I’ve come through quite the journey this past week. As you may guess from my posts, I do spend a lot of time at the moment in trails, mainly to ready myself for my 100km along the Thames Path in September.
I’m digressing already. The UK is brilliant for public pathways through countryside, in fact there are thousands and thousands of miles of pathways set in history as public rights of way which landowners are now obliged to respect. This does mean, however, that many of these pathways end up going through farmland. There, he’s finally getting on track.
One particular field, very close to work, currently has cows in it. The proximity to work meaning that I have to cross it to get to many of the nearby path networks. Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever stood next to a cow but they’re not small. Granted, your average cow isn’t going to prey on you and plot a deceitful, hunting campaign to take you down. They are so bloomin’ curious though.
I have no problem at all running through sheep fields but there’s something just a little nerve-wracking approaching a gate you need to run through and being faced with this:
Am I just being a wimp? To make matters worse, having been brave and pushed through the gate, they then went and chased me! Chased me!
As I said, I’m not suggesting for one second they were hunting down the fresh meat for their first kill of the day. What did worry me was that they’re so big and so dumb and built up such momentum, I’m fairly sure they didn’t know why they were chasing me. What’s more, I’m sure they hadn’t thought about what would happen when they got to me!
I know, I’ve built this all up and the countryside dwellers amongst you will be rolling your eyes, despairing at how we’ve all lost touch with our rural, nature loving pasts. Well fear not, this story has a happy ending.
Ashamed of my hesitation, I needed to both conquer my nervousness around cows but also make sure I could get along this particular path regularly to get on to some decent trails from work. What happy ending then?
The very next day, I returned to said cows and, rather than taunt them into chasing me, I got to know them better. I introduced myself, they stood there, I briefly ran through some recent personal history, they stood there, I cracked a joke or two, they stood there. We got along swimmingly.
So this was my ‘slightly unrelated to running’ cow journey. Joking and these cows aside, I genuinely don’t like having to run through a field with a lot of big cows in. You just never know what they might do.
And more than likely, neither do they.
Do you guys have the same issues, or do I just need to man up a bit? 🙂
longruntom 
There’s a cow field I runt through regularly as well, and so far they just completely ignore me and anyone else going through. That being said, there’s a lot of traffic in this field, so maybe the cows just need to get used to you.
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Fingers crossed! To be fair, these are pretty new and they’re only small so it’s not too bad. As long as they don’t get any bigger 😃
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Right, actually cows are pretty dangerous and do kill people every year. The small baby ones have big scary mums who want to keep them safe. I treat it like dogs and owners – never get between calves and cows, and exercise caution and keep your wits about you. Cool photos, though.
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Very wise, yep I’d be much more nervous if there were calves involved! There are a couple of other fields with much bigger cows and a bull in…not a chance I’d go near that one!
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I have been chased by cows in the past. And, I’m sorry, but I’m sure they were out for blood! I avoid them at all costs. Although having said that, I will in future introduce myself and tell a couple of jokes…
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Awesome post haha, and I love the pictures! While walking, I was once followed by two turkeys. May not seem like a big deal, but it made me pretty nervous! lol, they were practically touching me with how close they got!
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Thanks Laura! Woah, no I totally don’t blame you for that. Turkeys really freak me out with their frilly heads, think I’d prefer a dopey cow any day! 😃
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I’ve never run through a field with cows and can’t imagine being chased by them. They do weigh as much as a small car. And they are less predictable than the average driver.
You did make friends with them ,so I think you manned up. Do they still chase you? Maybe they are just bored.
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Ha, they are pretty unpredictable! That’s the weird thing some days it’s like I’m not even there and others they’ll run to the gate before I even get there! Maybe they are just bored!!
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Totally understandable Tom. I grew up on a farm and have been around cattle a lot. In your pictures it appears they are Jersey cows, one of the most docile breeds. But like any breed, but very careful around bulls. They are unpredictable and can be aggressive.
Cattle are attracted to movement which explains why they chased you. It was good for you to engage with the cattle. As a runner myself this might be hard, but I would suggest just walking through the field where the cattle are.
Even though they might be chasing you (not you chasing them) they still can get overheated. And I know the farmer would greatly appreciate it. 🙂
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Thanks Carl, very interesting. Yep, they are Jersey cows and definitely no bull so it all seems pretty safe. It totally makes sense about them chasing when I run through, I’ll try walking and see if it makes a difference. I can’t help thinking if I let them get too close they’ll just lick me they’re that friendly 😃
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Watch your step.
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My experience with fields has been more along the lines of Lori’s comment. You don’t really want to step on a patty. Love the pics and dialogue. I appreciate the back story on paths. I had wondered about them. Hard to find them in this part of the states.
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Thanks Denny, I appreciate the comment. Haha you’re right, you’d definitely know about it if you weren’t watching where you were going at the wrong moment. It is an odd thing about this country having so many footpaths crisscrossing the countryside – there are even some which pass through people’s property! Makes for some good runs though…
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