Croft Castle X-C (Herefords. and Border Winter League)

Race Reports Winter league

The weather at Croft, in mid November, possibly outdid even the splendid weather we had at Fforest Fields three weeks earlier. Spectacular early mist gave way to blue skies, sunshine and light wind. All as if designed to announce with a fanfare the new 5.6 mile course, now including a lap of Bircher Common.

The start was a good quarter of a mile south of Croft Castle, and after the minute’s silence, we set off along the farm track before turning up onto the narrower track that leads up to the Ambrey, even though before the summit we actually turned right onto a fire track more or less along the contour to Whiteway Head, and Bircher Common. By the time we reached this open grassland, we were beginning to heat up and were even looking forward to the shade of Croft woods, despite knowing that was bringing Heartbreak Hill ever closer. From the top of Heartbreak it was just 100m or so down to the finish, requiring a sprint in case the runner behind you wanted to close you down!

The full results are not yet in, but assuming you’d like at least provisional results, here are some: Mat Yapp had another fantastic run, 2nd this time, in 31.03 with Eric 5th (31.46), Mark 7th (32.11) and Gareth 8th (32.14), completing a comprehensive A team victory, and cementing our first place after the tie at Builth. Aidan, in his first race for the club (?), was just a few paces behind in 11th (32.58), but 1st Junior Man. The ladies’ results are equally impressive, though calculating team positions at this stage is  tricky.

Alice (38.11) crossed the line first, with Kelly (40.19) 2nd. Charlotte, 1st Junior Lady, was 7th (42.06), and if it’s three to a team, they must have been victorious. Anna (45.40) ran particularly well to finish 10th (?), and would ensure a 4 woman Croft team was also first overall.

More complete results are expected very soon. Lots of photos on the facebook page.

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