always, I’ll try to run as fast as I possibly can. I earned a seat next to Jonesy today, maybe I can get his marathon record, you never know.”
Jones’ Welsh record of 2:07.13 was set in winning the 1985 Chicago Marathon.
At the same event a year earlier, he had set a new world record of 2:08.05 in his first outing over the marathon distance.
Griffiths is second on the all-time Welsh marathon list with a personal best of 2:09.49, set on his first attempt at the distance at the Frankfurt Marathon in 2017.
Injury and illness have limited Griffiths’ marathon participation since then. However, he did represent Wales over the distance at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games where he finished 11th in 2:17.58.
Dewi Griffiths has his eyes on the prize as he approaches the finishing line to win his ninth Welsh Cross Country title.
Last October he ran 2:12.47 at the Amsterdam Marathon.
The Great Britain international believes advances in running shoe technology could aid his attempts to challenge Jones’ record if he does line up in London.
“I got my PB before the shoes came in and the shoes have changed the game now,” said Griffiths, who spent time in 2019 training at altitude with Jones in Colorado, where the former Newport Harrier is based.
“It’s about having a look at your cards when you pick them up on the day and hopefully you’ve got pretty stacked cards. Hopefully, there are a couple of aces in the pack.”
Griffiths certainly boasted a winning hand in Pembrey as he equalled Jones’ long standing record.
In characteristic fashion, the gritty competitor took the race by the scruff of the neck as he went to the front of the field soon after the gun.
However, he didn’t have it all his own way as Thomas Chaston (Belgrave Harriers/University of Portland) sat on his shoulder during the first two circuits of the four-lap 10.2k race.
Dewi Griffiths representing Wales in the marathon at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Chaston, who won the Welsh 3,000m steeplechase title in 2023 and finished sixth in the same event at the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester last year, was making his first appearance at the championships having raced almost exclusively in America in recent years.
But Griffiths’ huge experience started to tell in the second half of the race and the 2016 European Championships 10,000m fifth-placer pulled away in the closing stages to once again take the title.
He was delighted to draw level with Jones on nine senior men’s titles.
“I’m chuffed,” said Griffiths after crossing the line. “The main thing for me today was trying to equal Jonesy’s record. It’s nice to finally do that.
“Tonight, I’ll sit back and raise a glass to him, because it was a hell of a record he set. He had nine wins and a second place in 10 years.
“It’s different from what I’ve done. It’s taken me a few more years to get to nine. But I was thinking about it yesterday, this race has been going for 120 years. So, in theory, there couldn’t be more than 120 senior men’s titles.
“Jonesy’s got nine and I’ve got nine. It’s pretty hard to get one title, so to get nine it’s something I’ll cherish.”
Dewi Griffiths Thomas Chaston running stride for stride at Pembrey.
Griffiths, who revealed he received a good luck message from Jones before the race, added: “Whether I get the chance to do it again, who knows? The youngsters coming through are getting closer and I’m not getting any younger!
“Whether I get 10 or not doesn’t matter to me. Just having that seat on the table next to Jonesy – that’s a pretty special feeling.
“I’ll drop him a message later, and I know he’ll be chuffed for me. He’s always said, ‘go break my record, I’ve had my time, so you go have yours’ I’m sure he’ll tell me to go for 10 next year.
“It’s nice having someone like that, telling you to go for it in your corner, isn’t it?
“The difference is, when he was doing it, he was the best in the world. It’s different now, obviously, but it’s been nice trying to equal his record. And you know you’re doing something right when you get mentioned in the same sentence as Jonesy.
Thomas Chaston on the shoulder of Dewi Griffiths.
Griffiths admitted Chaston had pushed him hard for his latest title.
“I was hoping it would be a bit easier than it was! I came here expecting Dan (Nash) and Daf (Jones) to be the main challenges. And as it turned out, it was someone I wasn’t expecting.
“But that’s the nature of a championship race on a given day, isn’t it? He made me work for it.
“I just drew on the experience I had in the past. It’s a four lap race and you know that third lap is where it’s going to hurt.
“I could sense in the second lap that I was hurting him a bit on the hills and the downhills, and he was having to work to get back to me.
“I thought I had him and I was going to pull away in the third lap, and then I heard some shouts in the fourth lap saying he was still there, and I thought ‘oh God’! My wife and my in-laws were shouting and I could sense in their voices that it wasn’t over!
“So, I gave myself a bit of a pep talk and then just hit it hard in the last half lap and made him think I wasn’t coming back. That’s half the battle.”
Griffiths broke the tape in 31:31, with Chaston coming home five seconds later to claim silver.
Third place, in 32:40, went to Dan Nash (Pontypridd Roadents), who will be lining up alongside Griffiths in the elite field at the London Marathon – lambs and baby permitting.