My hawk running buddies
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 10:36 am
Today you all get two stories for the price of one! Huzzah!
Story number 1:
A few years ago when I was at Purdue I used to run along a path that followed the river through the woods. It was my escape into nature. Unfortunately Indiana is kind of a weird state and the people of Lafayette weren’t always the most respectful of young women out for a run by themselves in the woods. So I got in the habit of carrying a large stick with me on river runs. Sometimes even just being weirder than the weirdos helps fend them off. One day as I was running along my stick had to fend off a different type of attacker: a hawk. It had come swooping out of the forest straight for my head. Maybe I looked like a tree with my big stick, long limbs, and above average height? I don’t know. But it took a few laps around me while I flailed and yelled at it to please not hurt me before it disappeared back into the woods and I sprinted the remaining two miles home.
Story number 2:
Today I was training with my running group and somehow I had gotten stuck running alone. It was hot and too damn humid (and by that I mean 100% humidity so it felt like I was breathing water) and I still had about a mile and a half left on our 5.5 mile run. I thought I was dying. Did I eat enough? Probably. Had I had enough water? Probably not but the air was full of it. Was I breathing harder than usual? Most definitely. I didn’t think I was going to make it. So I sent a few words to a few of my favorite gods and a few extra beings just to be thorough. About a minute later I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye and look over to see a hawk had landed on the ground next to me and was proceeding to try to awkwardly hop alongside me. I stopped and turned towards it to see if it needed help and also to tell it not to hurt me. It looked me in the eyes and I could see fear there but I’m sure it could also see the fear in my eyes as well. It then jumped into the air and soared off. Somehow then I was able to muster a tiny bit more energy to plow through the rest of that run. Part of it was definitely fueled by adrenaline the rest I’d like to believe was gifted to me by my new hawk friend.
Story number 1:
A few years ago when I was at Purdue I used to run along a path that followed the river through the woods. It was my escape into nature. Unfortunately Indiana is kind of a weird state and the people of Lafayette weren’t always the most respectful of young women out for a run by themselves in the woods. So I got in the habit of carrying a large stick with me on river runs. Sometimes even just being weirder than the weirdos helps fend them off. One day as I was running along my stick had to fend off a different type of attacker: a hawk. It had come swooping out of the forest straight for my head. Maybe I looked like a tree with my big stick, long limbs, and above average height? I don’t know. But it took a few laps around me while I flailed and yelled at it to please not hurt me before it disappeared back into the woods and I sprinted the remaining two miles home.
Story number 2:
Today I was training with my running group and somehow I had gotten stuck running alone. It was hot and too damn humid (and by that I mean 100% humidity so it felt like I was breathing water) and I still had about a mile and a half left on our 5.5 mile run. I thought I was dying. Did I eat enough? Probably. Had I had enough water? Probably not but the air was full of it. Was I breathing harder than usual? Most definitely. I didn’t think I was going to make it. So I sent a few words to a few of my favorite gods and a few extra beings just to be thorough. About a minute later I catch some movement out of the corner of my eye and look over to see a hawk had landed on the ground next to me and was proceeding to try to awkwardly hop alongside me. I stopped and turned towards it to see if it needed help and also to tell it not to hurt me. It looked me in the eyes and I could see fear there but I’m sure it could also see the fear in my eyes as well. It then jumped into the air and soared off. Somehow then I was able to muster a tiny bit more energy to plow through the rest of that run. Part of it was definitely fueled by adrenaline the rest I’d like to believe was gifted to me by my new hawk friend.