Brown Clee Burn

Report by Tori Dickinson

Brown Clee Burn 2023 was the 10th running of this race but a first for me. I only entered a few weeks ago joining 12 other Crofties. Sam H. has always said it’s one of her favourite races and it didn’t disappoint…from the moment we arrived at Stoke St Milborough and race HQ at the village hall I was blown away by the level of organisation and sheer number of volunteers from the village involved in running this event. From the family team handing out race numbers to the kitchen crew producing a mountain of bacon, sausage and eggs baps this felt like a real community effort.

As for the race itself, I’d describe it as an 11km all terrain course. There were marshals all around the course – you really couldn’t get lost! The field of about 100 runners (many from local clubs) set off at 11am under glorious blue skies and it turned out to be a scorcher of a day. The first mile was a steady climb on a shady road out of the village towards Blackford. For someone who usually drifts back on the uphills I actually found this gradient one where I could maintain a steady pace. At the turn off the road onto a steep footpath there was lots of support to cheer you on your way. This was a great fillip as the path is nearly a mile up and pretty narrow and rough underfoot at points – the group I was with (including Huw, Clare P and Ali B.) walked this section. We turned out into a lovely wooded section gently climbing up to the moorland where it levelled out before a short sharp climb up to the top of Clee Burf at 2.5miles. There was a sneaky stile to climb over before a refreshing water stop and the start of a welcome 1.5 miles descent down a gravel track before hitting the grass again and skirting around Nordy Bank Hill Fort. The views on this descent were magnificent (although I did wonder what it would be like in driving rain) and I could see the odd sky blue shirt in the distance. A sheep ran alongside for a few hundred metres and at one point I thought it might veer onto the track and we’d have an ‘Eric’ incident but luckily it thought better of that move. After a grassy path dropping down from Nordy Bank we came on to a farm track that gently undulated for a mile (and a second water stop) until coming out on the lane that heads back to the village….but any thought of a shortcut home was quickly dispelled as he headed up a side lane and onto grassland. This mile and half crossing fields I found the most difficult as after an initial easy descent we were traversing across the slope of the fields and the camber felt very uncomfortable, there was another sneaky stile and no shade from the now blazing sun. But coming out onto the road in the village it was lovely to know we were nearly home….the last quarter of mile has a deceptive pull up but as we approached the village hall there was lots of cheering to encourage that last effort to turn onto the village playing fields and cross the finish line under the goalposts. Lots of water, refreshments and an ice cream van awaited.

The first runner home from Aldridge RC took only 44:25 minutes with our very own Sam Juson coming in second place in 45:53 minutes. Other Croft times were Mark Paviour (1:02:31); Howard Verran (1:10:52); Rob Wood (1:14:42); Sam Harper (1:16:12); Huw Williams (1:22:16); Alison Davies (1:22:55); Clare Preece (1:25:55); Ali Benwell (1:26:05); Tori Dickinson (1:26:06); Tom Powell (1:28:14); Anna Bromley (1:37:09); and Claire Verran (1:37:09).

How it started: