Happy Sunday!
Once again we’re here to get you all up to date with Croft shenanigans from the past week. So get comfy and enjoy!
On Monday, our Juniors were eager to get their running shoes on for their weekly training session, and this week they had another shot at their pacing, attempting to keep to the same/similar times on each lap. It’s fair to say, we’ve definitely noticed a big improvement in their consistentancies.
As for our Seniors, Tuesday was a Long Interval session at Shobdon Church. We also announced our lucky winner of the Croft London Marathon Ballot place. Each year running clubs across the country are given London Marathon places to give out amongst their runners. Our little rural club gets 1 place each year! We decide on who gets the place by only including runners with a failed ballot entry, and have been in the club for over 12 months. Names go into a Croft hat where a winner is drawn! This year, 6 of our failed ballot entries came forward to enter the Croft draw, with Howard being the lucky winner! Thursday’s session was focused on Short Intervals at Croft.
On Parkrun Saturday it was a Croft Takeover at Ludlow Parkrun. It may have not been our busiest takeover – the weather may be to thank for that, but we had a good time, nonetheless. Results from the morning saw Eric finished in 2nd place with a time of 20:24. Steve, Casper and Miles joined him in the Top 10. This was Miles’ first go at Ludlow! Our first female and fifth female overall was Naomi. Our ever improving Junior runner; Leni, came away with another PB – a birthday PB, with a time of 37:20. Volunteers this week were Eric, Liza, Stuart, Mike B, Anna, Natalie, Tori, Lisa, Steph K, Angus, Carol, Clare, Jamie, Neil, Rachel T and Tim W-H. Aside from the running, Louise R and her daughter; Grace, hosted a Cake Sale to raise money for the MS Society, whom Lou will be running for in the London Marathon in 2026! She managed to raise an amazing £215.15, getting one step closer to her target goal! Elsewhere, Kath ran at Preston Parkrun in Lancashire. She finished 3rd lady in a time of 22:42. She said: “The course very similar to Shrewsbury but 3 laps. Lovely parkrun running through Avenham&Miller Park along the river.”
Will continue with Kath as we move onto Sunday Race Day! This Sunday she ran the David Staff Memorial Fell Run, hosted by Lancashire’s own Darwen Dashers Running Club. This race was approx 4 mile and 375m acent on a variety of terrain. She would finish in a time of 42 minutes, crossing the line 3rd lady. It’s a race that she would “definitely recommend to all trail/fell runners!”
Onto the next round of the Hereford and Borders Winter XC 2025-2026 and it was our turn to host! After a couple of days of stormy weather, with particularly heavy rain and flash floods, over 200 runners decended on Croft Castle to take on the challenging course with quite breathtaking scenery! Club Chairman; Huw, was Race Director, with plenty of Crofties marshalling and volunteering on and near the race route. Your top three finishers, male and female are:
1st – Sam Juson – Croft Ambrey Running Club
2nd – Mark Lamonby – Croft Ambrey Running Club
3rd – Eric Apperley – Builth & District Running Club
1st – Donna Morris – Builth & District Running Club
2nd – Ffion Price – Builth & District Running Club
3rd – Anne Crawford – Malvern Buzzards Running Club
Croft Ambrey Running Club – 1st Male Team
Builth and District Running Club – 1st Female Team
Full results from Croft Ambrey Running Club: (We’ve missed of Age Category results for now as they are all over the place!)
Sam Juson – 33:53 – 1st Overall
Mark Lamonby – 36:00 – 2nd Overall
Gareth Leek – 37:49
Andrew Davies – 37:51
Henry Eastman – 41:27
Simon Norwood – 42:01
Nigel Taylor – 42:38
Jasper Robinson – 42:57
Steve Partridge – 43:18
Jim Bowers – 43:53
Sam Walmsley – 43:59
Mia Davies – 45:06 – 1st CARC Female
Hannah Fletcher – 45:27 – 2nd CARC Female
Miles Davis – 45:44
Nina Walmsley – 46:49 – 3rd CARC Female
Kelly Bowen – 47:25
Irina Whitfield – 47:47
Jo Tilby – 47:58
Richard Coltart – 48:38
Natalie Covill – 48:56
Oliver Marsh – 49:52
Stuart Austin – 50:28
Mike Bending – 51:14
Jamie Symonds – 51:26
Paul Lewis – 51:57
Sam Harper – 52:38
Liza Austin – 53:02
Christina Pinto-Pearson – 53:52
Steph King – 54:33
Neil Taylor – 54:51
James Pinto-Pearson – 55:23
Rob Wood – 55:51
Oli Cameron-Swan – 57:22
Angus Kirby – 59:43
Sue Wood – 01:00:03
Hayley Colebatch – 01:01:24
Nick Paviour – 01:01:55
Guy Whitmarsh – 01:01:57
Rachel Tyrrell – 01:02:22
Vanessa Bowers – 01:02:53
Anna Bromley – 01:02:57
Carol Powell – 01:04:59
Ian Price – 01:05:22
Lisa Gray – 01:05:59
Tori Dickinson – 01:08:07
Gemma Davies – 01:12:35
Louise Reeves – 01:12:45
Ali Davies – 01:20:48
Hayley Millichap – 01:20:48
CARC Mens Team – 1st
CARC Ladies Team – 2nd
Well done all! Please remember that if you would like your race and achievements included in the weekly report, please get them to me (Bronwyn) by 6pm at the latest. Any that come in after, I cannot promise they will be included. The upcoming training schedule will be live on our Facebook on Monday morning. In the meantime, don’t forget, we’re always on the look out for your race reports for the website, so get posting them on Facebook or send them to either Sam H, Huw or myself (Bronwyn).