Welcome all! It’s that time of week once again and after another busy few days of getting those all important miles in, we hope that you are more than ready for your weekly dose of CARC action!
Our Junior runners continue to work hard on Monday evenings. This week they were introduced to a training session that has come to be a Croft favourite in recent years – meet and retreats! After being paired up based on ability, they would run off in different directions before meeting half way and running back. With two distances to choose from, everyone would eventually challenge themselves to the longer one. Well done all!
This week, both Senior sessions took place at Croft and were taken by Eric, who kindly jumped in last minute to lead Thursday’s session. On Tuesday, it was all about long intervals with another bout of meet and retreats. This would incorporate the fire track beside the fishpools and a section of the Croft Castle entrance drive. On Thursday, a late change meant a more improvised session, with a social run around the woods and common, incorporating many hills – some of which we raced up come Sunday at the final XC race of the Winter League!
Parkrun Saturday would prove to be on the quieter side this week. At Ludlow, there were only 4 Croft runners this week, with Oliver M being the first Sky Blue runner across the line in 10th. Louise R was our first female. Also, a big well done to our Prepare for Parkrun runners – Paul, Karen and Ali, all for achieving new PBs. Jamie and Neil volunteered. Hereford Parkrun was cancelled this weekend. Sam J, fresh from his trip to Sri Lanka, headed down to Monmouth to run Chippenham Playing Fields Parkrun. He finished 1st with a time of 16:55.
Our fell runners were also back in action on Saturday with the 7.8km long and 580m of ascent; Cardingmill Canter. First Croft runner home was Flora, finishing in 01:08:39 and 3rd in her age category. Her other half, Gary, would come home in 01:21:55, finishing first in his age category. Tim J also took part but retired due to unforeseen circumstances.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Jo M took part in Crickhowell’s Walking Festival’s TM5 Challenge. This is a challenge where you can “walk or run up and down Table Mountain from Crickhowell as many times as you can up to 5 times. You will find your own way with checkpoints along the route.” Jo, along with a friend, managed to go up and down Table Mountain all five times, finishing in just over 6 hours and completing approx 23 miles of mileage!
Sunday and it was our turn to FINALLY host a XC race in the HBXC Winter League. And, thanks to the rescheduling of this race, we happened to be hosting the final one this season. The weather would be kind to us with bright sunshine and warm temperatures. We wouldn’t blame you for thinking that this was a Summer XC race!
We had plenty of Sky Blue runners take part in our home race around Croft Woods and Bircher Common, with Gareth and Andy coming home in 3rd and 4th, respectively. Mia was our first female, coming home 4th female overall. Our Men’s Team, made up of Gareth, Andy, Jasper and Simon, would finish in 2nd, with our Female Team – Mia, Irina, Liza and Bronwyn, coming home in 4th. In the Under 17 race, Oliver and Jamie finished 4th and 5th, respectively.
Results:
Gareth Leek – 36:45
Andrew Davies – 37:37
Jasper Robinson – 40:42
Simon Norwood – 40:56
Grant Womack – 41:39
Nigel Taylor – 42:27
Henry Eastman – 42:36
Jim Bowers – 44:54
Mia Davies – 45:51
Stuart Austin – 46:57
Paul Parker – 47:47
Joseph Lynch – 47:50
Irina Whitfield – 49:19
Liza Austin – 53:02
Neil Taylor – 53:21
Howard Verran – 53:46
Ian Price – 54:25
Bronwyn Preece – 56:28
Steph Main – 57:10
Roland Preece – 58:41
Rob Wood – 59:42
Oliver Cameron-Swan – 1:00:12
Gary Gunner – 1:00:49
Stephanie King – 1:03:24
Mike Hayward – 1:05:25
Lisa Gray – 1:07:29
Hayley Colebatch – 1:07:34
Ashley Robinson – 1:07:46
Oliver Marsh – 33:38 – U17
Jamie Symonds – 35:18 – U17
After the race came the Overall Series Awards presentation, with plenty of Croft runners going on to pick up awards – including the Men’s Team who win the Team Award for yet another year!
Gareth Leek – 2nd Overall and 2nd SM
Andrew Davies – 3rd Overall and 3rd SM
Simon Norwood – 3rd MV50
Stuart Austin – 2nd MV60
Irina Whitfield – 2nd FV35
Liza Austin – 1st FV60
Neil Taylor – 3rd MV65
Bronwyn Preece – 3rd SF
Ian Price – 1st MV75
Steph King – 3rd FV60
Ashley Robinson – 1st MV70
Oliver Marsh – 2nd MU17
Jamie Symonds – 3rd MU17
Croft Men’s Team 1
There were no Juniors racing at XC this weekend, perfect for Saffi who was up in Nottingham racing in the Inter Counties XC Championship for Herefordshire on Saturday and at the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sportshall County Championships on Sunday. Saf’s mum told us: “She wasn’t feeling it but beat her course time from last year with 14:22 (at Nottingham). She was on better form today for the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sportshall County Championships. She is the Herefordshire and Worcestershire 4 lap race County Champion. She has won that event 4 out of 4 races in the 24/25 league. No 6 lap race which is a shame as that’s her best race. She finished 2nd in her race and secured 3rd overall in the packed 2 lap race with several heats. Last minute decision and she entered the standing long jump and won silver. To top it off, the under 13 Hereford girls won the league for the second year in a row!” Incredible stuff from our Junior runner!
Well done all for another fantastic week. 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).