Invented a New Extreme Sport

RAILROAD RUNNING!!!(don't try this at home, kids.)

Our usual running club's group run route is on a road that runs parallel to GA Hwy 41. (Yep, same hwy 41 the Allman Brothers sing about in Ramblin' Man.) There are railroad tracks up on a hill between the two roads. When Scott and I reached the point where we planned to turn around, we decided for a change to run on 41 instead of going back the way we came.

Y'know, there's apparently a good reason our club doesn't run on 41. The traffic will kill you and keep on going without thinking twice. So we decided to cross over. We climbed the hill to the railroad tracks and then realized that there was a pretty wide stretch of kudzu between us and our intended route. (Kudzu are vines that are often full of snakes-you'd have to live in the southeast US to really get it. To give you a mental picture, that's an abandoned house in the picture.) So we ran the railroad tracks for about a third of a mile and it was SO-MUCH-FUN!!! I'm sure it's illegal and I certainly don't endorse it as a regular activity, but it was either get run over by a car, be bitten by rattlesnakes or run the railroad for a few minutes. We chose the lesser of three evils.

Running while watching to make sure that each foot hits the next railroad tie feels almost like playing hopscotch. I'm still amazed that I didn't turn my ankle between a railroad tie and the gravel between them. Not to mention the slightly naughty and dangerous element. :D Cars and other runners down on the road watched us like we were crazy - and they were right, but we didn't care. Alas, we got to a road that crosses over and our fun had to come to an end. But we definitely accomplished our goal of injecting some variety into our long run!