Wiggle 10km

Wiggle wiggle wiggle I wonder why I wiggle?

The last day in April took us to Burton on Trent for something completely different – a Wiggle 10km trail / cross country route on a lovely Saturday morning. This was part of a larger all weekend event but we weren’t game enough to ride bikes in the dark so just opted for the 10km off road run. My off road trainers came out after 3 months in hibernation and were pleased to see some sunshine. I had to feed them with a bowl of oats however to turb them up.

A 10am start, there were 70 runners all lined up at the start line, the race was chipped too. And off we went. I had positioned myself near the back as everyone looked XC pros, but whizzed past a few within the first 500m, I was already enjoying this as I ran through the long grass it beats long roads.

One girl with pink compression socks over took me so I decided to try and keep her in my view all the way and call her pink compression sock lady. Without giving it my all I winded my way up the hill around the woods jumping over the tree roots and following the route weaving in and out of the woods. Out of the woods we popped and round some fields back in long grass and up some hard muddled tracks.

This was beautiful, running across the countryside, not a car in sight, no tarmac, no pavements just me and the ground and the sun peeking through to make this time absolute bliss. My mind was wondering as I passed the 2km mark the 3km mark and the 4km mark. Back in and out of woods to take on water then back in again just keeping pink compression sock lady in sight.

The race was sponsored by Wiggle – the bike company, yet it had a double meaning as we wiggled our way wiggling around the woods literally – just take a look at the route graph below to see the real wiggle it was enough to make you go dizzy. I had overtaken one guy around 5km and another guy let me passed just before the wiggle bit. Wiggle wiggle wiggle I wonder why I wiggle. I was enjoying this so much at no point did any negative thoughts pass through my head. Just Wiggle.

The more I run, the more I want to run, and the more I live a life conditioned and influenced and fashioned by my running. And the more I run, the more certain I am that I am heading for my real goal: to become the person I am – George Sheehan, M.D.

And out onto another field we came up and down and round. The route was very well signposted with bright yellow arrows everywhere and clear markers. The route opened up onto blissful views of Tamworth and the surrounding area and although there was a bit of a wind going on it was such an amazing enjoyable view that I forgot all about breathing and just ran and wiggled.

8km and 9km and then just a little left, and more wiggle to come as I thought I had landed in Alton Towers with the barriers guiding the runners up and down and up and down and up and down and round and round to the finish. The pink compression socks girl was just in front of me but I didn’t have the wiggle to try and pass her even though I was not putting in 100%. I heard the guy at finish annonce “first woman crosses the finish line” then 20 seconds later “second woman crosses the finish line” as I crossed the finish line. Blimey!

Time is irrelevant on these things, grass, hard track, tree trunks, squirrels, moles, giraffes and grizzly bears all have to be negotiated so nifty footwork is as important to speed. Run like there’s a gnarly bear chasing you and your smothered in honey!!!

Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal. – Luis Escobar

Congratulations to Becky who came in around 1.06, wiggling her way around her first ever cross country. It’s not as easy as it looks.

Having come in 2nd Female I was shocked (and embarrassed) to win £20 wiggle voucher. Wiggletastic!! Note; I do NOT do podiums though.

We all received a lovely glass thingy with two runners inside it, really nice refreshing changed to a t-shirt.

Results

Time: 48.30
Position: 2nd Female

Information on the race
Results

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