Welcome to December, Crofties and co! There has been a return to normality this week,*insert applause here,* and many of our runners have finally escaped the ice and floods. Shall we take a look at how they got on this week?
Our Junior runners got the week well under way with a relay session with Kelly and Eric at Wigmore. Our Seniors would also take to the Wigmore School playing field on Tuesday with Kelly’s “Sprint Salem” session. On Thursday it was over to High Vinnalls for a different, yet fun, hill session, led by Tim. Thanks to Kelly and Tim for leading this weeks training, and for both bringing new training drills and exercises to help us improve on our forms and speed. We thoroughly enjoyed both evenings!
Later in the week, our own Lou P took a trip over to the Algarve in Portugal to have a go at the Algarviana Ultra Trail. Via the race’s website, it is described as: “a trail running sporting event, where athletes aim to cover a distance of around 300 kilometres in a time limit of 72 hours, crossing 9 municipalities in the Algarve region: Alcoutim, Castro Marim, Tavira, São Brás de Alportel, Loulé, Silves, Monchique, Lagos and Vila do Bispo.” Unfortunately for Lou, after 70 odd miles, her blisters were so sore it, in her own words, “stopped play.” Regardless, it was a valiant effort from Lou!
Back in the UK, it was also a return to normality for our Parkrun runners this past weekend.
Starting over in Ludlow, three Croft runners finished in top 10. Steve came home in 2nd position with a time of 22:36. Stuart finished in 5th. His time was 25:14. And, Oliver M finished 8th with a time of 26:04. Naomi was our first lady in 11th. Her time was 26:30. Tom D, Frank and Jamie were volunteering. Saffi was the only Croft runner to take part in Hereford’s Parkrun this weekend. She finished 2nd female in a time of 21:50. Elsewhere, Sam J finished 1st on his first go at Mallards Pike Parkrun in the Forest of Dean. His time was 16:30.
Eric was down in Bristol on Saturday taking part in the 3rd Race of this season’s Gwent XC League. Official results are yet to be published.
Also on Saturday, 4 of our fell runners took part in the Blorenge Fell Race near Abergavenny. This is a 5km race with a 485m climb. Tim J was first Croftie across the line, with Flora and Guy taking home their age category wins. Gary would finish 3rd in his age category. You can read Guy’s race report here. Full CARC results are, as follows:
Tim Jones – 54:42
Flora Gunner – 54:59 – 1st F60
Guy Whitmarsh – 01:00:03 – 1st M70
Gary Gunner – 01:16:45 – 3rd M70
Away from racing, other Crofties ended up doing their own thing. Kelly ran 10+ miles around Hereford, while Sue P, Tori and Heather joined Wendy and friends for a walk along the Offa’s Dyke Path from Newchurch to Kington. And finally, Claire V, Howard and Ali B went for a social, chatty run around the outskirts of Leominster.
Fun was to be had on Sunday morning with an invite to join Weobley’s The Cart Shed for a 5 mile race around the woods. Over 30 of our runners turned up to take part in what was a very hilly (hands and knee hilly) and very muddy race, but everyone got to the finish (despite some getting a bit lost!), looking a little dirtier than when they set off. However, with plenty of soup, sausages and sweet treats to go around afterwards, in a very cosy woodland setting which included a lovely warm fire pit, the 5 miles quickly became a distant memory for many. The top three would be Sam J, Eric and Steve. Well done all!
Finally, rounding out the week were our Fell Racing Crew who yes, were out racing again come Sunday. This time they took part in the Cardington Cracker. Their times were:
133rd – Tim Jones – 2:06:35
140th – Flora Gunner – 2:11:27
190th – Gary Gunner – 3:06:59 – 1st M75
Great running this week! Please remember that our upcoming training sessions will be available to view on our Facebook page every 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).