The Waseley Wobbler 2016

Tucked away in the south west corner on the edge of Birmingham are the Lickey Hills and Waseley Country Park.  These were the settings for Ade Middleton and Gary Price’s latest off-road challenge. 
It was recommended by a work colleague of Ade’s who runs for Bromsgrove and Redditch AC, the organisers of the race.  It is an 8.5mile XC race with approx. 1 mile of road in the middle, most of the course is walked trails or paths within the country park.  There were 160 runners lined up on a glorious September morning eager to hit the trails and hills that lay ahead.  The start was a brisk lap around a school field then a gentle climb up on to a ridge with stunning views in all directions.  A looping steady downhill is then followed by a sharp left as the first 200ft climb begins.  Nothing too horrendous but there is a steep section just at the end that leads you to Windmill Hill that many are forced to walk up, a taste of things to come!
The next 2 miles are all downhill on a mixture of grass trails, stony paths and farmer’s tracks until we hit Redhill Lane.  This crosses over the A38 and into the Lickey Hills Country Park and it lives up to its name.  There is a great trail leading up through the forest, ground soft underfoot but not boggy.  Steady climbing then out onto a road leading to the highest point ‘Stock Hill’.   The sweat was pouring at this point, but finally we reached the peak and grabbed a very needy cup of water.  Then it was fun time with 0.5mile downhill taking us back to Waseley and the toughest last 2.5 miles we have ever had in a race.
As soon as the downhill finished we were hit by a climb, this was a hands on knees and ‘get to the top at all costs’ type of climb.  Gary was struggling with this as he had covered himself in his new anti-wasp and insect repellent.  His hands just slipped off of his thighs but at least he didn’t get stung.  On the way up we were cheered on by supporters and replied “Thank you” with what breath we had left.  The legs do give a slight wobble as we push on knowing we are getting closer to the end.  Then time for the shock, we run past the turn that leads to the finish and straight downhill through some fields and into forest.
Welcome to the bad news another tough climb up through forest meeting steep steps along the way.  People struggling up this section, then out into the open and met with another climb.  Neither of us saw anyone run up here and there is very little left in the tank by now.  Just keep going and finally the turn we ran past approaches and we head off down to the school field and cross the finish line.  Ade finished 65^th in 1:16:04, followed shortly afterwards by Gary in 73^rd stopping the clock at 1:17:46.
A tough race and a wakeup call, just what we needed to get ourselves ready for the XC season.  Thanks to all the organisers, marshals, supporters and cake makers for making us feel welcome!