Boxing Day at Croft Castle
We turned up early at Croft Castle to erect our gazebo, mark the course and generally prepare for an influx of runners, keen to work off any excesses from the day before. On the plus side, there was a nice little National Trust gazebo which saved us from erecting ours, on the down side was the fog: the first yellow arrow I had placed just before the pond was completely invisible to the runners as they set off, with visibility then down to about 40m. But, whether it was the numbering of runners, or the number of spray painted arrows on the course, 87 runners set off, and all returned safely, carefully shepherded home by Tom (Powell) and daughter Georgie.
The 87 competitors were roughly equally distributed between Croft (44) and Lucton (43), but we had decided anyway this year to remove the competitive element between the two camps (in part because someone seems to have removed the rosebowl, traditionally awarded to the victors, and partly because no fair scoring system has ever been devised)
Sam Johnson (Lucton) (16.18), very hotly pursued by Pat Wright (Croft), held off his rival to win by just 2 seconds, two remarkable times on a very muddy course and with numerous gates to open and stiles to climb. Third home was 15yr old Forbes Wilson (Lucton) (17.03) closely followed by schoolmate, Malachy Clark (one of the numerous fine performances by the Clark family). Ted George in 14th place overall (20.05), and still under 11, was the first in his category by nearly 7 minutes. A very commendable performance. Darcy Clark (Lucton) was the first under 16 girl, though we failed to spot the fact on the day and will be sending her a small gift once term restarts. Zeb Martin was the second under 11 boy, and Amelia Goodchild the 1st under 11 girl.
Will (5th) was the first club member (as opposed to being a self-declared Croftie for the day) to finish, in 17.51. Suzanne T was 7th (18.25), with Kelly 13th (19.56).
Despite the absence of sunshine, nearly 100 people had an enjoyable morning’s exercise in the woods of Croft Castle.
Croft v Lucton Boxing Day Challenge – 2018
(Lucton runners with *)
1 | Sam Johnson * | 16.18 |
2 | Pat Wright | 16.20 |
3 | Forbes Wilson * | 17.03 |
4 | Malachy Clark * | 17.40 |
5 | Will Gore | 17.51 |
6 | John Thompson | 18.15 |
7 | Suzanne Turvey | 18.25 |
8 | Neil Powell | 18.31 |
9 | Glyn Williams | 18.52 |
10 | Angus Wilson * | 19.10 |
11 | Sam Juson * | 19.20 |
12 | Olly Clark * | 19.34 |
13 | Kelly Bowen | 19.56 |
14 | Ted George | 20.05 |
15 | Dave George | 20.05 |
16 | Alex Powell | 20.14 |
17 | Renee Johnson * | 20.28 |
18 | Toby Johnson * | 20.38 |
19 | Darcy Clark * | 20.47 |
20 | Ashley Robinson | 20.55 |
21 | Theo Baba Neal * | 21.04 |
22 | Neil Taylor | 21.10 |
23 | David Richmond * | 21.17 |
24 | Roxy Woodfield | 21.42 |
25 | Andrew Taylor * | 21.44 |
26 | Steph Main | 22.03 |
27 | Nicky Turvey | 22.34 |
28 | John Knowles * | 23.15 |
29 | Anthony Watts * | 23.28 |
30 | Tristan Watts * | 23.28 |
31 | Herbie Thorpe * | 23.32 |
32 | Zac Powell * | 23.34 |
33 | Adam Gray | 23.41 |
34 | Gary Gunner | 24.15 |
35 | Neil Margrie * | 24.21 |
36 | Flora Gunner | 24.25 |
37 | Lauren Clark * | 24.29 |
38 | Tim White * | 24.30 |
39 | Amy Clark * | 24.45 |
40 | Rob Wood | 24.55 |
41 | Max George | 25.07 |
42 | Sonia George | 25.08 |
43 | Colin Powell * | 25.10 |
44 | George Townsend * | 25.22 |
45 | Joel Bassett * | 25.49 |
46 | Amelia Bassett * | 26.12 |
47 | Ellis Yates * | 26.17 |
48 | Kerry Martin | 26.41 |
49 | Ian Johnson * | 26.51 |
50 | Zeb Martin | 26.55 |
51 | Ed Skipp * | 27.11 |
52 | Gub Neal * | 27.23 |
53 | Edward Lumpford * | 27.40 |
54 | Henry Dorman | 28.11 |
55 | Hennah Tregonniang | 28.27 |
56 | Emily Watts * | 28.35 |
57 | Vanessa Watts * | 28.35 |
58 | Elisa Rowson Knowles * | 28.45 |
59 | Tamsin Westhorpe * | 29.33 |
60 | Lisa Grey | 30.05 |
61 | Julie Rowson Knowles * | 30.08 |
62 | Liz Bowers | 30.15 |
63 | Jenny Bowers | 30.15 |
64 | Paul Green | 30.49 |
65 | Jamie Symonds * | 30.53 |
66 | Holly Williams | 31.40 |
67 | Taylor Mogford * | 31.50 |
68 | Owen Harper | 32.29 |
69 | Sam Harper | 32.32 |
70 | Vicki Sanderson | 33.32 |
71 | Les Mogford * | 33.41 |
72 | Tom Powell | 34.03 |
73 | Amelia Goodchild | 34.38 |
74 | George Goodchild | 34.39 |
75 | Sylvia Baba Neal * | 35.16 |
76 | Louise Dorman | 35.40 |
77 | Lewis Margrie * | 36.35 |
78 | Seb Thompson | 37.05 |
79 | Clare Goodchild | 37.10 |
80 | Chloe Goodchild | 37.11 |
81 | Sue Wood | 37.47 |
82 | Heather Powell | 37.47 |
83 | Caroline Bassett * | 38.28 |
84 | Joe Cameron Swann * | 39.35 |
85 | Marcus Bassett * | 39.56 |
86 | Ben Thompson | 41.18 |
87 | Kate Thompson | 41.20 |