Pole grows tired before Welsh runner (9)
I believe the answer is:
flagstaff
'pole' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'welsh runner' is the wordplay.
'welsh' becomes 'flags' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'runner' becomes 'taff' (river in Wales).
'flags'+'taff'='FLAGSTAFF'
'grows tired before' is the link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for flagstaff that I've seen before include "raising standards here?" , "Arizona city" , "Standard-bearer" , "place in Arizona" , "Arizona community" .)