The returning runner…
Act 56 – The joys of running while freakishly tall and spastic
The wind was screaming (again) but with an atmospheric river pattern settling in I needed to squeeze this run in. Beau had been a great running partner of late but today he was acting weird. He danced back and forth – “cutting” my legs behind me and almost knocking me off my feet. I would probably feel that later, either in a hip or knee…Now wait! He was gone!! I whirled around-just maybe catching a glimpse of him rounding the corner back to the trailhead. I yelled frantically as he almost jumped into the open door of a seemingly waiting torture van. Fortunately, the owner snagged him by the collar and good-naturedly held him for me. What was that about? He had been looking down the road, apparently planning to chase my wife’s car after dropping us off.
I lured him with some treats and we got going again. Half as far this time and he pulled a u-turn. Maybe he didn’t think that the 60mph gusts and stinging rain was as much fun as I did… Ok, I called the wife and she headed back to pick up my too reluctant running partner. It was too cold to stand still. I got Beau jogging with me around the mini-park at the Anderson Park Trailhead. I kept looking back to reassure me that he was still tagging along. Looking forward, I dug in with my head down fighting the gusting winds.
“Crack!!!!” I actually heard the noise first. Then pain in my head. What happened? Had someone clubbed me? A tree trunk wobbled above against a gray sky. Beau worriedly circled. What the frick? I had actually ran into a tree trunk. The tree started out “normal” growing vertically for 5 feet but then making a 90-degree turn and crossing the paved path horizontally just 5-1/2 feet off the ground. Without ducking, anyone over 5’-6” would have hit it but, under normal circumstances, would have seen it first. The crazy Nevada wind had made upright running impossible.
But, to give adequate credit to my height and lack of alertness, this wasn’t the earliest time. My first semester at University of Arizona I was doggedly chasing teammates around the park. I’m not sure what time it was, but way too early to be running fast like these guys were. My body was screaming at me that the early morning “extra” workouts were just for putting in a few extra miles. Definitely not flying around at 6ish minutes per mile! I was still half asleep. Up ahead were some leaves gently draping across our path. I was too lazy to duck – the gentle brush of the leaves abruptly changed to “thwack!”. My head reverberated in tune with the metal pipe cross-piece which supported the roadway sign I had hit. My shorter teammates had passed under the bar without hindrance. Then, they all chuckled (as young men do) at my calamity.
How fun to be 6’-5”… Oh, BTW, after my latest tree trunk encounter, clear fluid poured out of my nose when I bent over to light a fire in the fireplace. Apparently, this was a sign of potentially very dangerous drainage of Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF). So…if you ever happen to run into a tree trunk and have clear fluid pour out of your nose, you should probably get it checked out.
Photo: June 7, 2025 Post Pacific Region 65-69 800 meters with more standard sized runner-up, Arturo Oti.