Originally posted on December 1, 2014, by cruisingrunner
The running options here in Opua, New Zealand are endless. There are roads and trails going in all directions, and we are currently docked at a marina, so the only effort I need to make to go for a run is to step off the boat. No paddle boarding to a beach with my shoes draped around my neck. No dropping the dinghy and getting one of the boys to give me a ride ashore. Just a large step, almost a leap at times, from Exodus to the dock.
My first adventure took me north from one end of the marina to the other, and I kept going until I noticed a small trail that continued along the water. I had no idea where it would lead or if it would turn into an uphill hike, but I went for it anyway. It turned out to be a pleasant, mostly flat, run along the water. It was a very narrow trail, though, so I had to slow down or move off to the side to get around other walkers, but they were few and far between. Mostly it was a quiet run, and even though I had taken my iPhone with me to listen to the gazillion new podcasts I’ve downloaded since we have internet, I mostly kept it off. I enjoyed the quiet and the lapping of the water against the shore. When it was about time for me to turn around, I came across a smaller trail leading up with a sign that said, “lookout 5 min.” Five minutes was pretty accurate, but it was pretty steep, so I didn’t exactly run to the top. It wasn’t the best view, since there was a lot of obstruction by trees, but had I not gone up I would have wondered about it all the way back home.
For my second adventure I headed south from the marina. There is a bike trail on top of an old railway line, and it is the perfect track on which to do a long run. I was creaky and tired, and I could tell from the beginning that the run would be a slog. We were up late the night before playing card games with friends, and I was a little stiff and sore from the first run after taking so much time off. But it was a beautiful route, and the remnants of the railway are pretty obvious. You can see the rails under the dirt and gravel in many places, and there are many old and rundown wooden signs left in place, intentional for effect, I’m sure. The most obvious, and the most charming, was a short, narrow stone tunnel through one of the hillsides. As I approached, I thought, “how cool, I get to run through a train tunnel,” and as I got closer, I was relieved to see that it was short enough that the light from the other end seemed to pick up before this side gave out, so I would never be totally in the dark. However, as I got closer still, I began to feel scared. Seriously, scared. Irrationally, scared. I talked myself into going through, I mean, there was no way I was going to end my run here and turn around. Without too much thought my pace quickened. Then, when I got about a third of the way through, I saw a dark cutout on the wall on one side of the tunnel, and that floored me. I sprinted the rest of the way with the fury of someone running for their life. When I got to the other side, I laughed at myself for being so silly, but I also learned something. I learned that I wasn’t as creaky and tired and sore as I thought I was. That was just a mental roadblock I was allowing myself to have, but fear in a dark tunnel kicked that roadblock over. The rest of the run was a good one, including the second sprint through the tunnel on the way back.
We are still getting the lay of the land here. There’s not much in Opua besides a marina and boat related vendors and contractors, but there are some nice towns nearby, and we are intending to buy a car, so we’ll be able to do much more exploring soon.
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 