Sport club shuffles through mud for river run

The Woodbridge Shufflers have made the muddy pilgrimage across the River Deben for 10 years

Members of a running group were made to live up to their club's name as they shuffled through a course of thick river mud for an annual event.

Twenty-four Woodbridge Shufflers slogged across the muddy banks of the River Deben from Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum, in Suffolk, before straddling through the water and then running back as part of a seven-mile route (11.2km) on Tuesday.

The club's Rob Alder said the annual Cross The River Run event started 10 years ago at the suggestion of one of their runners.

"It's just a bit of fun," he said. "It is muddy and we like having a laugh; it's about getting stuck in the mud - people lose shoes and trainers."

Members aged from their 20s up to 70 completed the course and waded through the waters of the Deben

Rob Alder, from the club, said a few people got stranded in the mud and had to be pulled out

Mr Alder said the secret to running a successful muddy course was to be "light on your feet and glide along the top"

The run was described as a "great laugh" by Mr Alder

Runs are organised all over Suffolk by the club, which started in 1980