Trouble with the Locals

I've had trouble with the locals this morning. Unexpected really but they blocked my path whilst I was out running. Have I told you how much I love running? I haven't? Well pull up a chair and I'll continue....

I love running. 

But there is more to it than just donning running shoes (don't call then trainers - it upsets me) and heading out. Yes at it's most simplistic that is what it is, but beyond being a great way to keep fit there is so much more. There's the freedom of being out, the pleasure of getting somewhere under your own power but above all that it takes you places that otherwise you wouldn't be.

Take my run this morning, for example. I headed out along the coastal track and I had the whole place to myself. Within just 4km I headed down through the 'bush' to arrive at a secluded bay. It was deserted and, judging by the lack of footprints, I was the first one to visit today. I plonked by bum on the sand and stared out to sea. 

At the risk if sounding all new-agey, it was a real soul cleansing experience. Alone. 

OK so I was only a short run away from civilisation but it was not too much of a stretch of the imagination to feel like a castaway. Except that wouldn't have been remotely funny - I only had a few jelly beans to eat and I'm not much of a fisherman. That would've been irrelevant anyway - I'd have gone mad well before I starved without a stable broadband connection!

But is was wonderful whilst it lasted. Which was about ten minutes as I was getting bored. There is only so much soul searching one can do before getting a little fed up. So it time to get back on track and head for home.

And that is where I ran into problems with the locals. I was just getting into my stride when I rounded a corner and saw them blocking the track. No amount of coercion or stern words would move them and allow me passage. It was a stale mate - I couldn't go back and they wouldn't move. 

I got closer to them, tentatively so as to not provoke them, but to no avail. Staring wasn't working either. They we clearly used to foreigners trying to bully their way along their track. Eventually they got fed up and stood aside whilst I gingerly passed them.

 

I completed the run at a somewhat slower pace in case I came across another bunch. 

My time for the 9km run was terrible but at least I got back. I did manage to take a sneaky photo of the perpetrators in case I needed to report them to the authorities. See for your self....