Rosedawn Ramblings

What a difference a week makes… 168 little hours! On the previous Saturday, I’d done nothing more than survive the cross country at Stafford Common, completing the course with two shoes ! Just a week later, on Saturday 24th November, I returned to Cheddleton to take part in the 10k Christmas Pudding Run – one of the first races I completed (back in November 2011). It was good to be out racing again so soon after the cross country – no better way to get over a bad race than to get out there and try again. I felt more confident with this run though – a route I knew all on the road and no mud banks to navigate my way down. Thanks to a lift from Liz from Potters Trotters , we arrived in the village with plenty of time to get our post-race cakes sorted – the Christmas Pudding Run is part of the Cheddleton’s support of Cancer Research so there is a sale of refreshments in the school hall as part of the fundraising effort. The cakes are as much a part of the day as the race – and y...

Round 3 of the cross country at Stafford Common turned out to be a very different challenge than the first two events at Winsford and Park Hall - so much more of a mental challenge than the physical one I was expecting. On another day, in much less muddy conditions, I think it would actually have been quite a good course to attempt - there were hills but they weren't extreme, with plenty of downhill sections to balance them out. But very heavy overnight rain turned certain parts of Stafford Common into a bog, there was mud everywhere and it was sticky mud at that. We arrived in time to see some of the junior races and saw several finishers struggle over the line missing one or even both of their shoes... it really was that muddy. Our race was slightly delayed  - time to tie and re-tie my shoes at least 3 times to get them fastened as tightly as possible. We were underway not long after 1.30pm and the first sticky mud was not much more than 100 yards from the start line....