Race report by Sam Harper
There has been a fantastic Croft turnout at the Herefordshire and Borders Winter Cross Country series this season- well done to everyone who took part.
All five races were superbly organised by the host clubs. To those runners who have competed in previous years, there were some familiar routes at Fforest fields, Croft and Rotherwas but the introduction of two new courses at a very frosty Malvern and the glorious setting of Gregynog Hall . A huge thanks to all the host clubs.
Fforest Fields, hosted by Builth was race number one and 38 Croft runners took part. Two tough laps starting at the campsite and then looping up though fields into the woods with great views over the campsite and a slippery path back down just to do it all again. Special mention to Rob Wood for this race – Jo Marriott was struggling with an injury – Rob who was just in front of me at the time so I personally witnessed this – sacrificed his race at the halfway point to stick with her, making sure she was ok and able to finish. Such a true sportsman and it didn’t even affect his overall result at the end of the series – rightly deserving of his gold medal for MV70 winner!
Fforest fields set the standard for the mens team – led by captain Sam Juson, backed by Mark Lamonby in second place, Gareth Leek in fifth and Simon Norward in 23rd – saw the team topping the leaderboard by over seven minutes to second place Builth – led home by Eric (finishing behind Mark in third place overall) who has to run for his first claim club in any league event.
The ladies Croft team – made up of Irina Whitfield, Natalie Covill, Emma Jones (s) and Christina Pinto-Pearson finished in second place, 10 mins behind first place Builth.
Race 2 was our hosting at Croft. Back on familiar ground and in perfect running conditions starting at the castle and extending back to the common before running through Fishpool Valley and back. This race was a triumph for Croft not only for the 45 Croft runners who took part, but from the fantastic team of organisers and volunteers who helped out to make it a fantastic event.
A different ladies first team from Fforest Fields saw Mia (5th), Hannah (6th), Nina (10th) and Kelly (12th) – finished in second place, but chipped away at the lead time – seven minutes behind the Builth ladies team.
Sam again finished in first place leading the men’s team of Mark (2nd), Gareth (8th) and Andrew Davies (9th). They were 5 mins ahead of second place Maldwyn.
Maldwyn hosted race three at the beginning of December in the stunning grounds of Gregynog Hall near Newtown. With it being a bit of a way to travel for some clubs on the South and East of Herefordshire and the very cold, wet weather maybe making a difference, overall numbers were down with 144 runners competing – compared to 238 at the previous Croft race. However, Croft numbers were good with 35 runners taking part. This was a cracking course of one lap – back to traditional Herefordshire Cross country racing with lots of mud underfoot and lots of undulating sections through woods and fields. I for one am really hoping this route is repeated in years to come.
Sam was first man home in 35.39 with Eric in second in 37.48. Team members Gareth, Simon and Henry Eastman battled hard, but it was Maldwyn who won the men’s team race on the day. However, with only a 1min, 1 second lead, this was not enough to knock the boys off the top spot series so far, holding on to a 7.54min lead.
Kelly led the Croft girls to the finish line in as 5th place lady, closely followed by Irina in 6th, Natalie in 7th and, at great surprise to myself as it’s been a long time since I counted on the first team, I (Sam H) came in at 13th to be the fourth team member. A great result for the girls because we were the winning team – 6 minutes and 20 seconds ahead of second place Builth.
There was not much chance to recover from the Christmas and New Year celebrations with race four taking place on the fourth of January. Another new race – on Malvern common hosted by the Malvern Buzzards. The weather had not been kind in the lead up and there were thoughts that maybe it would be cancelled if the ice and snow didn’t relent but it went ahead. As it turned out it was a bit crisp, and there was a couple of patches of ice as well as some patches of ice on the two lap course which would itself around the common. I think a few runners slipped, but I hopefully I am right in saying there were no injuries where runners had to pull out and I don’t think any of the 34 Crofties who took part fell.
The race was again won by an ever improving and very strong Sam Juson – finishing nearly two minutes ahead of second place Western Tempo runner Elliot Taylor. He was supported in the team event by Jasper Robinson, Simon and Steve Partridge who crossed the line in 33, 34, 35 – within 13 seconds of each other. The team position was a little down in fifth, but it’s times that matter in this league and going into the final race the Croft men’s team had a 7 minute lead going into the final race.
The ladies were led home by Hannah (5th) with Irina (8), Kelly (9) and Sam H (15), to finish as second place ladies team – with home team Malvern taking first place but only by 10 seconds! This put the ladies in a 20 second lead in the team position. It was going to be all to run for at the final race at Rotherwas!
It was back to a very familiar route at Rotherwas for the final, very important race of the league. This flat, muddy and three lap route is not a favourite for a lot of Croft runners – more used the a hilly course – but we are very grateful to Hereford Couriers for hosting and had a cracking turnout of 36 Croft runners battling it out for their final positions.
It is an honour for us all to witness how well Sam Juson is running at the moment. On top form he finished in an eyewatering time of 36m.12s, 3.45 ahead of second placed Mark Lamonby. Fellow team mates Gareth (4th) and Simon (28) completed the team – winning the race in 54 seconds and the series in 8 minutes and 4 seconds.
Hannah (8), Nina (10), Kelly(11), Irina (13) ran great races to finish as second ladies team behind Builth. Unfortunately for us, but an outstanding result for Builth who pulled out all the stops for the final race and ended up topping the team table with a 6 minute lead over Croft who finished in second place.
With so many races and so many runners it is tough to give the individual Croft runners all the recognition that they deserve. It is fantastic to see at the start of each race the numbers of sky blue runners we have representing Croft and then after each race reading the results and seeing how well Croft runners hold their own in the age categories. But just as important is the support all Croft runners give to each other. We had such great supporters come along to all the races – it is always great to hear your name shouted out by someone you know as you run past, giving you a boost to run faster.
So to the all important awards!
