Various news updates are posted below.
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It was a big weekend of racing for the club, with Croups in action on both Saturday & Sunday. Croups exploits in the Welsh XC Champs will be covered in a separate roundup, as the achievements deserve a post of their own.
Therefore, we begin in Muscat, where Claire Johnson completed the 10k. Clare had a great race, racing alongside (and beating) people a quarter of her age! ๐
Elsewhere on Saturday, we had several members taking part in the masters indoor championships.
Gab Stuokus finished๐ฅ British M35 & ๐ฅ Welsh in the M35 indoor 3000m. Kieran McDonnell also set new Welsh V70 800m record of 2:36, beating the current by 4 seconds ๐ฎ
Oli Williams continues his excellent form, finishing ๐ฅ in the 800 & 3000m!
Mel James starred, achieving๐ฅ in the 60m and M80 long jump! ๐
Claire Bruce was also in action in the 800 & 3,000m. Colin Williams finished as masters champion in the 800m & 400m, and finished a fab ๐ฅ in the 4x200m!
The main headline of the day for Sunday was the Lliswerry 8, an event always popular with the club.
A huge congratulations to Emily Fell, who finished a brilliant ๐ฅ woman overall in a brilliant 47:51 ๐ Craig Blake builds on his form from Valencia 10k, and was first home for the men in 44:48! ๐
A huge well done too, to Jeff Cox who achieved ๐ฅ M60, & Nynke Kuiper who finished ๐ฅ Female Senior - an amazing effort from Nynke given she also raced at the Welsh XC champs the day before! ๐
Lastly, but very much not least, we move onto the UTMBโs in Cornwall. A huge well done to James Vassallo who finished ๐ฅ M50 in the Arc 25! ๐
We also wanted to shoutout Jerome Edwards, who attempted the arc 100 UTMB race. Jerome put in a stunning effort, making it to Lands End 12 hours in before having to withdraw.
Paul Stillman's images of our mud-spattered selves can be found using the links below. Well done to all who ran!
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A big roundup from a busy weekend of racing ๐
Starting off in Beachley at the Speedway 10k, Ed Foster was first back for the men in a brilliant 31:54, a shiny new PB for Ed to start the year off ๐ Georgia Palmer was first back for the women in 36:15, a superb run and ๐ฅ overall in her age category, followed closely by Mia Goddard who was home in a brilliant new PB of 36:38, a huge performance! ๐ฎ
Another popular race this weekend for the club was the CF64 winter race! First home for the women in Cosmeston was Gillian Hopkins who was home in a brilliant 54:39, and ๐ฅin her age category! Ed Donovan was first home for the men in ๐ฅ overall and ๐ฅ in his age category, finishing in a fab 40:06! ๐
๐ฅ M55: Andy Blair
๐ฅM65: Clive Osmond
๐ฅ M35: Gab Stuokus
๐ฅM45: Phil Hodge
๐ฅM70 Howard Kent
๐ฅM65 Mick Tabor
Turning to a series of Half Marathons, we start in Cheshire, for the Four villages half marathon. A huge congratulations to Olivia Overton for achieving a new PB, finishing in a fab 1:37:11. Molly Dennis & Emily Jones also put in strong performances on the day! Great work ๐
Elsewhere in England, Susie Bowes was in action at the Brass Monkey half marathon in York. Susie was home in a brilliant 1:35:07 in what looked like wet and wild conditions ๐
From winter rain to winter sun, we had three runners taking part Santa Pola Half Marathon! Phil Hambleton was first back for us in a brilliant, 71:17. He was closely followed by Tom Flitcroft, finishing in a brilliant PB effort of 71:48! Mark Price completed the trio of fantastic times, recording an astounding 72:17! Vamos boys!ย
Lastly, but very much not least, we head to the Kymin Winter Race. Cassie Summers was first home for the club, showing her impressive fell race credentials! ๐ A huge shoutout to Marcus Meyrick and Steve Chadwell who competed in both the CF64, and Kymin Winter races ๐ฎ top endurance!
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Our first roundup of 2026 starts in sunny Spain, with croups in action at Valencia 10k ๐ช๐ธ
First home for the men was Tris Rees in a lightning 31:09, a new personal best! Laura Stark was first back for the women in a brilliant 39:54 ๐
Two other Croups competed, and their results were as follows:
๐ Phil Hambleton was home in 32:14, a PB and a true return to form, itโs so good to see!
๐ Craig Blake finished in a brilliant 34:16, a big PB building on his brilliant time in Telford at the end of 2025!
From lovely oranges and sunny streets of Valencia to wild blackberries and, well, less sunny conditions of South Wales. A huge congratulations to Hugh Ollard and Math Llwyd for completing the Dennison round on Sunday!
The Dennison Round is a challenging, self-navigated trail running challenge near Cardiff, Wales, started by First Light Coffee, involving summits like G, Kafili, and Castle Core, known for its significant climbs and muddy trails. Well done for braving the weather to complete it boys ๐
Lastly, but very much not least, a huge well done to Gethin Evans for completing the Endurance Life North Cornwall Ultra on Saturday. Starting in Polzeth, the ultra ventures over coastal terrain involving over 6,500 foot of ascent ๐ฎ Gethin finished in a brilliant 7:26:29 - a brilliant feat! ๐
(Some people will do anything to avoid Jools Holland's Hootenanny.)
Links to Howard Kent's footage can be found below.ย
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Howard Kent's runner's-eye footage of this lovely event, complete with soundtrack by The Who.
