Adventures on Wasp Bridge

Today I went back to Cook's Trail. I wanted to try it again. I ran with my friend Sally, who is SUPER FAST, but seemed interested in trying a new trail.

It's always better to run with someone, so I was thrilled she came out there.

Also, I heard rumors that there is a giant turtle who lives under one of the boardwalks, and sometimes you can see him out and about eating leaves. I want to see the turtle!

We met at 8 a.m. Which was still too early for me, but the air was already muggy. I didn't want to run any later because it would be HOT.

I got to the nature center early (no traffic) and had time to stretch and watch other hikers and runners, who thankfully cleared the spider webs before us.

We started our run and Matt met us, he wanted to do the route, but in the opposite direction. So we ran together for about 3.5 miles.

We started off slow. A nice warm up run. I thought the split was TOO slow but I think that's actually what you're supposed to do for the first mile of a long run.

The warning
At about mile two, we were met by two of the ladies I'd seen leave a few minutes before us (they were wearing knee socks, which seemed like a very smart idea). They were running back. The stopped us to tell us about WASPS. A swarm of angry wasps on a bridge. One lady was stung five times. The other once.

This freaked me right out. I was scared. I HATE WASPS.

The ladies told us our best bet was to sprint one at a time over the bridge IF we had to cross.

We were 2 miles in an 8 mile run. I needed to get my miles in. Matt needed to get back to his car. Ugh.

We decided to see how bad the bridge was and then decide.

They told us it was the second section of the metal bridge.

So every bridge we went across with trepidation. We finally got to a two section bridge. I hung back and didn't want to cross it. Matt crossed it. Sally crossed it. Nothing. I ran for my life. And nothing. Maybe the next bridge? But there wasn't a next bridge.

We hypothesized that maybe the wasps were just passing through. I was imagining a huge black cloud of buzzing wasps.

We ran to the halfway point in the trail and turned around. Matt left us for another route. And again, a group of three ladies stopped us to warn us of the wasps. We didn't see them the first time, we told them.

We kept running. At a good pace, I should add. And we saw another runners we knew.

"Hi Katie," I saw to a lady who I think works at one of the running stores. And Sally and I discuss whether it was Katie. I say we'll find out on Strava later.

The wasps
And then we come to the bridge not worried at all. I run across it.

And Sally runs across it and Sally screams. She has found the wasps.

My response was to take off like Usain bolt across the second bridge. I don't want to be anywhere near wasps.

Sally catches up and says she hasn't been stung. I'm about to start running again, when it's clear she needs a minute. I'm looking at her for wasps, when I notice that her shirt is BUZZING—specifically the shoulder that's closest to me.

"It's in your shirt," I say. "TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT."

Yes, I'm with my new friend in middle of the woods telling her to take off her clothes.

She whips the shirt of in a nanosecond and throws it to the ground. (I don't know any other way to get a wasp out of a shirt).

No stings.

And I look at her. What do we do?

She's ready to leave the shirt. But it's her Ath-Half shirt. So we should try to get the wasp out, right?

We poke at it with sticks. The wasp is still in there. Eventually, she unfolds the shirt and the wasp is sitting there dazed. In a few seconds, it walks off the shirt. I'm wondering if she's going to let it fly away, but she clobbers in with a big stick.

She puts the shirt back on (I wouldn't have!) and we set back to our run. Completely weirded out. It was so scary. Ugh.

We finish our run and can't stop talking about the wasp. We warn people we see. The wasps bothered other people too.

I am SO GLAD we didn't get stung. It was kind of an adventure, but super scary. No more wasps. Katie saw a snake on her run. And no one saw the turtle, so......not the creatures we were looking for.

And if you need a new interval workout, just sprint the bridges and boardwalks on Cook's Trail.