Well, hello to October! The month of ghosts, gauls and lots of running races! But before that, we need a good ol’ catch up of the week gone by!
Our Junior runners had another fantastic session on Monday evening. The group may have been a little smaller than recent Mondays, but this didn’t stop our young Sky Blues from working their socks off! The session was all about pacing and endurance, with several timed laps ran around Wigmore School field. And, we can feedback that our youngsters kept to their times bar a second or two here or there! Plenty to work on next time!
Onto our Senior groups, with both the Tuesday and Thursday packed to the brim with eager runners.
Sam was in charge on Tuesday, with a short interval session at Croft, while Eric took on Thursday’s group, also at Croft, making it all about hills, where everyone worked in pairs, pacing each other up to the top of the hill and back.
On Wednesday a select group of Crofties – namely Liza, Kath and Jo M squeezed in an extra training session by joining Couriers at the track for a Fartlek session led by Mark Hookins. Future dates will be in the Newsletter. If you haven’t been to one yet they are well worth giving a go.
Junior runner; Saffi, is still stacking up those PB’s, with a new 3 second PB in the 800m at Exeter on Tuesday evening. Mum; Max, told us that she ran it in 02:24, finishing 2nd overall.
Parkrun Saturday turned out to be a quiet one, with a number of Parkrun events cancelled all over the country due to Storm Amy. This included our beloved Ludlow. However, Hereford was still a go, with a couple of Croft runners choosing to head over there. Sam J finished in first position, with a time of 18:27. Mike H also took part, finishing in 28:38. Other Crofties headed to Hay to take part in Riverside Walk Parkrun. All four of them were running the course for the first time. Kath was first Croft home in a time of 23:36. She was second female overall. Just behind was Casper and Richard, finishing in 24:03 and 24:12, respectively. Oli C-S, who has been racking up the miles while marathon training, finished in 26:23.
Despite the cancellations of races left, right and centre, some of our brave runners headed out onto the stormy mountain trails to take part in this month’s Club Championship race; Fan Fawr Fell Race in the Brecon Beacons. First Croftie home in this 2 mile race was Tim J, with Kath only 30-odd seconds behind. Flora, Gary and Ali D took part also. Flora’s watch recorded 1020ft of ascent. There were top 3 age category finishes for Kath, Flora, Gary and Ali. Full Croft results:
Tim Jones – 29:48
Kath Hardwick – 30:15 – 3rd FV40
Flora Gunner – 31:38 – 2nd FV60
Gary Gunner – 36:40 – 1st MV75
Ali Davies – 48:37 – 2nd SF
Janet was also out on the windy trails on Saturday, taking part in the Goyt Valley Challenge. She said: “Goyt Valley Challenge for me on Saturday. Official distance 44km with 1500m of ascent. My distance considerably more as I found it difficult to navigate. The event went on despite Storm Amy. To say the weather was challenging is an understatement. I didn’t know the route and the conditions meant that it was impossible to use a map, my written instructions turned to papier mache and none of my technology worked. Blown over several times. It was a relief to finish and get out of that wind and endless rain after 8 hours 13 minutes to a finisher’s meal of Homity pie and mushy pies and endless tea. The marshalls and check points were fantastic (normal LDWA fare) smiling and enthusiastic despite the atrocious weather.Marathon/ultra number 230. One to remember.”
Onto a very busy, and a very sunny Sunday! A complete contrast to stormy Saturday!
First up was Cardiff Half Marathon, where 4 Croft runners headed down to the Welsh capital to take on the bustlings streets. Sam J was our first runner home finishing in 46th position overall with a new Half Marathon PB time of 01:09:52. It was also a new Course PB for Eric, with a time of 01:14:39. Rob M and Louise R also took part, with Lou raising money for charity, while her cheerleaders; Kelly and Gemma, ran around giving her full support! Lou said: “Longest run in 8 months and didn’t I know it! Felt good up until mile 9 and then toes started screaming at me. Felt a bit sick so the last few miles were hard going. Absolutely shattered and sore now but I’m so happy to have completed it. Think my love for running is returning!” Full Croft results:
Sam Juson – 01:09:52
Eric Apperley – 01:14:39
Louise Reeves – 02:42:54
Rob Martin – 02:45:39
If any Croft runners would like to take part in Cardiff Half next year, the ballot is now OPEN! It closes on Sunday 19th October. Apply here!
Sunday was also the day of Chester Marathon, which saw Grant and Rachel T take part. Grant was first across the line out of our Sky Blue duo, finishing in 03:11:28. Rachel, competing in her first ever marathon, finished in 04:41:42. She described it as an “incredible experience!”
Saffi was racing away again on Sunday, this time in Sedbergh, Cumbria, where she ran at the English Schools Fell Championships. She finished 13th overall in her age category at a national level.
Away from the stopwatches and pin on numbers, a group of Crofties headed up to Church Stretton’s Cardingmill Valley for a run in memory of Sue Davies. The sun shone brightly and plenty of Sky Blue was paraded around the trails. We’d like to say a big thank you to Mark for putting on the run, and well done to all Crofties who took part! What a beautiful day! Flora said: “Thanks Mark for organising the social run in memory of Sue. Well done everyone and thanks for your good company, I had a great time.” While Sam H said: “Great social run this morning to remember Sue. For someone who has lived in Shropshire and Herefordshire most of my life, I’m ashamed I’ve never been to the trig point before. Thanks for sharing with us Mark.”
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).