Weather wise it was cooler this week (with some rain!) but no one seems to have cooled down their running.
On Monday after a couple of weeks of rest it was back to business for our juniors. Eric led the session with Huw and Bron helping out. The session focused on 400m and 200m repetitions. Although the track markings are fading their effort didn’t and although it was a smaller group they still managed to finish with a quick game of Bulldogs.
For the seniors Tuesday was all about the 5th race in the Bryan Markham handicap series, as ever Mike B. summarised the evening perfectly….”Following the excitement of the recent celestial spectacle 40 keen Croft runners lined up to try to eclipse their fastest times, and their fellow club mates, on the testing Bircher Common course. More favourable running conditions greeted the competitors for the 5th, and penultimate, race in the 2026 handicap series. Underfoot conditions on the sunbaked and parched Common were rock-hard and unforgiving after the recent heatwave, but the cooler weather inspired the runners to record a series of excellent times. An outstanding 15 PBs were set on the night plus 3 age-group records. Bronwyn Preece led the inspired brigade as she stormed around the course 6 minutes quicker than last month and nearly 2 minutes clear of the pursuing field to register an emphatic victory. Bron romped down the final hill like a frolicking young filly wearing a beaming smile that extended into the next postcode, and it may still be worn for a few days hence. Next across the finish line was an equally delighted Christina La Monica, who carved a colossal 4.17 off last month’s debut run – a clear indication of training paying dividends. Completing the top 3 was another runner thrilled to re-discover better form : Nicola Luscott revelled in the milder conditions to record a time that was 3 minutes faster than July’s effort. Maybe the star performance of the night was delivered by nifty Natalie “the Cyclone” Covill with a phenomenal 28.09 finishing time. Not only did Natalie overtake 21 other runners en route, but she set a new FV50 course record and her speedy time of 28.09 places her 2nd only to Mia Davies in the women’s rankings. The club’s female runners are competing with the recent sweltering weather by presenting a rich vein of hot form. Natalie’s new FV50 record overhauled Sam ‘The Harpoon”Harper’s short-lived reign with that title even though Sam herself, who seems to set a PB every time she runs at present, sliced a whole minute off her previous best to climb to equal 6th in the rankings. Liza Austin, running on familiar terrain, is another who has discovered a new lease of life as she broke the FV60 course record. Sue Wood, who often seems to sneak unnoticed under the radar, again found the cooler conditions more to her liking and set a new FV70 course record by chopping over a minute off the existing record. Reachel Kenny, full of enthusiasm and determination, is another who is enjoying a purple patch and, on this occasion, demolished her best time by over 2 minutes. One little intriguing friendly family battle is developing within the club with a father and son tussle for supremacy. The introduction of the speedy young Max George to the club has inspired father Dave George to start setting PBs just to stay ahead of the young upstart. Just to prove that it ain’t solely a woman’s world of success, good old Nigel ‘The Tornado” Taylor lowered his own MV60 course record by 40 seconds. There were lots of close finishes as the runners charged down the slope from Oaker Coppice followed by the short sprint to the finish line. This certainly tested the recorders and judges on the line. I think that we just about dealt with the onslaught. The runners made the most of the cooler conditions but there is still no sign of rain to restore a bit of health and natural colour to the landscape. I am led to believe that Oli has been commissioned by Defra to perform a Morris Rain Dance. Not a Morris Minor result but a major rainstorm, we hope. Oli certainly looked in the mood to make things happen – he was another to record an impressive PB this evening. Many thanks to all the helpers and marshals for their devoted assistance – your efforts are highly appreciated by everyone. The 6th, and final, race in the 2026 handicap series will be upon us before we know it – just 2 weeks away on Tuesday 1st September. Who will win the Bryan Markham trophy ? There are a number of runners in contention and it can all change on the final evening.
Although Wednesday is usually track day it doesn’t look like there were any Crofties there.
