Muddy Morning in Christchurch

A misty morning in Christchurch, New Zealand seemed much colder than 33 degrees as I ran through Hagely Park. It's a massive green space where I enjoyed my trot along a small canal until a construction detour took me off track. Nearly a year after a devastating earthquake, the city still labored with water drainage issues. Work on the curb, gutter and water piped led to large construction vehicles creating mud holes all about the edge of the park. I ventured away from the mess out into an open filed (which was cordoned off). One of the distinct disadvantages of running in the dark came as I soon realized the field was a huge mud puddle.

As I tried to cautiously negotiate a way out my left shoe got stuck and slipped off in the mud. I've long since learned not to make abrupt stops in the mud. That never works out well. So I ended up taking as many as three steps in the cold muck before turning around to go back for my shoe. I was less than ten minutes into the morning run. So, I put the shoe back on and walked out of the mud.  Rather than being upset (and who was there to blame- I crossed the line into the field and I chose to run in the dark) I decide this little event would make the first jog in New Zealand memorable, and so it did.

As I jogged through the large park I fondly recalled my childhood were as boys we relished playing in the mud. The dirt came off and I lived back then and the same held true this time as well. Once I lightened up, the fun was on par with time of my youth stomping around in the mud just for the sake of it.

Have fun. Get dirty. Run.

Tom