Over the past several years I have found good luck charms while running the trails. Typically I find one a year and that item sets the theme for the year. I started noticing this trend a few years back when I found an empty rattle from a growing snake while I was running up the pavement on Little Mountain in Emigration Canyon. I was training for the St. George Marathon. I took it home to Sophie, she was in first grade, and she thought it was pretty cool. I guess the significance of the shedded rattle was that I was coming out of my shell and becoming a runner (weak explanation but read on, it gets better).
I like to think that I have recieved my annual “sign from the running Gods”, probably I was just not aware this phenomenon until three years ago.....and here’s how it goes:
2006 Snake Karma: I was running down Dry Creek and heard the infamous “che-che-che-rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr” I responded with this amazing quantam leap forward and yes, doing the big girlie scream, and I avoided the viper. When I landed and I knew that I was in safe distance, I started to walk as I shook off the embarassment of the scream. But then I thought, I want to see the snake. So I turned around and gingerly snuck back up the trail. I caught glimpse of the asp, it was just off the trail, hidden in the short foliage. Curious..... it was not coiled. I continued towards the viper and it rattled again, but all I could tell was that it was not coiled....was it injured? I looked all around, slowly creaped and then I finally got close enough to see the tail.....and then the head....but the head was oddly shaped. Eeeeewwww, the snake was mid-snack. It had a mouse (head in, tail out) in its mouth. I couldn’t tell if the mouse tail was still moving. Thoughts were flying through my head “he’s committed, he can’t spit that thing out” “no wonder why he wasn’t coiling” and finally I realized “I could walk up to that snake and pet it”. Hmmmm, then I immediately felt sorry for the poor beast, what a bad place for the snake to have such a fine catch, lots of running and
biking traffic. I just felt it would be wrong. The snake should enjoy his snack.
Pretty much think that incident has brought me good Snake Karma. Since then I have seen snakes, heard the rattles, but not even a close call. Running in the Wasatch there are certain creatures you have to be worried about, rattle snakes, cougars, bears, and human weirdos. I think I am most afraid of a snake bite. The other day I was running and I saw a snake head in the grass (black, no rattles attached) and its tongue was popping out. I did a girlie scream and then just laughed, I think the snake was a sideline fan just cheering me on.
Later on that summer I was running an Ultra ( I will not disclose which one for fear that the cowboy in those parts does care that he lost his lucky horseshoe). So I saw a shoe on the trail, picked it up, and when I saw Peter at the next aid station I said “don’t need to restock my pack but here, take this”. Of course he made some comment of 'why are you weighing down your pack', blah, blah, blah. I was just happy to have my lucky horse shoe thrown back to me by the running Gods, you think the second time they would have clocked me on the head.
This horse shoe was truely lucky. Last year I bested my Wasatch time by 4 hours, I won the Western States lottery (18% chance of winning), and I won the Wasatch lottery, going for buckle #4.
2008 The Rack: This spring weather has been tough on ultrarunners in the Wasatch. It is June and most of my favorite trails are still
under snow. So I have spent a lot of time on the Bonneville shoreline trail and all the side options from the zoo to city creek. The biggest elevation in this section is to climb up to Black Mountain. I like this run because once you get off the shoreline, you don’t see a lot of traffic (bikes). One day in April as I neared the level of the pine trees (where the steep section
starts) here were two mountain bikers, sitting in those soft crazy creek chairs with a cooler and empty beer cans surrounding them. It was like an oasis (except that the guy wasn't Peter), one of them jumped up and offered me a brew. Kinda freaked me out. I declined the offer, can’t drink beer mid-run. One of them had pulled the cooler of beer up on a little bike trailer. I chatted with them for a while, I have never seen mtn bikes up this high however they told me that they bike to the top of Black Mtn at least a couple times a year.
The guys were at the level of the snow line and the trail above them was covered by windblown-punch through-inconsistant snow (yuk), so I opted to turn around and go back down. I happened to walk over to a snow bank, I looked down and saw a set of antlers coming out of the snowbank. I reached down and grabbed them, not thinking they could still be attached to something. The rack came as a unit, 2 antlers attached to a piece of skull. Cool. The guys were impressed and if I wasn’t such a tough looking ultra runner, they probably would have taken the horns away (sometimes I just like to think I am tough). So I ran home with them. The whole way I didn’t think of the consequences of stealing wildlife (was this illegal?), I just thought of the consequence of tripping and impaling myself with the horn. Many people I passed were sure checking me out, rack envy, alas I arrived home safely.
Now I say “rack” but that is subjective. Who or what were they attached to? What is the meaning from this sign from the running gods? I firmly believe that this rack comes from the all-mythical Jack-a-lope. This summer I am supposed to “Run Rabbit Run”.
RUN RABBIT RUN
STRIKE OUT BOYS, FOR THE HILLS -the Clash
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