Making your Sunday all the more sunnier with this week’s Weekly CARC Update!
Well done to our Juniors for another fabulous training session at Wigmore School. Our Seniors followed up on Thursday for their solo session for this week. It was led by Huw (with the help of Jamie and Angus) at High Vinnalls for another pacing practice ahead of this week’s Pacer Event at Ludlow Parkrun. More on that in a bit!
You may (or may not) be wondering what on earth happened to our Tuesday training session. Enter, Leinthall Starkes Handicap Race 2! Here is Mike’s report to fill you in:
“”Ding Ding – Seconds Out” for round 2 in the summer’s Handicap Series, and it was time for Mr Andy Capp to poke his fiendish nose into proceedings. Chase and be chased was the name of the game on a blustery evening, so no more Mr Nice Guy with friendships suspended as each runner’s ruthless streak was exposed for the duration of the full 5 mile challenge, all for the lure of a seductive Dairy Milk choccie bar as a potential reward. Could the 46 competitors also avoid the attentions of the hidden snipers, who had been strategically posted around the course to encourage anyone deemed to be slacking ?
An apprehensive Claire Verran was first away and her eyes were firmly fixed on the road ahead, whilst daring to occasionally peep over her shoulder as she anxiously awaited the approaching sound of ominous heavy footsteps or even heavier breathing. Silence, other than the cheerful birdsong and the random bleating of lambs in the lush north Herefordshire fields, was all that accompanied Claire as she ran solo from start to finish and crossed the finish line wearing an XXL sized smile. Claire’s winning time was also a massive improvement on her time of last month – another reason to wear a beaming smile.
2nd across the finish line, just 24 seconds adrift, was another runner who had good reason to sport a smile of satisfaction was Sue Powell, who sped past 11 runners and also knocked nearly 5 minutes off the time she recorded last month. It is great to see Sue running so well again without her limbs strapped up. Completing the top 3 was a flying Steve Partridge, who had transformed himself into Steve Peregrine as he too was much quicker than last month and soared past a remarkable 36 others, dishing out a cheery word of encouragement as he glided past in full flight. In his defence he had, in April, just completed a gruelling ulta a couple of days previously..
Many of the other competitors had good reason to be pleased with their performances. Tori Dickinson, for instance, is enjoying a rich vein of form at present. Tori finished 4th and sliced a huge 1.37 off her previous best set many years ago. Oli Cameron-Swan is also on a hot streak as he chopped almost a minute off his best in a race that he has run many times before. Sam Harper is another who is enjoying a fulfilling purple patch as she, yet again, chipped away at her p.b. for the 2nd race in succession after dozens of attempts over the years.
There were 10 p.b.s recorded on the night, some by massive margin. Most of these were set by runners who were testing themselves out for just the 2nd time over the traditional course, having made their debuts last month, and were probably expected to show some improvement – they certainly did. Congratulations to Jamie Symonds, Adrian Coffey., Peter High, Sonia George, Nina Warmsley and Christina La Monica. Spirited performances from them all.
The fastest time of the night was recorded by the fleet-footed Eric Apperley with a speedy 27.18. The honour of being the fastest woman on the night was, notably, shared between Jo Tilby and Nina Warmsley, who both recorded the rapid time of 36.12. A head to head race-off will be arranged for the near future.
Many thanks to the course marshals and glamorous assistants at the finish line – you all play an important role in the continued success of this long-established event on the CARC calendar.
The 3rd, and final race on the road section of the 6 race series, will be held on Tuesday 9th June. This will be the last chance, for this year, to set a course p.b. before we head off to the shorter, but hillier, route on Bircher Common for the remainder of the series.”
Results:
This report, together with some photos can be found in the race report section of the website
Wednesday was the Batch Bash Fell Race, one of two events in this year’s Club Championship. Several Crofties, many of them not usual Fell Runners, headed over to Church Stretton to take part in the race. Well done to Saffi, Liza, Guy, Janet and Gary for placing in the Top 3 in their age categories. Full CARC results:
Eric Apperley – 29:55
Steve Partridge – 36:49
Saffi Reid – 36:55 – 1st FU16
Sam Harper – 39:42
Tim Jones – 42:31
Mike Bending – 43:53
Liza Austin – 43:57 – 3rd FV60
Richard Coltart – 45:29
Guy Whitmarsh – 46:21 – 1st MV80
Carol Powell – 47:02
Tori Dickinson – 51:07
Janet Hill – 52:44 – 1st FV70
Gary Gunner – 53:31 – 2nd MV80
Full race report on the website.
