Wednesday, May 27, 2009

10 Things I Wouldn't Like to Run Into

1. A bear. There are a lot of bears in Pemberton, where we spend most weekends. Apparently the LAST thing you should do if you see them is run. SO, what if you're running and he sees you first???
2. A pack of youths. Especially if they've been drinking. Apparently the LAST thing you should do if you see them is run...

(Me running in Pemberton, no bears in sight)

3. Another racoon (yes I've run into them before) . They are not cute. They are rather fierce looking little creatures with jagged teeth and sharp claws. Yeah, I know, what isn't cute about that?

4. A shootout. It's a bit like the Wild West out here lately, except instead of duels between men with names like Whiskey Joe and Willy One Arm, there are turf wars going on between gangs with names like the Red Scorpions and the United Nations.

5. People copulating on the beach. I do a lot of evening runs and some of my routes take me past secluded beaches. Places where people like to go on dates. Luckily so far I haven't had any unfortunate views of gross stuff. 6. A foot. Last year there were a lot of news stories about feet washing up on the shores of British Columbia. Left foot in sneaker, right foot in tennis shoe, etc... Well I haven't come across one of those so far and that's ok by me. 7. A snake. I don't care how tiny or how harmless, I don't like the way they slither. Actually I don't like the fact they don't have legs. 8. Quicksand. Especially if it was starting to get dark outside and I couldn't extract a hand to reach my cell phone. And there wasn't a vine hanging down arms-length away. 9. A landslide. This is most likely to occur when I'm on the far side of Stanley Park in Vancouver. The seawall there was actually closed for quite a few months in 2007 after a huge storm caused several slides. This is a rather narrow path with a rocky shoreline on one side and a sheer cliff rising up hundreds of feet on the other. Nice view though...
(CTV News photo of landslide, November 13, 2008
10. My arch rival. Actually, this is a fantasy. I wish I was competitive enough to warrant a running nemesis, but sadly I'm not. One can dream...

10 comments:

jaa22 said...

You would not like running in Florida then. I see snake frequently on runs. Haven't stepped on one yet though..

Kristin @ The Southern Summer said...

Haha too funny. I used to have a running nemesis. She was actually the reason I started to get more "competitive" with my times.

She is now injured and doesn't really run anymore. Sad? Yes. Unfortunate? Yes. Am I glad I ran a marathon before her? Yes.

I would hate to run into a foot, or a bear for that matter. Both would be scary!

BBC of Eugene said...

Hey there Bebe I hope all is well....Nice photo of you running toward the beautiful mountains...I agree seeing a bear probably wouldn't be the best thing.....keep smiling...

Lonewolf

I Run for Fun said...

Such a lovely pic! I guess running in such beautiful surroundings comes with a price.

I run in a tame neighborhood, and none of that applies to me! I do see roadkill pretty frequently.

Oz Runner said...

stumbled on your blog, thought i'd say hello...enjoyed this post..i wouldn't want to run into any of those things either ( ;

Trevor said...

A friend and I hiked down the Hobbit Trail once on the Oregon coast and came out to a very nice beach. It was a misty day and as we were enjoying the view a lady came walking toward us out of the mist. It took us a minute to realize that she was completely naked and then another moment to realize we were standing right next to her clothes! It didn't take us long to hike back UP the Hobbit trail...

Mark said...

I enjoyed your post! Hope you find a nemesis, it makes racing so much fun!

chris mcpeake said...

Great blog.. we clearly share some of the same fears although our shoot outs in TO are more Urban related.

Stuart said...

Oh you so need to get a nemesis, try posting an ad on Twitter! Seriously

jeannie said...

i liked #2. a funny list but i guess if you were to really encounter them, they wouldn't be so funny.