Yet again other commitments pushed today's run into the hours of darkness. Only a 5k, but this was my 143m gain hill run along a forest trail. On my warm up walk down from the housing estate onto the trail I encountered a man with a small dog sporting a glowing green collar (yes the dog, not the man).We exchanged a few words and then I got ready to run. Watch set, switch headlight on..............no light!! Battery was flat as a pancake. 😡 So I berated myself, politely, and prepared for the homeward walk of shame!! However, to my surprise, the man with the dog reached into his pocket and produced a head torch. He explained that he used to run until at age 65 his knees failed him. He handed me the torch, gave me his address and said "just push it through the letter box on the way home". What a guy! He is still a runner at heart that is for sure. So off I went!
It was really dark. Early on I encountered three people on horses coming towards me, all sporting headlights. I shielded mine to avoid spooking the animals. Then a spaniel appeared out of nowhere, carrying a yard long stick in its mouth...almost tripped but not quite! Finally I was on my own, running with eyes glued to the illuminated spot in front of me. It was tricky; it is hard to pick up changes in level in the dark, so you get a shock when the ground under your feet is either closer to the bottom of your foot or further away than you thought. I stumbled once but no harm done. For the most part it was just me, a hooting owl and the dark. Near to the end I heard a dog yapping, and saw a couple of men approaching. I never saw the dog, but felt a cold wet nose on my leg when I stopped to let the men pass through a gate. Think it was the dog ..,,,,,,
Run time was 3.5 minutes behind hill PB pace, but who cares! VO2 max didn't penalise me so all good. And yes, I did remember to return the torch.
Thanks for rescuing my run fellow runner; you are a true gent and definitely still a runner at heart ! 🙂
Written by
Beachcomber66
Graduate10
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We did a few night runs last winter and my favourite were dusk runs, i like to see the track, but I really enjoyed running along the seafront which is lit up, all the lights make me feel like Christmas, I grew up on a farm and owls and bats were a usual thing, loved watching the bats fly against a moonlit sky
Yes; no moon tonight. I have run this route lots of times, so I am pretty confident (I wouldn't try a new route for the first time in the dark) but I must admit that my depth perception isn't the same by torch light, hence the odd little stumble.
What an exciting run you had Beachcomber66. Running a trail in the dark sounds very similar to skiing in bad light where you have to react to whatever you feel beneath the knees. How great that someone came to the rescue with a head torch too. Perhaps if you are going to continue to run in the dark, you should get a glowing collar too.
I got to meet a fellow musketeer last night - watch out for a post.
Daunting 😳. I yet have to learn how to run in the dark, so reading posts that make it “real” is good... so thank you! Although still daunting for me🤭. I’ll see how I feel after my first ever runner’s winter.
I think that sticking to routes you know well is key. I have been on a night run up to a high point under a very starry sky: it was amazing, but we had a number of guides with us who knew the territory very well. I would not have attempted that on my own.
Mine is just an old head light I bought for night fishing expeditions, but it is really good...when charged!
A wonderful description of your run Beachcomber. It really brings a night run to life. I’ve yet to try one as I can manage to get my runs in during the day but your post makes me want to try it. Our local run club’s C25k group ran past where I live yesterday evening, dozens of head torches bobbing and flashing through the darkness. It looked wonderful!
I have only done one group night run, but it was amazing. Up to the Wainstones in North Yorkshire with a view of the lights from the settlements below stretching out into the distance and the cloudless starry sky above. Somebody found the song "Vincent" on their I-phone. A special evening. It would have been very dangerous without the experienced team members who knew the terrain really well though. I wouldn't want to encourage anyone to take risks.
Sounds an interesting experience BC and one I must try sometime. What a lovely response by your acquaintance - do you think he carries it around just in case he meets a runner in distress?😜
Great stuff JP. I think his reason for carrying the light is more basic than that; he needs it spot the poop for poop scooping!! I inspected it very carefully before putting it on 🙂
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