Get comfy because it’s time to say “hello!” to Sunday with the Weekly CARC Update! Ready? Let’s begin.
Well done to our Junior runners for another fun-tastic session at Wigmore School. This week they focused on sprinting and arm positioning before getting to play their favourite game; “Bulldogs.”
A thundery Tuesday evening saw the second race in this year’s Handicap series replace usual training. Over 30 runners – 3 of these debuting, braved the weather to try and improve on their PBs. Congratulations to our Top 3 finishers; Sam Harper, Sian Stack and Grant Womack! There were 6 new PB times – including Henry who improved on his time by over 2 minutes. Janet set a new record for the FV70 age category and, once again, we saw a new course record – set by Sam J in 25:25! What an evening! And, the sun did shine by the end! Brilliant effort, Crofties! You can read Mike B’s excellent and entertaining report here.
One runner that was notably absent from the handicap was Eric. Instead he was busy running in the Llanfrynach 3-4-5 Series. This time around it was the 4 mile race and once again, Eric smashed the field, taking home the win in 21:33. He’d also take home a box of Nestle’s Dairy Box chocolate as a prize!
The sole training session this week was on Thursday evening at Croft and was all about long intervals.
On Wednesday evening, a small group of our fell runners headed up to the Shropshire Hills to take part in this year’s Batch Bash Fell Race. Saffi took part in the Junior race, finishing 2nd in her age category. In the Senior race, 4 Sky Blue’s ran. Irina finished 3rd Senior Female, Gary G finished 1st M75 and Janet finished 1st W70. Full CARC results:
Saffi Reid – Junior Race – 14:38 – 2nd FU15
Irina Whitfield – Senior Race – 37:47 – 3rd SF
Gary Pearson – Senior Race – 42:41
Gary Gunner – Senior Race – 47:12 – 1st M75
Janet Hill – Senior Race – 50:18 – 1st W70
Elsewhere in the week, Saffi also competed in the District Schools Track and Field Championships. Saf ran the 800m first, followed by the 1500m just 40mins later. She was 1st in the 800m and 2nd in the 1500m, racing against years 8,9,10 and 11 in the latter. She has qualified for the Hereford and Worcestershire Schools County Championships on 14 June in Stourport. She also received confirmation on Friday that she has been selected for the Hereford and Worcester Schools Combined Events Championships on 29 June in Abingdon.
Parkrun Saturday, and once again we had runners taking part in the ever so popular event far and wide! Let’s start off with Oliver T who wins the award for Parkrun completed furthest away! He ran at Dolls Point Parkrun in Sydney, Australia. He finished in 26th place with a time of 21:46 – a new Parkrun PB. Next up is Bronwyn and Eric, continuing their “away day Parkruns,” this time at Sandy Water in Llanelli, South Wales. Eric came home in 1st with a time of 17:28. Bron finished 4th female in 24:26. Saffi also gave Parkrun tourism a go this weekend, running at Aberbeeg, where she finished in a time of 22:03 in 9th position and was 1st female. Two Croft runners took part in Newent Parkrun this week. Sam J finished 1st in 17:06. Bryan D finished in 39:50. Huw and Ali B took a trip over to Worcester Pitchcroft Parkrun. Huw said; “like the good evangelists we are – we were out spreading the word about The Hillfort Hustle this morning in Worcester- persuading the sceptical, the confused and the unsuspecting.” Onto Ludlow Parkrun, and Steve would bring it home for Croft runners in 6th position with a time of 22:23. 9 Croft runners ran at Ludlow this week.
Sunday was another busy one for Croft runners.
First up was Newtown 10k, with Eric, Mia and Bronwyn taking part. Eric won the race, finishing in 32:57. Mia finished 10th woman overall with a new 10k PB of 42:27 and Bron just missed out on her sub-50 goal with a 50:49.
A bit closer to home was the Croc 8, typically a favourite among Croft runners. Huw said; “A select, elite group of runners tackled the Crocodile 8 today. Saffi was first female home in the Junior 4k race in 18:56. Rob Wood was first Crofty home in 1:31:07. Rob also won the MV70 prize. Then it was Sue P 1:38:25, Sue W 1:41:09, Carol 1:41:10, Huw 1:41:51 and Ali 2:00.:14. Perfect conditions this year – such a contrast to last year’s mud fest!”
Rounding out the week was this year’s long social; Mortimer Trail. Nearly 20 Croft runners turned up in Kington this morning to run/walk/jog the 30-odd miles from Kington to Ludlow. According to some Strava profiles, it’s looking as if they are just about finishing at the time of writing. I’m sure there will be more on our Social Media page soon!
Well done all for another fantastic week. 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).