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By far the most popular event for the club over the latter end of the festive period was our very own Old Father Time race. Firstly, a huge thank you to all of the organisers and volunteers who enabled the event to be such a success for another year ๐ซถ
Oliver Williams was the first home for the club and achieved ๐ฅ overall in a brilliant 26:49, with Louise Flynn first back for the woman and ๐ฅ F40 in an amazing 29:57! ๐
From Cardiff, to Llandeilo on New Yearโs Eve, we had a couple of members taking part in the 10 miler! Amy Griffiths put in an amazing performance finishing ๐ฅ woman in the day in 1:12:43! ๐คฉ Rhys Thomas was first home for the club, finishing 10th overall and 6th in his age category in 1:04:22! Congratulations too, to David Flynn, who crossed the line in 1:31:03, finishing an amazing ๐ฅ V70 ๐
Also taking place on New Yearโs Eve was the historic Nos Galan race. It was a chilly night but this did not stop some red hot performances! First home for the club in the elite menโs race was Jack Reddaway in 17:17, with Caitlin Williams first home in the elite womenโs race in 20:20!
Lastly, but very much not least, a huge well done to Claire and James Bruce for completing Shrewsbury 5k & 10k. Races which started in 2025, and ended in 2026! ๐
Claire completed the 5k in a fab 29:11, with James crossing the line in the 10k in 41:06! ๐
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Croups have been incredibly busy across the festive season, taking part in lots of events internationally.
We start on Boxing Day, in Glynneath, where we had 6 runners taking part in the 5 miler! First back for the woman was Mari Watkins in a brilliant 35:59, with Elliott Davis coming home first for the men in 32:06. Pete Gillibrand not only achieved a PB, but also met a Welsh legend ๐ด(Max Boyce)๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ
We turn from Glynneath, south to Clevedon, where 8 croups were in action at the Boxing Day 4 miler! First back for the club was Matt Green in an impressive 22:44! Jenny Martin was first back for the women in a fab 37:23! Kudos too, to Matt Hurford, who was 4th M50 on the day! ๐
Turning to the Fields of Athenry 10k, three runners were in action for the club! James Bruce was the first man home for us in 39:45, with Aine Kenny first home for the women in 41:15! Shout out to Sam Cowman, who raced for the first time in Croups colours, finishing in a fab 41:33!ย
Lastly, but very much not least, picking up on a result before Christmas. Pedro Marabianca donned the croups vest taking part in the Aranjuez 10k!ย
Howard Kent's footage of the Senior Women/ Masters Men, featuring Rapper's Delight can be found using the link below:
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Footage of the senior men's race is here:
(In this, the 250th anniversary year of Jane Austen's birth, it's worth mentioning that Blaise Castle gets a mention in the novel 'Northanger Abbey'. An exquisite pastiche of the then fashionable gothic romance novels, the book offers no advice whatsoever on the best footwear to use on the mixed terrain of the park.)
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Croups were out in force over the weekend, taking an advantage of the mild weather to race in a whole host of events!
The race which saw the most club participation was the Festive 10k in Bute Park!
First home for the women was Laura Jones who finished in an amazing 41:37, also coming๐ฅ F45! Tom Flitcroft was first home for the men and ๐ฅ overall in 33:29 ๐คฉ
Croups also shone in other age categories:
- Phil Hodge ๐ฅ M60 in 39:05
- Julie Lewis ๐ฅ F65 in 1:04:36
A shoutout to Mick McGeoch who was pleased to record a one second negative split on the day, expert pacing from the club legend ๐
Turning from Cardiff to Telford, we had several members taking part in the 10k:
Craig Blake was first home for the club in 34:38, a huge PB, followed by Ed Davies who finished in an immensely strong 34:53! James Craddock was back soon after in 35:33, a huge 45 second PB and Paul Francis in 36:02, a big PB for Paul too! Mia Goddard was first home for the women in a brilliant 37:12, Louise Flynn finished an amazing 6th F40 in 37:57! ๐ฎ
From Road, to sand. A bumper group of croups took part in the Merthyr Mawr Pudding Race on Sunday! Our members were impeccably dressed in lovely festive attire and expertly took on the 10km of hills, sand and water! ๐
Lastly, we turn to Malaga, where we had Peter Gillibrand taking part in the marathon. Pete finished in a brilliant 4:01:17, an excellent 14 minute PB! In the half, Jack Reddaway recorded an expertly executed 1:21:16, vamos!
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The main race on Saturday for the Croups was the cross country in Blaise Castle, but this will be covered in a future post pending official release of results!
Therefore, we turn instantly to Sunday, which saw the return of the hugely coveted Valencia Marathon. We had Owain Zerilli racing for the Croups, finishing in a huge PB of 2:33:46! Vamos! ๐ซถ
From Valencia Marathon to Lanzarote Half, James Bruce was putting his paces in the sun, finishing in an impressive 1:35:55! ๐
Elsewhere on Sunday, was had two members in action in the Aberystwyth Charity 10k! Gafin Griffiths was first back in an impressive 42:17, with Selina Griffiths finishing in a brilliant 52:16, which secured her 12th F40-49! ๐ฅณ
The following advice is intended to keep our runners SAFE at all times!
It is also essential that, whilst out running as a club, we are seen to be polite, responsible, set a good example & not put others at risk.
AT ALL TIMES BE SAFE BE SEEN! You can never be too visible! During the day, always wear bright or light-coloured clothing - fluorescent is good.
At night we would strongly recommend that people ALWAYS wear light-coloured clothing plus a REFLECTIVE (not just fluorescent) bib or sash.
Clip on flashers are a great way to be seen. NEVER ASSUME YOU'VE BEEN SEEN. Always be cautious with traffic.
We would like to remind people that they are responsible for their own safety and that they run at their own risk.ย