Autumn was definitely making its presence felt this week, the trees turning a glorious kaleidoscope of colour, cooler weather, foggy mornings, fireworks and a time for remembrance.
For regular training, the Juniors were first off the blocks on Monday early evening, with the weather still mild and dry, Kelly put them through their paces with Liza A and Suzanne J helping. On Tuesday evening Sam H led 23 seniors at Shobdon Church. A small group of Crofties joined the track session led by Hereford Couriers on Wednesday evening. On Thursday Tim led 15 seniors to train on Bircher Common. There had to be a very last minute relocation to Yarpole Village with a run up onto the Common – still lots of hill practice!
Out of the blocks early on Saturday, Janet H was running the Brecon Trail Marathon organised by Andali Events. In Janet’s words ‘After the Snowdon Marathon was cancelled I entered the Brecon Trail Marathon (Andali Events) which was held yesterday. Weather was very foggy on the tops of Pen y Fan and Cribyn which added to the excitement! The route is a mixture of towpath, forestry tracks, quiet roads and mountain paths. Good check points and support and a very generous time allowance. It took me just under 8 hours. 27th Female, oldest person on the marathon!’ Fantastic running in challenging conditions.
The sky blue vest was seen at 10 parkruns this Saturday across England and Wales. Sam J was setting the pace at Cardiff – first home in 15:32 and age grading of 83.05%. Eric A was also the first home at Groe in 16.29 and age grading of 78.67% – this was run on a temporary course. Up in London town Lucy and Liza A were zipping around Dulwich – Lucy in 19.09 and Liza in 25.22 but it would have been pretty much a dead heat on age grading at 77.28% and 77.6% respectively. Huw W was in Hampshire visiting his new granddaughter and when there was mention of nappy changing he headed off to Alice Holt PR, a familiar course perfect for a Saturday morning jaunt (37.49). Henry E was at Worcester Pitchcroft running 17.36 and an age grading of 74.15% (I think this is a PR PB). Angus K was at Haughmond Hill, Shrewsbury running a course PB of 29.45 and then heading to Attingham Park for a running double (see below). Louise P was sole rep at Hereford (27.13). Lisa Ryan was at Chippping Sodbury (29.11) and there were three from the club at Queenswood Gwyn H (29.09) Jane H (49.52) and Mike H (49.57). The biggest contingent was at Mortimer Forest – the Martin family were out in force running and marshalling, as were the Symonds with Tim stepping in last minute as Run Director and Jamie doing the briefing. Steph K, Frank L, Adrian C, Tim W-H, Paul L and Tori D all volunteering. Well done all runners and volunteers.
Angus’ double hatter was Haughmond Hill parkrun, followed by the Attingham NT’s Mad Jack 5 miler. In his words ‘If you haven’t done this one before there is a shocking finish through a pond of quickmud where runners lose their shoes and staying clean and dry is a hopeless task 
Thankfully just 200mtrs after is the finish 
‘ Well done Angus.
A bit later on Saturday Flora G was fell racing the Ras Rhobell Fawr race (just north of Dolgellau). In Flora’s words ‘Distance 6.70 miles and 1972 feet total ascent (recorded in my watch. We’re 89 runners in total who participated in the race. My time: 01:28:17 came 2nd in women’s out of 7 in my age category. This is the last race of the North Wales winter series 2026.
This event also included the prize presentation for the winter series winners as well after the race and Flora was 1st in her age group. Flora says ‘I hope they’re right for giving me the prize.I was quite surprised because I’m not the best female fell runner compared to the North Wales. Not sure how it works the points in every race,any way I’m pleased and grateful for the results’. Great running Flora and a fantastic result – we’re in no doubt it’s well deserved.
On Sunday it was the club’s turn to host the 2nd race of the 2026/2027 Hereford & Borders Winter XC League at Croft Castle and what a belter it turned out to be. We all woke up to a pretty foggy morning but, for once, my weather app was on point with its forecast for sun by 11am and where I was standing on Bircher Common it felt like a perfect morning for racing with cool and dry conditions. Putting on these races is a big team effort and on days like today it makes me so proud to be part of our club. So a massive thank you to everyone whether you organised, help set up/tidy up, marshalled, baked, car parked, marked the course, liaised with stakeholder, oversaw everyone’s safety or were just generally there to help, cheer and support. And a big thank you to the National Trust for letting us run on their estate, which offers such a fantastic course. And last, but not least, well done to all our 42 runners who chalked up some great individual and team results. And it looks like there were some really close finishes. For the women they had 4 scoring teams and by my reckoning consolidated their lead in the team rankings. The first team home in a combined time of 3:04:29 was Kelly B, Irina W, Mia D and Natalie C. The men had 6 scoring teams and it looks like they have consolidated their 2nd overall team position with Sam J, Gareth L, Henry E and Oscar A the first four Croft men home in a combined time of 2:29:28. The individual results are below:
Sam Juson 31.59 1st overall and 1st SM
Gareth Leek 36:00 2nd MV35
Henry Eastman 38:57
Oscar Austin 42:31
Miles Davis 42:32
Jo Lynch 43:17
Nigel Taylor 43:22 2nd MV60
Kelly Bowen 44:59 2nd Female overall, 1st FV40
Dave George 45:17
Irina Whitfield 45:35 3rd Female overall, 1st FV35
Mia Davies 46:37 2nd SF
Natalie Colvill 47:18 1st FV50
Greg Jones 47:44
Emma Jones 49:11
Richard Coltart 49:35
Paul Lewis 49:40
Mike Bending 50:43
Russell Limbert 51:36
Neil Taylor 52:15
Howard Verran 52:24
Liza Austin 53:04
Tim Jones 53:08
Tom Powell 53:44
Steph King 53:45
Oli Cameron-Swan 55:56
Sonia George 56:02
Jamie Symonds 56:43
Ian Price 56:48 1st MV75
Rob Wood 57:17 2nd MV70
Hayley Colebatch 59:02
Lisa Gray 59:08
Guy Whitmarsh 59:47 1st MV80
Louise Phillips 59:51
Vanessa Bowers 1:00:22
Nick Paviour 1:01:00
Sue Wood 1:01:21 2nd FV70
Peter High 1:04:23
Mike Hayward 1:05:16
Adrian Coffey 1:07:26
Gary Gunner 1:10:34 2nd MV80
Sally Toye 1:11:36
Christina La Monica 1:18:04
Also racing on Sunday was one of our juniors Saffi R. at the 5k MoRunner in Birmingham. This is a trail race and by her Mum’s account Saffi had to work hard to finish 1st Female to claim the 5k MoRunner Female Championship award and prize alongside her finishers medal. Great running Saffi.
