Hello folks - I'm new here, but I've met a few of you on some of the Striders runs. I signed up for the Flying Monkey and ran the 11.2 this weekend, but in spite of warnings I ran about half of it in the dark. I posted this on the Flying Monkey website: Yesterday I was in Murfreesboro and thought since I was close enough to Nashville I would drive to PWP and run the 11.2. This would be the 2nd time I’ve ever ran it, and I got to the Stone Gates at about 6:30 pm. I knew this would mean at about mile 7 it would be pretty dark, but I really needed to run (I think the 11.2 would bring my weekly mileage up to 20 miles – pretty sad.) Anyway – I go into the park and nothing much unusual. I did notice the 0.5 mile marker which is placed where it felt like I had been 2 or 3 miles – nice – I’ll try NOT to look for that the next time. The course was as tough as I remembered and I was slogging along at close to a 10 min/mile pace. At mile 7, I realized what a mistake it was to forget my flashlight. I thought about how it would suck to run in circles in the dark the rest of the night, but oh well, there was nothing I could do except keep running. Somewhere between the 9th and 10th mile, I was jogging along comfortably, thinking about 100 different things, none of which was the fact I was in complete darkness in an unfamiliar park in the woods. Then out of nowhere something nails me in the back of the head! WTF!!! It felt like someone had slapped me in the back of the head with an open hand then grabbed a hand full of my hair. Whatever it was hit me hard enough to make me stumble forward and make the sound you make when someone suckerpunches you in the stomach. I whirled around thinking, “You son of a…” - but no one was there. If I had verbalized my thoughts at that point, I probably would have screamed like a school girl…but there was no time for that - I’m suddenly in “fight or flight” mode…and since I can’t SEE anything to fight, I ran like hell. I was wondering if my head was bleeding and thinking that it would really suck if whatever it was hit me from the front and got my face. Fortunately, in spite of the darkness and my unfamiliarity with the park, I made the right turns, and was REALLY HAPPY to see the park exit. Needless to say, the last part of my run, was…not so fun…but A LOT faster than the first part of it. The only good thing about this was, instead of a 10 min/mile pace which I probably would have had, I ended up with about a 9:38 pace. So seriously – I don’t think this was a bat because it hit too hard for something that small. I’m thinking it may have been an owl, but it’s not that common for owls to attack people. Any ideas what this may have been? Anybody else had this happen? Are shotguns allowed in the park? Since then I did some searching...and found this: http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/2357516/ So I think the monkeys have made an alliance with the owls now. When I saw the video of the other guy I realized I probably looked pretty funny when it hit me...but I didn't laugh at the time. I probably won't be running PWP in the dark again - so just be careful out there folks!

I wonder if it was a baby monkey. Or an adolescent, playing with its food if you will.

Yes. This is what I experienced when I was attacked...except that it pulled my hair. Baby monkey. Gotta be.

By the way...is this Manchester Tony?

Yes - this is the Manchester Tony Jake - is VO2 Max a shampoo?

Hey Candice! You're one of the 4 in the Monkey group that I've seen in real life Did you do your Olympic Tri yet?

I didn't get to do Fall Creek Falls...so no. But i'm doing Music City Sept 14th! How's the swimming going?

Good I think I'll try some. I have a feeling there's a bald spot in the back of my head now. Am I the only one in this group who hasn't ran the Monkey?

Good I think I'll try some. I have a feeling there's a bald spot in the back of my head now. Am I the only one in this group who hasn't ran the Monkey?

Who are you? Do I know you? Who am I? Who are any of us? My God, its full of stars. Candice never runs anything. But she wins all the training runs. And has rock-like abs.

Who are you? Do I know you? Who am I? Who are any of us? My God, its full of stars. Candice never runs anything. But she wins all the training runs. And has rock-like abs.

You don't look familiar - is your avatar a recent picture? I've met Candice, House, and Trent briefly on training runs. I live in Manchester, so you probably don't know me.