Went out for my weekly long run last night and immediately got hit by a torrential downpour, the skies opened and I really questioned whether I had it in me to run soaking wet in the cold wet wind. My GPS wouldn't lock during the warmup so there I was sheltering under an oak tree questioning what the heck I was about to do when the GPS light went green, so off I went with gritted teeth.
It had rained in the morning and the prior day so the world was anew with the heavy wet musk of things desperate to grow again, you could chew through it, with the midge adding the currants.
Thankfully come 2k the rain stopped and I was rewarded with a glorious double rainbow, a good omen as I headed out onto the river banks of the Ouse. The fens around here are guarded from the potential of devastating flood by raised dykes that follow the river, so my journey follows such a dyke north east past the old chain ferry crossing at Over, past nature reserve and long abandoned railway crossing at Bluntisham and onwards to the bridge and marina at Earith. The aforementioned dyke is, usually dry and hardpacked was now an obstacle course of tussocked grass, muddy clag and endless patches of thistle that needed steeple chase hurdling, and of course the cow pat landmines were no longer the dry husks i'm used to but inch deep claymores ready to burst and shower me with manure shrapnel hehe.
Around 7k I came across a herd of what I had thought were sheep from a distance but turned out to be cow decked all in white and running along the dyke away from me, there must have been 30-40 in number with calves aside, so I was very wary. Eventually they dived down the dyke to their manger and I could stop to take a picture of a rock that marked where the dyke broke near bluntisham in 47, the army(gloucesters) turned up at bluntisham on the missing railway and fought with locals to stop the devastation, eventually filling the dyke with there army vehicles. The things you see whilst running.
As soon as I took those pics though, the herd stampeded back up the dyke towards me and I had to make a dive for a style in the fence crossing the dyke, to offer me a last redoubt before imminent crushing. Thankfully the worst did not happen apart from in my mind and off I trotted.
Onwards to earith bridge where waters conjoin and flood defenses are massed, here I had planned to turn towards willingham and run for a brief 100yds or so along the main road so then turn off down another drove road back into the fen for my return. But it turned out to be verbotten with large gates and warnings signs/cctv/threat of death etc, so I was then forced to run a km or so into traffic on a very bad road with no verge before diving down a mystery gravel track.
Mystery gravel track was a welcome sight but quickly turned into tractor road through fields that were becoming a quagmire. The brand new on cloudventures were definitely getting a good testing and were caked in thick heavy clumps that I also had to drag along for the ride.
At this point it is worth noting that the coudventures are amazing, like cloudflyers but with the needed extra traction. They got soaked by 2k but dried quickly so I wasn't yet fearing the blisters I get from soaking feet.
As I approached 11k the skies opened again and it was all looking very moody, I was a bit lost and worried I was going to hit the Verbotten area controlled by the aggregate quarry firm that had signposted the fen road, I had already ran past areas strip mined for gravel, huge scars in the landscape dug out like aliens had stolen a field at a time from the patchwork tapestry of the farmland fens.
But thankfully I managed to eventually pick up part of the route I had ran for the willingham 10k gallop race so worked out where I was again, by this time I had began to worry about fen beasts and blag dogs as the light was failing and headtorch had gone on.
I had my sis gel around 12k and followed this with a box of raisins at nearly 14k. Between the two I tackled the strava segment rollercoaster of doom and got a PR, probably the only fast bit of running I did, with so many stops for map checks and style etc, this wasn't a fast run.
Shortly after 14k I ran past a field opening and was rewarded with a galnce of what I will say was a hawk, but a large brown raptor aground in the stubble of the field, as I reached for my phone it took note and to wing it went carrying a rabbit away.. it was big whatever it was.*edit - probably a buzzard* What a treat and not more than a km further and back onto the riverway and off the fen I saw a barn owl sweep across the landscape parallel to me at shoulder height.. what twilight riches I was rewarded with as I slogged back towards my home town.
I got back having only done 18k so was then forced to do a normal short loop around the waterways near me to bring me to target in the gloom to 22k.
What an adventure.
Photos are in the relive I hope. relive.cc/view/1734172668
And the sneaky cows photos.app.goo.gl/3cTSy9NLj...
Relive seems to muck about with photos, not showing some and misordering others.
🎶Singing in the rain 🎶😁
4K in the rain 🌧🌧🌧
10k in the rain and a PB
I'm running in the rain, just running in the rain...
