The Welcombe Wobbler and Trembler

Statford-upon-Avon

Sunday 19th October 2008

The Wobbler is about 10k in length and the Trembler is 5k in length, so it would be no surprise to anyone reading this to know that I chose the 5k race – particularly as the 10k race meant 2 laps of a hilly off road course.

My Sunday morning had not begun well and by the time I arrived in Stratford I had 30 minutes to get a race number, sort out my kit and get to the start which was a good 10 minute walk from the car park.  To add to this, just as I set off up the hill towards the Welcombe Hills I realised I had not paid and displayed.  When I arrived back at the car the local warden was just “logging” me into his system so luckily I escaped a ticket!

When I got to the race start I did a short warm up and had to spend sometime tending to a very sore left ankle and inspecting my trainers, trying to decide if off roaders would be more useful.  It was about this time that I met the other B&R runner – Phil Richardson.  After a brief discussion with Phil, I decided my road shoes would be fine as they had some extra lugs on the bottom and the course was dry.  All this talking meant it was time to start so I mustced my way to the second row and was almost deafened by the pistol!

I competed in the inaugural race last year and found sections of it really tough, especially the hill at 3k, so I did have some idea of what was coming up as we set off!  With this in mind I knew I had to run the flat/downhill sections as fast as I could, as I probably would have to walk up any steep inclines.

The first of these came at 600m as was a sheer wall of mud that virtually everyone, apart from the odd mountain goat, went up using their hands as well as feet!

The hills kept coming and I was feeling rough, probably the rushed arrival and poor warm up.  People were coming past me and I was checking the colour of their numbers, my race was blue, none had come past yet.  Push on, push on I thought desperately trying to remember how many more hills were coming and if I would actually make the finish!

Finally my watch beeped 4km and I knew it was all down hill from here so I pressed on – the final corner saw the 10k runners turn left for another lap and the 5k runners right to the finish.  As I passed a marshal I tried to ask if I was the first 5k woman, but I don’t think he heard me!

As I crossed the finish line I was in a daze and confused as to why people would be shaking my hand.  I lay down in the long grass, ate my banana and tried to figure out if I could have run better.

As it turns out I did win the Ladies 5km race in a time of 26.50, 8 minutes faster than my time last year and almost 2 minutes quicker than last year’s winner.  It goes to show you that sometimes all the race preparation, morning rituals and strict race pacing may not be the thing we need to actually win on the day!

All in all a great tough race, the hills are challenging but nothing like the Waseleys!

Yasmine

P.S. Phil Richardson completed the two lap 10k Wobbler in a very good time of 42.46 to be 12th out of 65 finishers.