A route I run with one of my friends takes us along a few wooded areas and footpaths. A few weeks ago during the high winds some small trees had been broken and lay across the path. Not a big issue and I had joked to my friend on a run that it was like running the hurdles.
We went on the same route yesterday and the tress have been cleared and the trunks sawn off short. I mentioned to my friend that meant no more hurdle practice which reminded her that she had not told me the story about them.
She said she was running along the path a week ago and saw a woman wrapping coloured tape around the split trunk. She stopped partly out of curiosity and partly because he way was blocked by the woman. When she asked, the woman told her that she was trying to make it safer. The woman's daughter-in-law and her had been out for a walk with their dogs when one of the dogs jumped the tree but pulled her daughter-in-law over and onto the tree stump. The woman said the felt sick when she saw the sharp piece of the tree sticking out of the back of the young woman's tee shirt and thought the worst. She was extremely lucky as she had fallen just to the side of the trunk, it had gone through the arm of her tee shirt and between her bra strap and her skin. She had a nasty scratch but it didn't piece the skin but did rip the back of her tee shirt. had she fallen an inch to the right and it would have been much worse.
The thought of that made my blood run cold and brought back memories of a nasty fall I had earlier this year.
It is strange, when you have children, you are constantly on the look out for hazards such as that to ensure they are safe but never really give the same consideration when they are not around.
We continued our run but I think I will be a lot less 'care-free' when jumping over things in the future. Even just relaying the story brings on a shiver.
My last run before Saturday’s event...
Stress-busting run?! 🤣 
Running in the cold & dark - advice please!
