24 January 2008
Runner vs Mechanized World
Posted by Matt Stargardt under: Matt Stargardt; Welcome! .
This morning I had a brush with another mechanized vehicle attempting to run me over. 6:00 am and dark on the peaceful Whitepine trail. I like running on the trail because it is vehicle free. So when the single light appeared in the distance, I initially thought……God, its the old engineer riding the spectral express searching for his lost wallet. This is a running joke between myself and the co-worker I run with.
Evidently, legend has it that back in the early 1900’s, a train left Grand Rapids headed for Traverse city up the rails that have since become the Whitepine trail. The engineer, before departing Rockford, had a bad feeling, and sent a package containing his wallet and all of his money to his wife. Later that day the Train was involved in a head on collision outside of Kingsley, killing the engineer instantly. So the legend is that he still wanders the trail looking for his lost wallet. I don’t know if he harvests the souls of runners…..but I am not taking risks. Runners are rare on trail at the time we run, but there is a particular runner that we assume wears a head lamp (we can see the light bobbing towards us), and we have encountered many times , but we have yet to ever pass face to face. This guy definitely could be the the engineer, although the most likely candidate was a runner we passed dressed head to toe in flannel with an old hunting cap on. I swear he had no eyes.
So this morning the light looked different. It was bright and moving swiftly.
“Miner 49er?” (The other nickname for the engineer)
“I don’t have his wallet”
“Its not bobbing like a runner”
“Train?”
“Too quiet for a train, doesn’t sound like tornado”
“Plow?”
“Probably….weird that its out this early”
“Its moving fast for a plow”
“Snowmobile?”
“Its the Whitepine trail….there’s no snowmobiles on here”
“Engineer could have gotten a new machine….Gets old walking the trail”
“That thing is really moving”
“Spectral beast?”
“Yamaha”
That’s when the light lit us up like three deer staring into the high-beams of a semi. We are both dressed head to toe black, and the white dog that is running between is barely distinguishable from the snow trail. I jump left, My coworker heads right. The dog (an intimidating labradoodle) stares down the beast, and stands strong in the middle of the trail. Actually, she is frozen by fear. The snowmachine skids to a stop and we are all looking at the thing in disbelief. Its definitely not the engineer, just someone out for an morning joy ride. We get the dog around and the machine flies off. We dust ourselves off and head back up the trail.
“Get the license on that thing?”
“No, broke the lead on my pencil jumping out of the way”
“Wasn’t the plow”
“No plow”
“Hey, you still have your soul?”
“Think so….”
6 Comments so far...
Shelly Says:
24 January 2008 at 11:27 pm.
Great post, Matt….someday remind me to tell you about the legend of Little Mary if you ever gear up to run the beach or the dunes between Ludington and Manistee… 
Glad you guys were ok!
BD Says:
25 January 2008 at 9:45 am.
Wish it would have been the guy looking for his wallet. Great Post!
Mike D Says:
25 January 2008 at 10:27 am.
Sorry bout that. The plows weren’t out yet and the sled is faster than a car on snow. By the way, you won’t see that pesky engineer anymore. I ran him over a mile before coming up on you. Guess he doesn’t wear Yaktrax like you. Next time tell that scary lookin dog to get out of my way.
Deb Says:
25 January 2008 at 9:51 pm.
Great adventure Matt! I too love to run in the early morning. . . 5 or so.
Boy have we had some adventures. It’s usually so peaceful, but every once in a while the weirdest things occur. Hope you told your students. . . bet you they get a kick out of it! Thanks for sharing!
Steve Kelly Says:
27 January 2008 at 10:02 am.
Well done Matt, great writing!
Terry Says:
27 January 2008 at 2:23 pm.
I thought there was something spooky about that trail every time I run on the white pine trails. All Aboard.
Terry