On Thursday Huw led a group of 22 runners back onto Bircher Common for a long interval session.
Saturday is Parkrun day and lots of folk were out running or volunteering. At Queenswood there were seven running and Lisa Juson was marshalling. Mark Lamonby was first in in 18:24 and there were PBs for Dave Millichap (27:28) and Oli Cameron-Swan (28:02). There were 12 runners and 9 volunteers at Mortimer Forest. Clare Preece was RD. There were 3 running at Hereford, Sam Juson was just a second off the win, there were PBs for Ben Rees (23:19) and Christina La Monica (35:05). Further afield on Guernsey Naomi Perkins (25:17) and one of our junior Henry Perkins (28:20) were running.
On Sunday 23rd August, Eric Apperley was off early racing at Ellesmere 10k. In his words “Another cracking race by Adrenaline Sporting Events this morning this time the first running of the Ellesmere 10km. Going in I just wanted to put a good time on the board looking for 33 minutes or just under. So I set out for that target from the off without knowing what the course was ahead. So as we headed out of town we were following the lead bikes and I was joined by Tom Blunt as we broke away from the other competitors. The course was a lumpy one but not sharp incline more rolling as we ran along the kilometres out to the cone and the 5km mark. At this point we had a good lead on 3rd place but nothing could separate us as we kicked back into town so we decided to cross the line together and share the win and tick off my pre race goal of 33 minutes with a 33.55 course record.” Well done Eric a cracking joint first.
Also up early were the 24 of us headed to Radnor Forest to see if we could tame the ‘Wild Wolf of Radnor’ 10 mile race. I think we can safely report it was not only tamed but possibly slayed with some stellar performances. Sam Juson and Sam Mayglothling were 1st and 2nd overall and Sam Harper was 2nd Female home. Overall there were 14 sky blues who were in the top 3 of their age categories. That’s a fantastic performance and a big pat on the back to everyone, especially those coming back from injury or illness. My brief summary of the race would be “a really well organised technical trail race – it was well marked and marshalled throughout with two water-stops just where you needed them. It was one of those races where you needed to concentrate for the full 10.2 miles as you covered very varied terrain (all off road) and 540m elevation gain, the last 1km down to the finish was probably the one section where you could really open up without fear of going flying (for me anyway). There was a lovely atmosphere at the end. There were 132 runners who completed the race.”
There will be a full race report posted to the website in due course and the full results can be found here https://www.readysetgotiming.co.uk/2026-results ). The Croft results are detailed below.
Sam Juson 1:05:55 1st Overall 1st SM
Sam Mayglothling 1:12:21 2nd Overall 1st MV40
Gareth Leek 1:16:00 2nd MV35
Oscar Austin 1:25:55 3rd SM
Joe Lynch 1:27:54
Nigel Taylor 1:28:26 1st MV60
Simon Norwood 1:29:49 2nd MV55
Steve Partridge 1:30:41 2nd MV45
Miles Davis 1:30:46 3rd MV55
Jim Bowers 1:35:07 3rd MV35
Sam Harper 1:37:23 2nd Female Overall 1st FV50
Mike Bending 1:42:14 3rd MV60
Tim Jones 1:44:38
Tony Howsam 1:48:53
Liza Austin 1:49:08 3rd FV60
Tom Powell 1:52:28 2nd FV50
Steph King 1:54:11
Kath Hardwick 1:56:56 2nd FV45
Tori Dickinson 1:59:12
Neil Powell 2:04:12
Lisa Gray 2:15:42
Anna Bromley 2:20:00
Reachel Kenny 2:27:44
Christina La Monica 2:34:21
Further afield, on Sunday Cat was racing Trek Matterhorn Sky Course. Starting from Zermatt in Switzerland, Tim Wain- Hobson, her dad, reported it was 49km with 3,600m elevation. Cat finished in a time of 8hrs 24min and was 9/49 in her age group and 35/419 overall.