Running Adventure!

Last winter in the Dominican Republic I had an Indiana Jones type run. We woke on departure day to a tropical rain storm. It had been raining hard all night in fact. The group was supposed to meet at 7:00 for a last run then hit the airport. Earlier in the week we ran a very hilly donkey track of a road up into the foothills of the mountains. The track took us through 3 or so villages, people living on a thread of existence. No power, open sewers, no schools or much of anything. A few goats and scrawny chickens, lots of crying babies and impassable rutted roads. A 10 mile loop course with no turning back. Did I say HILLY?

Well, the group that planned to run with me on the loop decided to sleep in ... or were wimps about a bit of mud. My Chinese buddy Youngmen did finally show up and we decided to go ahead without the safety of a larger group, my usual insurance on such a run.

It was a flooded mud bath but the rain and temp felt good, better than the oven temps we ran it in the first time. We came to a bridge that was covered with about 2 feet of river with a raging current. Some locals were carefully getting across so I decided to give it a try.

I took a look downstream. If I was swept off there was a bit of a water fall, then some trees and a bend in the river. Perhaps I could grab something if things went bad ... I started slow. Feeling my way along it seemed like I could make it. Lots of pressure on the legs and water spraying up in my face ... the water from the open sewers and whatever else, yuck. The next step, a hole, no bridge. I tumbled forward toward the current, my legs kicked out behind me. I made a grab and luckily snagged the leading edge of the bridge, the only problem was the water was about as deep as my arms were long. I was catching a bit of air to breathe but not without some brown water. I inched my way along hand by hand, missed a grab and flipped onto my back. One hand on and twisted, oh crap. Then, I felt a strong hand grab me. The locals had formed a human chain and dragged me out. Nice folks, dumb runner.

I didn't even get sick! Unforgettable.

Train on ... and don't tell my wife!
Randy Step