Crofties have once again been out in force this week and, as always, we’re here to tell you all about it! So sit back, relax and enjoy!
Well done to our Juniors for another brilliant session on Monday evening at Wigmore School. This week they worked with a Croft favourite training technique – Meet and Retreats, before once again getting to have a go at Cat and Mouse. Despite the weather not quite playing ball, all 13 of them worked really hard.
On Tuesday, our Seniors headed down to Kingspan in Shobdon for a session on the lane between the factory and the football ground. Huw led the session, which involved long intervals.
There was no training on Thursday, with Croft runners instead hosting a memorial Run for Tom around Croft Wood. Over 100 runners from Croft and the wider running community would turn up to enjoy an evening running and walking with like minded people, reminiscing about their wonderful memories of Tom. With the night drawing in at the end of the run, there was yummy cakes, crisps and treats for everyone to enjoy. Thank you to everyone who came out on the evening. It was truly special.
Parkrun Saturday was, as always, a busy affair! First Croftie across the line at Ludlow this weekend was Seb, finishing in 10th with a time of 24:16. Fellow Croft Junior, Caspar, finished just behind in 24:27. Naomi, Croft’s first female, finished 3rd female overall. Jamie and Neil volunteered. There was a Croft PB for our sole runner at Hereford Parkrun. Oli C-S finished in 26:09. Sam J ran at Y Promenâd Parkrun in Brecon, finished 1st. His time was 16:20 – a new PB to add to his collection. Elsewhere, Tim J ran at Lanhydrock Parkrun in Cornwall. He finished with a debut time of 27:36. There was a 300th Parkrun celebration for Angus as he took on Eastleigh Parkrun near to Southampton. His time was 29:32. Rounding out the Parkrunners was Henry, who took on Wendover Woods Parkrun in the Chilterns for the first time. He finished in 5th, with a time of 21:01. Next weekend we are taking over Ludlow Parkrun! If any Crofties would like to volunteer, please contact Clare.
Saturday also saw the 2025 edition of the Kington Walking Festival. Eric would have a shot at the 8 Peak Challenge, while a small Croft group took on the 3 Peaks.
Eric, who ran the 8 Peaks solo, finished 1st competitor home. His time was 2 hours and 23 minutes, 1 hour quicker than his attempt two years ago. He battled through brambles and gorse bushes, as well as dense mist to navigate his way from start to finish. However, a missing clipper on Worrsell Hill cost him a little bit of time. This little issue affected our group of 3 Peakers also. Ali B said: “Kington 3 Peaks today. It was wet, it was soggy, it was foggy, it was fun and we got free socks courtesy of the Walking Hub.” Well done all!
Over in Hereford, another Croft group ran a lap (or two!) of the Hereford 24 Hour Run for Homelessness, hosted by 24 Hour Run for Homelessness and Hereford Couriers. Just missing the worst of the weather, well for those on the 12:30pm lap, our runners, along with a run leader and tail runner, would run 5k through the centre of a busy Hereford, raising awareness of homelessness. Once back at base, the majority of our little team headed back out for another go, albeit this time with a bit of rain to go with it! Thank you to the 24 Hour Team for inviting us along. What a brilliant event they are hosting!
Saffi, on her adventures, headed up to Birmingham on Saturday to take part in the Midland Counties Road Relay Championships at Sutton Park. There were over 150 runners in her category and she ran at the bottom end in terms of age but did very well to place 15th in her leg. Her team came 19th overall.
Rounding out Saturday was our fell runners.
First up was Matt who took part in the Fan Brycheiniog Fell in Mid-Wales. He told us: “It was very wet and visibility poor. Made a couple of navigation errors but still managed to achieve my target of sub 2hrs. Finished 3rd in category and 13th overall. Time 01:57:57. Really good event.”
Next up was Flora who ran the Pedol Peris Fell in Llanberis. Flora said: “We’re 50 runners participated in the long distance race. They organised 2 distances, but we had the same route to follow. The only thing different they finished after they done over 8 miles.The long distance had to carry on running , we still had to climb 2 long steep hills. They changed one part of the route because of the very bad weather conditions, just to avoid accident. I’m glad and I thought it’s gonna be shorter, but I’m wrong.Nothing much different from last year. The weather was really bad the same everywhere.The visibility was very poor, very strong winds going up on parts of Snowdon . The last descent was very slippery, few times I had to sat down going down. There are runners that did this race before and one of them lived locally still got lost. Luckily I managed to followed someone knows well the parts which was very tricky. The rest of the course I had a rough idea which way to go because this is my second time I did this race. They’re glad to see me after, they worried because after running 10 miles roughly the rain started to become very heavy and I was already soaked. I was worried myself self I was shivering and it’s quite a long way yet to the finish. They thought I might got lost or have hypothermia .It happened to me this year when I did the 1000 meter fell race.Thank goodness I managed to finished the race without injury a part from being cold .Overall I did enjoyed it, I will do it again.” She finished in 5:51:38 and 1st in age.
Sunday would go on to conclude a very busy week, with plenty more races for us to tell you about!
Kicking off the day was a race that year after year proves to be a popular one among Croft runners – Brown Clee Burn. “The Brown Clee Burn is a tough multi terrain run of approximately 11k with something for everyone: steep technical climbs, long descents and amazing views.” Results are not available at the time of writing but thank you to Tori for heading out onto the course to support and snap some pictures!
Elsewhere on Sunday, Kath ran the Cheltenham Half finishing in 1 hour and 40 minutes, knocking 6 minutes off her time from last year!
Henry took part in the Leighton Buzzard 10 Mile. He finished in 01:05:38 and in 16th position, setting a new 10k PB in the process.
Tim J was out on the trails at the orienteering event – John Bennison Long O. This event is a “classic moorland and valley navigation challenge offering different course lengths for varying skill levels, from long and challenging to shorter, family-friendly options.” Tim completed just under 14 mile in a time of 03:23:24, as per his Strava.
Down in South Herefordshire, at the Howling Bull 6 Miler, Saffi took part after her relay success only the day before. This race is a multi-terrain course with over 750ft of elevation. The route climbs up Bulls Hill along the beautiful Wye Valley Walk, then loops around the woodland footpaths on Leys Hill and Howle Hill. Despite the fallen acorns creating a ‘marbles effect’ on one of the descents, Saffi smashed it and romped home 1st U18/15th overall with well over 100 runners in a time of 51 minutes. A lovely medal & she won a bottle of drink too which she gifted to mum!
Finishing off the week is Mark who is currently taking part in Ironman Wales! As of writing, he is yet to finish, but all of Croft wish him the best of luck!
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).