Report by Sam Harper
A great turnout this year for this local fundraising event which deserves recognition for a fabulous route allowing for some stunning far reaching views across South Shropshire and some great running. This year, as always it was really well organised with lots of friendly marshalls and no chance of taking a wrong turn.
It was great to see a turnout of 19 Croft Runners along to enjoy the race.
The first four kilometers are a steady uphill climb, first along the road and then footpaths up to the top of the Brown Clee.
There is a welcome downhill run along a gravel track before taking a left to loop onto grassland on the hill fort of Nordy Bank, along the common and then another short strech of tarmac before a stoney farm track across a few fields then along the road to finish back at the village hall.
A breakfast butty for all, as well as teas and even ice cream were available back at the village hall.
Trophies for the first male and female finishers went to Oliver Perratt who finished in 43m49 and Sarah Cardingley, 58.58 – some amazing times for this tough 11k race.
The Croft contingency did the club proud. Jasper finished in third place and Sam in Fifth and Thea ran a cracking race to finish in fourth place.
The ever improving Sam Juson followed his parkrun PB the day before to finish in fith place. Roland planned his run well and kept it steady for the first few uphill miles and then came flying past me on the downhill. Theresa fought hard to keep Tom in sight and battled through the last mile so that the crossed the line together.
A tough 6th race in the club handicap series, but everyone I spoke to really enjoyed it – the battle to the top of the hill at the beginning of the race is soon forgotten with the fabulous views and the great terrain of the rest of the race.
The next race in the Club Championship series is the Ron Skilton half marathon which is another challenging one, for which this race will have been great preparation.
Lots of photos on the event website
| Race position | Club position | Runner | Age Category | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | Jasper Robinson | SM | 47.38 |
| 5 | 2 | Sam Juson | SM | 49.27 |
| 23 | 3 | Tim Jones | MV55 | 59.30 |
| 32/4 | 4 | Thea Preece | SF | 1.02.18 |
| 41 | 5 | Ashley Robinson | MV70 | 1.03.56 |
| 46/9 | 6 | Jo Marriott | FV50 | 1.04.40 |
| 49/11 | 7 | Liza Austin | FV55 | 1.04.59 |
| 53 | 8 | Roland Preece | MV55 | 1.06.12 |
| 56 | 9 | Howard Verran | V45 | 1.07.45 |
| 58/14 | 10 | Samantha Harper | FV45 | 1.09.07 |
| 62/16 | 11 | Flora Gunner | FV55 | 1.10.46 |
| 70/23 | 12 | Steph King | FV55 | 1.13.37 |
| 71 | 13 | Huw Williams | MV60 | 1.13.45 |
| 84/34 | 14 | Lisa Gray | FV50 | 1.17.33 |
| 86/36 | 15 | Sue Wood | FV65 | 1.18.44 |
| 88/38 | 16 | Clare Preece | FV50 | 1.19.41 |
| 94 | 17 | Tom Davies | MV70 | 1.24.21 |
| 94/42 | 17 | Theresa Jones | FV50 | 1.24.21 |
| 102/49 | 18 | Hayley Colebatch | FV35 | 1.26.06 |
