West Hill wackiness

Well, I wasn't there to witness it personally, but Adam Ten reports the following incident from his run this afternoon with resident WHTC groupie, Jeff Hill:

(n.b. edited for length and content)

"so i'm running with jeff and we try the trails, make it like 2 miles before we ditch it and decide to run the canal. so we are running out and back on the canal and he turns back early and i keep going to add on. eventually he meets up with me and he is soaking wet standing there. i was like WTF??? he said a construction worker wouldnt let him run by, grabbed and threw him into the river. i was like hahaha, so we look around, try to get around the river somehow but it curves around a water pipe, so im just like f*ck it, lets just sprint by and see what happens....so i lead off and jeff is right in back of me so i start booking, swerving in and out of construction vehicles and this f'ing bull dozer throws it in reverse, floors it and comes within 6 inches of my knee. all the construction guys are screaming f*ck you asshole, GET THE F*CK OUT OF HERE...i look back, jeff is gone, and i think he gets attacked but then i see him at the medical center running the opposite way. i keep running back and forth to see if he swims across. after a while i give up, run back to the car to go search for him and he walks around the corner soaking wet. he said he was swimming for a solid 5 min to try and cross but it was too deep and too strong a current so he got out and said he ran like a a 60 second quarter and went ape shit."

Now, those of you out there reading this may find such an occurence to be greatly exaggerated and/or even fabricated - heck, I was rolling my eyes as it was being reported to me - but, believe it or not, such a scenario is not all that unlikely when its said to have happened at West Hill. Just last summer, for instance, Adam and I were running on our beloved trails when we were stopped dead in our tracks by a snarling - not to mention unleashed - dog of an unknown species. Eventually, a slightly inebriated man came down the trail on mountain bike and leashed the animal, failing to acknowledge our presence or even ask if we were alright. Anyways, Adam lets him know in no uncertain terms that there is indeed a leash law at the Dam and he'd wise to adhere to it. Well, this man didn't take too kindly to Adam's advice and chased us on his bike, running us off the trail before grabbing Adam and proceeding to strike him on the head while calling him a "little faggy fairy". Needless to say, we've never seen that clown again. It just goes to show, however, that you never know what to expect when it comes to West Hill.

Moving on to my own running adventures today, or lack thereof I should say, I was feeling a bit knackered this morning and ran an easy 10 miles from home in just under 70 minutes. The weather was beautiful, however, so it was nice to revel in the sunshine and warm temperatures before the shit (likely frozen) hits the fan again this weekend. Tomorrow looks fairly pleasant, which bodes well for my morning run and at night I'll be on the indoor track, so if Mother Nature feels like being a whore, then it won't bother me one bit. Come Saturday though, well, here's to hoping she keeps her clothes on.

And that pretty much does it for this entry, except for the quote of the day, which can be found below. Check back tomorrow - you never know what you might find. Take it easy.

To change one's life: 1. Start immediately, 2. Do it flamboyantly, 3. No exceptions.
-William James