Well, Summer came and Summer went. Hopefully, we’ll get to see some more sunny, running weather before our favourite time of year is all over with. If it’s consistency you’re looking for, I can’t promise it in regards to the weather. But, I can give you another Weekly CARC Update for you to read on this July Sunday evening! Are you ready for it?
Well done to our Juniors for another fantastic Monday training session to kick off the week. As usual, they are working extremely hard alongside coaches; Kelly and Eric, to better their running skills and technique, giving CARC the bright future it deserves. Three of our Juniors also joined the Senior group on Tuesday at Bircher Common to take part in the next race – the first of the trail races, in the Croft Handicap Series! Running just the one lap, with Kelly at the helm, all three of them ran amazingly well, even finding energy for a sprint finish.
Junior Times:
Owen Spicer – 17:24 – MU13 Record
Taite Morgan – 17:29 – MU11 Record
Wren Humphries – 21:02 – FU11 Record
33 Seniors took part in the Bircher Handicap Race, with several new and returning faces taking part in the 3.6 undulating miles that is ran around the Bircher trails. Returning Croft members, Andy and Irina were first to cross the finish line, with Ali D coming through in 3rd. Gareth would run the fastest time on the night, with a couple of PBs being recorded by Ali D and Mark P. The latter recording a new record for his age category, as did Ryan. Full Croft times:
We’d like to thank Theresa and Mike B for putting it all together, as well as our volunteers for helping out on the night. Well done all! Next race takes place on Tuesday 20th August.
On Thursday it was all back to normal with a training session held at Wigmore School, courtesy of Mark P, who focused on efforts and Fartleks. For those that went to this session it was HARD – but very worthwhile. There was a 30:15 IFT (a linear ‘beep test’), fartlek and benchmark 900 metres. For those who haven’t been to one of Mark’s recent sessions, you really should. You’ll feel it the next day!
Parkrun Saturday saw Crofties travelling all over the country for their Saturday morning running fix. In Ludlow, Eric finished in 1st position with a time of 19:03. Steve P joined him in the top four. Naomi was first Croft female. Also, a quick shout out to Lisa G for completing her 100th Parkrun! Crispin M and Saffi ran at Hereford Parkrun. Crispin finished with a new PB of 25:02, while Saffi finished 1st in her age category. Saffi would also run at Hereford Junior Parkrun on Sunday, again topping her age category. This marks 100 Parkruns for Saffi. Incredible running from this Croft Junior.
Elsewhere, Sam J ran at Cirencester Parkrun for the first time. He finished in 1st place with a time of 16:31. Jo M was visiting family down in St Albons, finding a bit of spare time to run Jersey Farm Parkrun. She said about it: “A gentler version of Ludlow but nice run through woodland, fields and bridle paths.” Jo came through 5th lady with a debut time of 23:39.
Mike H was also away for this Parkrun Saturday, running the Colby Parkrun in Pembrokeshire. He said: “A spot of parkrun tourism today at Colby parkrun near Tenby. Nice course shame about the weather though, 90th place in a time of 29.27.”
Simon has been busy this past week taking part in the Cotswold Classic Middle Distance Triathlon. This race consists of a 1.2 mile swim, 56 miles on the bike, followed by a half marathon. Simon said: “Perfect conditions in beautiful location. Felt good and everything went to plan with goal of a sub 5hr and finishing with a strong run for me. I managed 4hr.54 so over the moon to get 7th in AG, 55/512 overall.”
Emma has also been challenging herself recently. “So it was my turn last weekend, nothing close to as epic as Greg’s recent escapade, but still my longest run to date. The plan was to run as many laps of a five mile route in Devon as I could in 36 hours. I had a target of 100 miles or 20 laps in mind, but unfortunately knee, hip and quad pain stopped play at 85 miles or 17 laps. Still, I’m pretty satisfied with that as I thought it was game over on lap 11. Running was over for the day after lap 10, but I did struggle on for another 35 miles till injury finally brought me to a halt after 28 hours. It’s hard to believe I was still in 3rd place at that point after 16 hours of walking. Following a few hours sleep I limped to the finish line surprised to collect a gold medal – 9th lady and 27th position out of 91 overall. I can’t really recommend my ordeal, but what a great format for a summer social – a beautiful and varied route, teams of up to 8 people running as little or much as they liked, fancy dress, campfires and camaraderie. A little closer to home and it would be perfect.”
Saffi has once again been a busy bee this week, running in several events. On Wednesday she ran in the 2.75km race at Worcester Pithcroft, where she was the 3rd female to cross the line, 8th overall. On Thursday it was her school sports day, where she won, by some distance, the 1500m and 800m events. In the process, she would record a new school record in the 1500m. For her efforts, she was awarded Athlete of the Day!
On Saturday Ireland, dad Pat and uncle Gary took on the Snowdon International. No results yet as far as we can see but a massive well done for what must have been a tough run in challenging conditions.
On Sunday, there were plenty of Crofties out and about either racing or socialising.
Eric, alongside some of the BADRC runners, headed over to the Helena Tipping Wrexham 10k on Sunday morning. He finished in 25th place.
Tim J spent his weekend down in the French Alps taking part in the Ut4M 180 Xtrem. Tim started his race on 19th July, before travelling over 100 miles near and around the Alpine city of Grenoble. He would reach the finish line, in Grenoble, just over 32 hours later. We can’t wait to hear more about Tim’s achievement!
As with previous years, a small group of Crofties headed out on Sunday to walk, run, jog the Mortimer Trail from Ludlow to Kington. Huw wrote this for us:
“With such wonderful countryside all around us and a beautiful long-distance path on our doorstep it would be wrong not to have a bash at running it, walking it, or a bit of both. So on Sunday an intrepid group of 12 Crofties set of at 9am from Ludlow Castle to tackle the 30 mile trail. Kelly joined shortly fter – having run from her house to the start (don’t ask!).
At 7:30am in Shobdon an elite team of 4 walkers – Sue P, Heather P, Wendy and Tori started the 12 mile walk to Kington.
Sam H and Huw joined the Ludlow troup on Bircher Common where Steph K peeled off (you can only pass so close to your own house without stopping!). Jo and Crispin Marriot were drawn into the Riverside at Aymestry, Crispin having tossed a coin – heads beer, tails, another 17 miles – heads won!
Theresa and Ingrid joined the travelling circus at Aymestry where Clare V had set up a rather amazing refuelling stop. This was then moved to Titley for the team to ensure they were never more than a few miles from a chocolate roll!
Sam and Huw stopped at Shobdon leaving the toughest of the tough to carry on to Kington and finish the whole route at around 7.30pm.
A big thank you to Ali B who effortlessly seems to be able to encourage people to join in on these fantastic adventures. It can be all too easy not to get out there and give these things a go, but if you can you really should.”
Brilliant running this week, Crofties! Please remember that our upcoming training sessions will be available to view on our Facebook page every Sunday evening. 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).