The nights may be starting to draw in, but that’s ok. It makes your Sunday sit down to read the weekly report that much more cosier! As always, it’s been a busy one, with many attending our weekly training sessions as well as racing on the weekend. With that being said, let’s dig in and see what our Sky Blues have been up to.
We had 13 Juniors take part in this week’s Monday session at Wigmore School, where they focused on their sprinting and recovery before taking part in a new chasing/tag game at the end. Despite their initial disappointment at there being no Bulldogs game, they quickly warmed to the new one, all vying to be the next runner to have a go.
As for our Seniors, there was a bit of normality with their training sessions this week. On Tuesday, it was over to Shobdon Woods for Short Intervals led by Sam, before Tim took hold of the reigns for a Hill session at Croft on Thursday.
On Parkrun Saturday, Crofties once again ran at Parkruns near and far. Although maybe not as far as Texas, like last week! Starting at Ludlow, 10+ Sky Blues ran, with Toby S being first of them across the line in 6th. His time was 22:49. Volunteers this week were Richard, Sam J, Jamie and Michelle S. Three Crofties took part at Hereford. Dave was the first of them home in 26:37, with Hayley M and Jo M following behind. Mike B and Steph K ran at Groe Parkrun. Mike finished in 10th position in 23:37. Steph, recording another new PB, finished 3rd female in 24:50. Finally, heading down to Cwmbran was Eric and Bronwyn. Eric finished in 1st with a time of 17:32. Bronwyn finished.
Over in the Shropshire Hills, 5 Crofties – Kelly, Paul P, Ingrid, Ali B and Anna, took part in a popular long-hike/run event – Tour des Marches. In the past few years, several Croft runners have taken on the marathon length event which takes in rural areas such as Clun, Bishop’s Castle and the Shropshire Hills. Ali has told us: “Tour des Marches run/walk today. Great route, lovely cake, only 2 showers so we stayed mainly dry. Kelly was there too but she was home by the time we took the finishing pic.” Kelly added: “A lovely route, following narrative navigation. 6 self clip check points with 4 aided checkpoints across 26 miles. Bacon sandwich before and veg curry/beef chilli after. Really do get good value for money with these events.”
In South Wales, several Crofties took part in events in the Black Mountains.
First up was the inaugural Black Mountains Relay, hosted by Hay Hotfooters. This relay race saw a team of 7 Sky Blues come together to take on the 50km route across the Black Mountains. They started at 7am in Crickhowell and self-navigated to get to tick off 7 geo-points before finishing in Hay. The car logistics can be a challenge but it’s definitely a race that more Crofties would love. Hopefully we can enter a couple of teams next year. This year our team of Nina, Kath, Emma, Jo, Angus, Stuart and Huw took home the mixed team prize.
Two other Crofties; Flora and newcomer Matthew, ran at the Black Mountains Fell Race. This race was around 18 miles, with 5,500ft+ of ascent. Matthew finished in 04:14:01, while coming 9th in his age category. Flora took home 1st in her age category in a time of 04:24:38. She said: “The weather wasn’t bad it showered on and off. On top Chwarel y Fan was very windy.”
Elsewhere, Janet headed to the Lakes for the Langdale Marathon. The event website describes this race as: “A beautiful, challenging course set with a backdrop of some of the finest scenery the Lake District has to offer. This isn’t a flat, boring course designed for an outright PB, it’s an undulating (some may say hilly) route designed for its views and the sense of achievement.” Official results are yet to be published but we can tell you Janet finished in 74th place and was the only FV60/70 finisher. She said: “A quick visit to the Lakes for the Langdale Marathon (advertised as the toughest in Europe, but I don’t think it is). Weather was pretty rough. Lovely scenery. Second loop was very lonely, I only saw 5 other runners in 13 miles.”
Safi was competing in the Herefordshire County Track and Field Championships. She came away as 800m and 300m County Champion and with a bronze medal in the long jump. Well done Safi.
Onto Sunday which would prove to be just as busy!
Starting off in South Wales was Eric at the Swansea 10k. This race has been going for over 40 years and is described as “fast and flat, with gorgeous scenery,” as it takes on The Mumbles and Swansea Prom. Missing the forecast stormy weather, Eric finished in 15th place, with a time of 33:13. It was also lovely to see runners from all over Herefordshire and beyond take part, including runners from Hereford Couriers, Wye Valley Runners and Builth and District RC. There are also Junior races with a 1k and 3k taking place just before the 10k.
Gary was also down in South Wales, running at Llantwit Major 10k. The race, now in its 10th year, takes in the costal town of Llantwit Major, before heading along the beach front and back into town. There are also options to run the 5k, or a Junior 1k Fun Run. Gary finished in 117th position with a time of 01:08:56.
Rounding out the week, and a little bit closer to home in Worcester, 4 Croft runners attended the Worcester City Runs event. The second race of the event was the 3km in which Saffi took part in. She finished 11th overall, with gender and age category position of 4th. Her time was 12:14. Jamie ran in the 10k, finishing with a PB of 49:51. In the Half Marathon, there were two Croft PB’ers. Simon finished in 01:28:34 and 8th in his age category. Mia would come in just behind him in 01:33:05. She finished 11th in her age category and 35th female overall.
Well done all! Please remember that if you would like your race and achievements included in the weekly report, please get them to me (Bronwyn) by 6pm at the latest. Any that come in after, I cannot promise they will be included. 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).