A bit of a change today – this update will be written by me, Sam Harper, a poor substitute for the witty and well-informed Bronwyn.
And why is Sam writing this instead on Bronwyn? Well, last Sunday unbeknown to the newsletter editting team – as she was still in touch with us and writing the update and newsletter – Bron was a little busy! Baby Evan George Apperley was born at a healthy 6 pounds 3 ozs on Sunday 4th January. Huge congratulations from all of us go to Bronwyn and Eric and very proud Grandparents Ro and Clare and Ali and Dave. Welcome to the club Evan!
Junior training is still on hold after the Christmas holidays but will be back to it’s usual Monday evening slot with the first session of 2026 set to be on January 19th.
Tuesday night senior training was lead by Huw at Shobdon Wood. A warm up jog and dynamic stretches before a group run into the woods was followed by long intervals along a hilly track.
The snow was forecast for Thursday night but I don’t think anyone was prepared for how fast and thick it came down at 6.45pm – too late to cancel training, Tim braved the journey as he was the leader, but he was the only hardy Croft member to do so. Well done Tim – he enjoyed a solo run around Croft before heading home. With the weather often taking a turn for the worse just before training it is very important that everyone who intends to come along to training checks the Club facebook page before heading off if there is any chance that it may be cancelled last minute.
So onto everyone’s running for the week.
Parkrun was cancelled at both Ludlow and Queenswood this week and, with the weather preventing a lot of people travelling there is only Hereford results to share this week. Sam J was first to cross the line in a time of 16.59 and Saffi in 21.02 and Naomi in 25.11.
We were very lucky on Saturday morning to be able to host a free CPR session hosted by Cliff from the West Midlands Ambulance Service in the lovely setting of Kinsham Village Hall. Unfortunately the icy conditions meant that not everyone who had signed up was able to get there, but for those who did it was a really productive way to spend an hour or so learning how to potentially safe a life in the event of a sudden cardiac arrest. Lets hope we don’t need to use these skills but they are so important to have.
Saturday morning also saw the 10am, slightly stressful attempt to try to get a place on the famous ManvHorse race before it sold out. There were a few successful Croft entrants and a handful of relay teams, so something to look forward in the summer.
It has been a bit quiet for races this weekend – partly I am sure to do with the weather. A safer bet would be to do something indoors and that is exactly what Saffi has been doing! She took part in the 1500m at the Cardiff indoor open – taking 3rd place in each of her heats for U15 and All Women in 5mins.
As far as I can tell there were no races this weekend which Croft members took part in – probably an effect of the poor weather except for the epic race which is the Montane Spine Race. Greg Jones is tackling this one again and at time of writing ran 5hrs 11 to his first checkpoint and is expected to reach the second by 21.17. He has quite a way to go yet, so please track him on the spine website and send him messages of support which I am sure he will be grateful for.
So all in all a bit quiet week this week – I hope I haven’t missed anyone else’s endeavors and that there has been lots of safe training runs and constructive recovery together with strength and conditioning taking place in the safety of your homes!
Take care out there and I am already looking forward to hearing about your running news for the next week – let’s give Bron a well deserved rest with her new baby and post your news in the facebook group or send it to Sam or Huw by 6.30pm next Sunday to be included in next week’s newsletter!