This weekend we traveled to Alabama to meet my family and watch Henry run in a 50K. Alabama is not one of the first places I typically think of as an enjoyable vacation destination but this race is located in Cheaha State Park, highest point in the Alabama, and the mountains are beautiful! We lucked out with the weather as well, rain on Friday and Sunday but 70s and sunny on Saturday.
This is the 3rd time Henry has run in this race and this year proved even more eventful than the previous. We stayed in the same adorable stone cabin we did last year and Mom, Dad, Mark and I have the crewing "thing" down . . . or so we thought.
Henry started off strong, as always and at the first aid station was in 2nd place. He then held 4th place through the 2nd and 3rd aid stations. It's only 3.6 miles between station 3 and 4, and the terrain is relatively flat. The aid station is about a mile into the woods accessed by a rough forest road, we got there quickly and were waited for the runners. The first 4 runners came though (not Henry) and then there was a lull. After a few minutes we heard someone yelling in the wood "ahhh" "ahhh" "ahhh". Everyone started to get concerned and as soon as the runner yelled "help" 4 guys from the aid station, including Dad and Mark took off down the trail to help.
As the rest of us waited to see what was going on a couple more runners came through the aid station and said there was a coyote. Now we were all worried. A few minutes later one of the men who went to help came back and called the forest ranger to report a possibly rabid coyote on the trail. A group of race workers came and got the location coordinates to report to the forest service. Then, finally, Henry came running down the trail. . . and of course, he's the one with the story to tell. He was quite shaken but refilled his water bottles and kept on trucking. Here's why:
As he was running he suddenly came across a coyote that started coming after him. He picked up a stick and started to scare it off but his legs began to cramp. By the time Dad, Mark and the other helpers arrived the coyote had backed Henry off the trail and proceeded to lay back down in the trail. Even though Henry warned them, the helpers nearly ran right into the coyote and pushed it back towards Henry. At this point, Henry had no other choice but to climb a tree for safety as the coyote laid down at the base of the tree.
Dad and Mark started throwing sticks at it and eventually got it to move down a side trail in the woods. Henry got out of the tree slowly with lots of leg cramps at this point and headed on his way. Dad and Mark stayed in the woods warning other runners and making sure the coyote stayed down the side trail. They came back about 30 minutes later after trying to wait for the Ranger to arrive. The animal was obviously very sick or hurt, most likely rabid which explains why it was acting so strangely in the middle of the day. (Yes, you read that right, Henry was "treed" by a coyote!)
We eventually left the 3rd aid station and met up with Henry at aid station 6. From 6 to the finish is 3 miles of steep rock climbing to the highest point in Alabama and Henry usually excels during this stage in the race. This year was no exception, he finished with a personal record for this race 5:13:10 and came in 11th place!
By the time he finished the race rumors were already flying up and down the trail. The race director thought someone has been mauled by a coyote. Most others heard a coyote bit someone and thought the story was so crazy they didn't believe it.
After some recovery time we all went on a short hike to an overlook called Pulpits Point where we enjoyed gorgeous views of the mountain range.
The weekend was a short, fun and a very eventful one that will not soon be forgotten! We're already looking forward to what next years Mt. Cheaha 50K will bring!
No comments:
Post a Comment