A Wilmslow runner was repeatedly attacked by a buzzard before a race at the weekend.
Ian Ashcroft of Wilmslow Park was warming up ahead of the Whitley 10K on Sunday, 24th April, when the bird of prey attacked him six times.
He explained "Warming-up, I felt a heavy blow on the top of my head. I was puzzling, I could see no fallen branch, when I was hit by a second similar blow. The only thing I could see was a bird. The third attack was aimed at my face, I beat it off with my arms and started running again. But then a third painful blow to the top of the head.
"I now gave-in and set-off back, running backwards I managed to beat-off the next attack again towards my face. I then went flat-out, getting away with just one further attack on the back of my head. The locals tell me the buzzard has previous."
Despite being left cut and bleeding Ian, who has been running for 20 years, completed the race in 50 minutes and 22 seconds saying "I ran poorly, but not the buzzard's fault, I ran poorly the previous week".
He added "The weight of its body hitting my head was pain, it was flying much faster than I can run. Its body was close to a foot across and it had a 3 foot wingspan. The cuts look quite impressive, there was some blood, but they're really just scratches."
