Boxing Day 2018

Boxing Day at Croft Castle

 

We turned up early at Croft Castle to erect our gazebo, mark the course and generally prepare for an influx of runners, keen to work off any excesses from the day before. On the plus side, there was a nice little National Trust gazebo which saved us from erecting ours, on the down side was the fog: the first yellow arrow I had placed just before the pond was completely invisible to the runners as they set off, with visibility then down to about 40m. But, whether it was the numbering of runners, or the number of spray painted arrows on the course, 87 runners set off, and all returned safely, carefully shepherded home by Tom (Powell) and daughter Georgie.

The 87 competitors were roughly equally distributed between Croft (44) and Lucton (43), but we had decided anyway this year to remove the competitive element between the two camps (in part because someone seems to have removed the rosebowl, traditionally awarded to the victors, and partly because no fair scoring system has ever been devised)

Sam Johnson (Lucton) (16.18), very hotly pursued by Pat Wright (Croft), held off his rival to win by just 2 seconds, two remarkable times on a very muddy course and with numerous gates to open and stiles to climb. Third home was 15yr old Forbes Wilson (Lucton) (17.03) closely followed by schoolmate, Malachy Clark (one of the numerous fine performances by the Clark family). Ted George in 14^th place overall (20.05), and still under 11, was the first in his category by nearly 7 minutes. A very commendable performance. Darcy Clark (Lucton) was the first under 16 girl, though we failed to spot the fact on the day and will be sending her a small gift once term restarts. Zeb Martin was the second under 11 boy, and Amelia Goodchild the 1^st under 11 girl.

Will (5^th) was the first club member (as opposed to being a self-declared Croftie for the day) to finish, in 17.51. Suzanne T was 7^th (18.25), with Kelly 13^th (19.56).

Despite the absence of sunshine, nearly 100 people had an enjoyable morning’s exercise in the woods of Croft Castle.

Croft v Lucton Boxing Day Challenge – 2018

 

(Lucton runners with *)

1	Sam Johnson *	16.18
2	Pat Wright	16.20
3	Forbes Wilson *	17.03
4	Malachy Clark *	17.40
5	Will Gore	17.51
6	John Thompson	18.15
7	Suzanne Turvey	18.25
8	Neil Powell	18.31
9	Glyn Williams	18.52
10	Angus Wilson *	19.10
11	Sam Juson *	19.20
12	Olly Clark *	19.34
13	Kelly Bowen	19.56
14	Ted George	20.05
15	Dave George	20.05
16	Alex Powell	20.14
17	Renee Johnson *	20.28
18	Toby Johnson *	20.38
19	Darcy Clark *	20.47
20	Ashley Robinson	20.55
21	Theo Baba Neal *	21.04
22	Neil Taylor	21.10
23	David Richmond *	21.17
24	Roxy Woodfield	21.42
25	Andrew Taylor *	21.44
26	Steph Main	22.03
27	Nicky Turvey	22.34
28	John Knowles *	23.15
29	Anthony Watts *	23.28
30	Tristan Watts *	23.28
31	Herbie Thorpe *	23.32
32	Zac Powell *	23.34
33	Adam Gray	23.41
34	Gary Gunner	24.15
35	Neil Margrie *	24.21
36	Flora Gunner	24.25
37	Lauren Clark *	24.29
38	Tim White *	24.30
39	Amy Clark *	24.45
40	Rob Wood	24.55
41	Max George	25.07
42	Sonia George	25.08
43	Colin Powell *	25.10
44	George Townsend *	25.22
45	Joel Bassett *	25.49
46	Amelia Bassett *	26.12
47	Ellis Yates *	26.17
48	Kerry Martin	26.41
49	Ian Johnson *	26.51
50	Zeb Martin	26.55
51	Ed Skipp *	27.11
52	Gub Neal *	27.23
53	Edward Lumpford *	27.40
54	Henry Dorman	28.11
55	Hennah Tregonniang	28.27
56	Emily Watts *	28.35
57	Vanessa Watts *	28.35
58	Elisa Rowson Knowles *	28.45
59	Tamsin Westhorpe *	29.33
60	Lisa Grey	30.05
61	Julie Rowson Knowles *	30.08
62	Liz Bowers	30.15
63	Jenny Bowers	30.15
64	Paul Green	30.49
65	Jamie Symonds *	30.53
66	Holly Williams	31.40
67	Taylor Mogford *	31.50
68	Owen Harper	32.29
69	Sam Harper	32.32
70	Vicki Sanderson	33.32
71	Les Mogford *	33.41
72	Tom Powell	34.03
73	Amelia Goodchild	34.38
74	George Goodchild	34.39
75	Sylvia Baba Neal *	35.16
76	Louise Dorman	35.40
77	Lewis Margrie *	36.35
78	Seb Thompson	37.05
79	Clare Goodchild	37.10
80	Chloe Goodchild	37.11
81	Sue Wood	37.47
82	Heather Powell	37.47
83	Caroline Bassett *	38.28
84	Joe Cameron Swann *	39.35
85	Marcus Bassett *	39.56
86	Ben Thompson	41.18
87	Kate Thompson	41.20