Running with a wildlife obstacle course

My regular running buddy and I invited another guy to join us. We wanted to impress him with the joys of running, so we took him to our favourite route through the forest behind the lake. I discovered my mistake soon enough.

We came to the forest at a good, steady pace like the seasoned and savvy runners we wanted to portray ourselves to be. Casually chatting about PB’s and longest runs and that sort of thing, we ran into a minefield.

It was the time of the flying worms. Once a year, thousands of tiny worms suspend themselves from threads in the trees and hang at various heights above the ground. Most of them hang at just about eye level, although it is more likely that we simply did not see the other ones.

What ensued must have been hilarious to watch if there were any spectators (thankfully, there weren’t). The problem was that you could not see them until the very last moment, by which time drastic measures were required. Between ducking and dodging, shrieks and shouts, there was no time for conversation or anything else.

It was some of the most fun I’ve had while running.

Afterwards, sitting on the couch in our living room with a glass of water, I discovered how ineffective all the aerobics were to avoid the little buggers. I found several worms slithering around on my clothes.

And my wife found one in my hair.

Keep running

Stephan