Each year the pretty North Leicestershire village of Wymeswold hosts a five-mile race known as the Waddle alongside a 2k family fun run and annual duck race on the village stream.
Held to raise funds for the Wolds Community First Responders and Wymeswold Pre-school, the race has the simple format of an out and back along a closed road. But there’s a twist! The ‘out’ section of the course is gently undulating but predominantly uphill with the ‘back’ a forgiving descent back to the village. This of course calls for some careful pacing in the early stages.
Conditions for the start were perfect for the field of 221 runners including the sole GRC entrant Paul Davis. Paul had run this race once before in 2019 so had a previous time of 36 minutes dead to aim for. The starting horn was sounded by the local MP for Loughborough, Jane Hunt.
After a steady start Paul passed the 2-mile marker, relieved that the turn around point was just about in sight but with the leading runners already passing in the opposite direction, nearly a mile in front!
The return to the finish saw Paul catch a couple of runners but also overtaken by a couple and he crossed the line satisfied with 38th position. So, did Paul manage to better his time from four years ago? Unfortunately, not, though he was more than happy with a chip time of 36:57.
The race was won by Dan Hallam in a fantastic time of 25:47 with previous winner Gemma Steele finishing in 4th place with a time of 26:47.