Angharad Mair (born March 1960) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

; she is the lead presenter on the nightly S4C

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

magazine programme, ''

Heno () is a Welsh television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on S4C weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. Various reporters also assist with subject-specific presenting, both in the studio and ...

'' and the

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

news programme, ''

Wales Today ''BBC Wales Today'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Wales, broadcast on BBC One Wales from the headquarters of BBC Cymru Wales in Central Square, Cardiff. According to the BBC, it is the world's longest-running television new ...

''.

Background

She was born in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

, where she lived with her older sister and three younger brothers. Her first jobs were working in

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

and The Ivy Bush Royal Hotel in Carmarthen.

Media career

After training and working for

, where she worked on the Welsh language children's programme '' Bilidowcar'', Mair joined Llanelli-based independent television production company

Tinopolis The Tinopolis Group is an international TV production and distribution group with businesses based in the UK and US. It produces over 4,500 hours of television annually for more than 200 UK and foreign broadcasters. History Llanelli, Wales, b ...

in 1991. When Tinopolis produced both programmes from

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, for a time she presented both the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

BBC Wales news ''

'' from 18:30 to 19:00, as well as the Welsh S4C ''Wedi 7'' from 19:00 to 19:30. In 2008 Mair still presented ''Wedi7,'' and was Executive Director for Tinopolis, where by 2006 she held 2.482% of the shares. Mair wrote a column in the

Wales on Sunday Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

newspaper. In December 2006 her comment on the break-up of the relationship of her friend,

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

weather presenter Sian Lloyd, against Lloyd's former partner

Lembit Öpik Lembit Öpik (, ; born 2 March 1965) is a former British politician. A former member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat at the ...

- including suggesting that

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

needed a new MP - drew much public criticism.

Running career

After a challenge from a colleague, Mair ran her first full

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

in the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

in 1991, in a time of 3:29:00. This result for a beginner encouraged her to keep training and she won the Reykjavik Marathon in 1996. She entered the trials for the Great Britain athletics squad for the 1997 World Championships in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, where she came 23rd in the

Women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

in a time of 2:42:31. Mair kept running and in 2014 finished 3rd in the

Snowdonia Marathon The Snowdonia Marathon ( cy, Marathon Eryri) was established in 1982 with the idea of being a dramatic alternative to the numerous city and town races that were becoming so popular. The route makes a circumnavigation of the Snowdon massif, sta ...

. In 2016 Mair set a new British record for the marathon, in the W55 Category, by completing the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

in a time of 2.57.46.

Personal life

Mair has two daughters with her second husband Jonathan Cray, a cameraman for Tinopolis. The family live in

Peterston-super-Ely Peterston-super-Ely ( cy, Llanbedr-y-fro) is a village and community situated on the River Ely ( cy, Afon Elái) in the county borough of the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The community population at the 2011 census was 874. The community include ...

in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...

. Mair has argued for

Welsh independence Welsh independence ( cy, Annibyniaeth i Gymru) is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. Wales was conquered during the 13th century by Edward I of England following the ki ...

Competition Record

References

External links

Angharad Mair profile at TinopolisWedi 3 & 7: Presenters: Angharad Mair
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mair, Angharad 1960 births Living people People from Carmarthen Welsh female long-distance runners British female long-distance runners Welsh female marathon runners British female marathon runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Welsh journalists British women journalists Welsh television presenters Welsh-language television presenters BBC newsreaders and journalists Welsh television executives Women television executives Tinopolis British women television journalists British women radio presenters