With the first race of the Winter Cross-Country League just over twelve hours away, only a small handful of Croft runners made it out to “tame” the Bockleton Beast 10k.
The race, which took place in the village of Bockleton near Tenbury Wells, was held only two days before Halloween and with Grim Reapers, clowns, pumpkins, witches and Uncle Fester, just to name a few, seen to be lining up on the start line, it was sure to be a “spooktacular” evening.
Starting at dusk by the village hall, the runners, led by a very enthusiastic Grim Reaper, ran down a series of relatively quiet, country lanes before moving onto the wet, muddy fields where some surprises would await them.
To begin with there were werewolves howling loudly in the trees. Ironically, it was an evening with only a crescent moon. Continuing on the track, that was lit with funky coloured glow sticks, the runners then found themselves in a wooded area that was full of jump-scares. Clowns, skeletons and creepy things littered the wood. I’m pretty sure that the kids who got to dress up and scare the runners were having the time of their lives.
Moving on, the rest of the run was, for the majority, jump-scare free. However, the dark had descended and there was a chill in the air giving it that autumnal, spooky feel. It was Halloween weekend, after all.
The second half of the run was, at times, hilly. Runners had to navigate their way through boggy, rutted fields and farm yards. Not ideal when running at night. In fact, there’s something about running at night that disorientates you but I suppose it’s all apart of the fun!
Back onto the road and it was a short way to the finish where a treat (or trick, you could call it if you’re on a diet) would be waiting for you. For future reference, the soup and cakes were fantastic.
But, how did CARC runners fare?
Thea Preece, dressed as a pumpkin, was first Croftie home in 6th place overall with a time of 55:13. Other club results were as follows:
6 (1). Thea Preece – 55:13
11 (2). Paul Parker – 57:51
13 (3). Emily Gould – 59:24
14 (4). Roland Preece – 1:00:44
26 (5). Alison Benwell – 1:10:06
32 (6). Clare Preece – 1:17:58
33 (7). Bronwyn Preece – 1:17:58
It’s fair to say that a fun evening was had by all. It’s just a shame that it landed on the same weekend as the cross-country. However, that didn’t stop our some club members from taking part in that too!
Finally, a big well done to the Crofties that took part, especially to our club newcomers! I look forward to doing this one again next year!