It’s time for Parkrun Saturday and our Pacer Event at Ludlow Parkrun!
Jamie has led the charge on organising pacer events for Ludlow Parkrun. They’re a great way to add something extra to the parkrun experience and, looking at the results, really help people to achieve new PB’s. Our runners have had plenty of practice in the past and were more than happy to give it all another go! This week’s Pacers (and their finishing times) were:
23 Minutes – Eric Apperley (22:03)
25 Minutes – Steve Partridge and Mike Bending (24:44 & 24:47)
27 Minutes – Jamie Symonds (26:38)
29 Minutes – Paul Lewis (28:49)
31 Minutes – Roland Preece (31:04)
33 Minutes – Thea Preece (32:36)
35 Minutes – Oli Cameron-Swan (35:39)
37 Minutes – Bronwyn Preece (36:50)
39 Minutes – Christina La Monica (38:25)
First Croft runner home was Gareth, finishing in 2nd place with a time of 19:17. Lisa was first Croft female home. Croft Junior; Casper, recorded yet another PB in 22:24. Aside from our Pacers, volunteer credits also went to Tori, Rob M, Clare, Tim W-H, Adrian, Seb, Sue J and Jamie. Elsewhere, 3 Crofties ran at Queenswood – Sam J, Mike H and Jayne H. Sam took the win in 18:04.
Sunday was ridiculously hot! But, as always, this didn’t stop Croft runners from heading out and taking part in races in the local vicinity and beyond.
First up was the Crocodile 8, a multi-terrain race in Herefordshire. There were 2 races, a Junior 2km Race alongside the infamous Croc 8! In the Junior race, two of our Junior runners; Casper and Saffi took part. Casper finished 6th overall with a time of 17:22. He was 3rd MU14. Saffi finished 8th overall. Her time was 17:58 and was 1st Female overall and 1st FU14.
In the Senior race, it was Sam H bringing it home for Croft in 30th place, 3rd Female Overall and 2nd FV50. Mike B was our first male in 35th. Age category Top 3’s went to Sam H, Mike B, Steph K, Rob W and Sue W. Full Senior CARC results:
Sam Harper – 01:16:48 – 3rd Female Overall – 2nd FV50
Mike Bending – 01:18:08 – 2nd MV60
Steph King – 01:31:37 – 3rd FV60
Craig Price – 01:34:13
Tori Dickinson – 01:35:04
Carol Powell – 01:35:13
Rob Wood – 01:35:58 – 2nd MV70
Oli Cameron-Swan – 01:38:07
Sue Wood – 01:46:34 – 1st FV70
Huw Williams – 01:52:07
Christina La Monica – 02:07:38
Heading down to Gloucestershire, 2 Crofties took part in the Dymock races! Jo M ran in the 5 miler, finishing in 40:03. Paul L ran in the Half Marathon. His time was 02:02:08.
Rounding out the week is Newtown 10k where 7 Crofties battled through the heat to conquer the paths in and around the town. Eric, who took the win last year, finished 3rd overall. Our first female was Mia, finishing 9th female overall and 4th Senior Female overall. Full CARC results:
Eric Apperley – 33:52 – 3rd Overall
Mia Davies – 43:49
Steph Main – 52:46
Thea Preece – 54:27
Roland Preece – 55:52
Bronwyn Preece – 01:00:43
Reachel Kenny – 01:02:56
That’s all we have for this week. If you have been doing something that you would like included in the weekly roundup please let Bronwyn, Huw, Sam H or Tori know before 6pm on a Sunday.
We are always on the lookout for race reports to go on the website too. They do not need to be huge, or even go into too much detail, but let us know where you went and how it went for you together with a couple of photos and make our website current and up to date.
Enjoy your week of running everyone!