Now in its 26th year this local race is described by the organisers, Wye Valley Runners, as 8.8 miles of hills, trails and croc steps; not for the faint-hearted. For some reason I’d never run it but that all changed on 24th May 2026 when I joined a small band of Crofties at Burghill Community Academy, race HQ. The only thing I really knew about the race in advance was that the first kissing gate at the church can be a bit of a bottleneck and the infamous steps.
The whole build up to the race was pretty much the most relaxed atmosphere I’d ever experienced – the wall to wall sunshine may have helped. Whilst car sharing was encouraged there was ample parking at Court Farm which was about a 10min stroll from race HQ. The process of picking up race numbers and chip timing was very well organised, there were refreshments and loos and plenty of space and shade. There was a group warm up session for everyone before a race briefing – the key things were that there was plenty of water on the course and whilst they encouraged people to use their own cups there would be cups available. They also asked runners to line up with sub 25 min parkrunners to go towards the front.
By the time we set off at 10.30am we all knew this was going to be a hot sweaty morning run. I opted for a hat, and to carry water in my racepak (both decisions I was happy with) but I opted for road shoes which were fine but I’d have been happier in light trail shoes.
It’s just under a mile along the road to Burghill Church and I got through the gate with little delay. Then we had about 3 miles across fields, farm tracks and roads as we made our way to Badnage Woods – this stretch had both some uphill and downhill bits but the overall trajectory was up. There were small groups of very encouraging spectators along the way and some had their hosepipes out to give a cooling drench. Just before the 4 mile mark you turn into the woods and there’s a lovely runnable section very akin to some of the paths we run in Shobdon Woods. This leads you to the bottom of the infamous steps. To be honest they weren’t as bad as I was expecting – short, steep, with a couple of muddy sections – but about half way up there were two chaps playing the guitar and an encouraging marshall at the top. Then it’s a matter of gathering yourself together for about a mile running along the top of the woods followed by about a mile running gently down through the woods – again very similar to Shobdon Wood paths. The ground conditions were perfect with only a couple of muddier sections and the shade very very welcome. Coming out of the woods there’s a short downhill road section before crossing the road and starting to head south. It’s probably about 1.5 miles across farm margins with one short steeper section – which you sort of forget about as there was a lovely band of musicians at the top to put a bit of a bounce in your step. As you then rejoin the road it’s about a mile home, much of this is gently uphill but then it gives you a lovely short downhill run to the finish where they were shouting out your name and encouragement.
There was a finishers medal and then plenty of time to cool down and grab a chance for something to eat/drink before a lovely prizegiving – all winners got a plant and there was a podium – perfect for winners photos and a huge stuffed crocodile.
A big shout out to the organisers, there was a lovely atmosphere, lots of local support and well marshalled. Would I do this race again? Yes, absolutely. I reckon it a perfect training run for anyone with Man vs. Horse or Offa’s Dyke in their calendar.
For anyone wondering where the race name comes from….from a distance the profile of the woods looks like a crocodile!
The Croft results were:
Sam Harper – 01:16:48 – 3rd Female Overall – 2nd FV50
Mike Bending – 01:18:08 – 2nd MV60
Steph King – 01:31:37 – 3rd FV60
Craig Price – 01:34:13
Tori Dickinson – 01:35:04
Carol Powell – 01:35:13
Rob Wood – 01:35:58 – 2nd MV70
Oli Cameron-Swan – 01:38:07
Sue Wood – 01:46:34 – 1st FV70
Huw Williams – 01:52:07
Christina La Monica – 02:07:38
Before the senior race the juniors had a 2km Race two of our Junior runners; Casper and Saffi took part. Casper finished 6th overall with a time of 17:22. He was 3rd MU14. Saffi finished 8th overall. Her time was 17:58 and was 1st Female overall and 1st FU14.
All photos from out on the course are courtesy of Nick Lattey Photography
