Race Report by Sam Harper
Race 9 of the club championship series saw 20 Croft Runners taking part in The Wye Valley Runners fundraising 10k – The Credenhill Canter.
Raising money for the Herefordshire Special Care Baby unit, this was a well organised, well marshalled and very friendly race.
It is race of two halves – starting in a field next to the church sees a quick scramble up a field, dodging the nettle patches, through a gate into the churchyard with the lanes very quickly taking you up a short flight of steps. The first 5km are a trail race around Credenhill Park Wood with some 239m of elevation before a downhill descent throught the woods onto a final level(ish) 5k along field margins, footpaths and tarmac before finishing at Credenhill Sports and Social Club.
This two stage race meant it was a toughie – some really tough uphill climbs and technical descents along forest tracks and then a fast pace finish means it is hard to pace, so basically a full effort for the whole route is needed without much time for any recovery.
There were some fanstatic Croft results. Eric was the race winner in 40.14, followed by Gareth in second place in 41.07 with third place Nick Gibbons (no club) in 42.25.
In the ladies race the winner was Jessie Rowlands of Colchester Harriers in 46.36 with Mia coming in second place in 49.37 and Natalie came in third in 52.23.
There were age group prizes for myself – Sam H – FV50 in 53.11 (4th lady), Jamie MU20 in 61.42 (50th) and Gary MV80 in 76.29 (81st).
Full Croft results:
| position | name | Age cat | time |
| 1 | Eric Apperley | MV30 | 40.14 |
| 2 | Gareth Leek | MV30 | 41.07 |
| 15 | Steve Partridge | MV40 | 48.18 |
| 17 | Miles Davies | MV50 | 49.26 |
| 18 (2nd lady) | Mia Davies | SF | 49.37 |
| 24 (3rd lady) | Natalie Covill | FV50 | 52.23 |
| 25 (4th lady) | Sam Harper | FV50 | 53.11 |
| 32 | Richard Coltart | FV40 | 56.25 |
| 34 | Mike Bending | MV60 | 57.34 |
| 37 | Paul Lewis | MV40 | 58.18 |
| 47 (11 lady) | Steph King | FV60 | 60.45 |
| 49 | Craig Price | MV40 | 61.33 |
| 50 | Jamie Symonds | MU20 | 61.42 |
| 57 (17 lady) | Carol Powell | FV50 | 64.52 |
| 61 | Roland Preece | MV60 | 66.55 |
| 69 | Rob Martin | MV60 | 70.19 |
| 74 | Peter High | MV70 | 72.00 |
| 81 | Gary Gunner | MV80 | 76.29 |
| 82 | Frank Luscott | MV70 | 78.55 |
| 83 (32 lady) | Nicola Luscott | FV30 | 79.41 |
| 89 (35 lady) | Christina La Monica | FV40 | 91.22 |
