Terror entered my thoughts. I did not want to go in there. I mean, I had wanted to before arriving. It had sounded so much more fun in my head in the coziness of my couch to explore a tunnel than it did once I got there. What if there were snakes?! Or bats?! Or a madman with an axe who was going to force me to eat a jar full of olives???? The nightmares were endless.

Let’s back it up. I wanted to find more running routes in Austin, Texas and spice up my weekly training. I am also always down for an adventure and channelling my inner explorer. And I didn’t really feel like paying money to scratch the itch.

When choosing a new adventure, there is no fancy process I recommend. I knew there was a nature spot right around our home and thought that may be a good place to start. A tunnel sounded like a fun idea to explore too and there had to be some around. That meant it was time to get some supplies, say bye to our cat, and cross my fingers hoping that I would be back in time to not worry Janel!

Most of the time, a path through a nature area may only go a block or so. There have been many times where a small deer trail leads to many miles of greenery that becomes a new favorite running route. And just sometimes, what most people would consider weird, you be lucky enough to come upon a tunnel! If that thrills you, there are literally dozens of us that feel the same way.

After scanning around my house for supplies, I grabbed a flashlight and a headlamp and went out the door. It was another humid day in Texas paradise with a little rain coming down. Perfect temperature for telling others the stains on your shirt are definitely from the rain and not sweat…

After about a mile down the road, the green area was in sight and a potential path dropped down into the woods. I completed the Texas new route pre-check routine. This includes making sure there is not a private property sign because being shot was not on the schedule for the day. With nothing in sight, the adventure was meant to be!

So down the hill I went. It was another opportunity for my body to go through its weekly routine of getting poison ivy, muddy, and sun burnt in the span of 15 minutes. How lucky was I to have chosen running as my hobby?

As I ran down the hill, I found the neighborhood creek along the highway where I hoped to discover a tunnel. Before I knew it, I found that the discovery! There it was. The glorious, yet terrifying, entrance to the black abyss to what no body knew what lay ahead. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, hopefully no one crazier than me.

Into the darkness! The tunnel’s height was about six to seven feet high which gave plenty of room for bats to dive bomb someone’s head if needed. Due to a rainy day, which is not recommended for an ideal tunnel day, the floor was covered with a small moving trickle. The slanted sides of the tunnel offered all runners the opportunity to run in this trickle whether they wanted to or not.

As I continued onward, there was yet to be a sighting of an animal or a madman so most would consider this a great start. The entrance faded out of sight as the tunnel turned about 40 feet in and the only light was from my headlight and a faded glow from my flashlight. Rounding the corner showed the same exact view of an ongoing tunnel with the only sound being the highway and a spooked heartbeat.

Splash splash splash. The minute per mile pace at this point slowed down to a crawl as I came upon a fork in the tunnel. The left and right seemed to be similar looks although the right side had a slight difficulty. The height went from around six to seven feet down to about 3 and a half feet. That made the left side pretty desirable. As desirable as a tunnel pathway could be underneath a highway system.

Shortly into the left turn, God’s grace shown down on me and up ahead was the glorious sight of light. I wouldn’t be doomed to a lifetime of darkness. I had never been so happy to see poison ivy and deer poop.

Hello Greenbelt-ish area! Once I popped out, I had no idea where I was. I figured I was on the other side of the highway and there looked to be some hills surrounding the exit. Although my heart beat a total of 1,000,000 times in that tunnel, the darkness only lasted for about five minutes. I couldn’t be more grateful to take in the sights and sounds of nature. After a few minutes of respite, I figured I should head back in and see if I could brave the small height of the right side.

After bidding farewell to my version of the Garden of Eden, I began running back into the tunnel. Within a few minutes, I made it back to the bend and it was time to hunch the back and unleash my inner hobbit. Be careful looking at the next photo because it turned out a littlier scarier than I intended. It does accurately portray my fear.

Almost immediately, I brushed my head against the top of the tunnel roof and was rewarded with a wet head of who knows what was dripping in there. On top of that, every ten feet or so had a drain opening in the roof which only escalated my fear that an animal would come out. My back would certainly lock up before giving me an opportunity to waddle away at a pace of half a mile per hour. If any animal was popping out, it better be a sloth.

Much like the left side of the tunnel, the right offered respite right around the corner. I shuffled towards it like a crab with a wedgy. This was a similiar pace to my recent marathon finish. With hobbit mode engaged in full force, it was not going to be a sprint finish.

At last! I arrived through the tunnel and could stand! At this point, it was raining cats and dogs and I determined my phone needed to live another day so there is no photo finish. You will have to take my word for it that I was relieved to be out of the tunnel and it was another creek hilly area with lots of trees all around. Garden of Eden part two except that the only way home was back the way I came. With a deep breath, it was time to put a finale on this adventure and go back to the crab walk.

Saying a prayer to ward off the evil spirits within, I entered one last time stomping along the trickle along the bottom. I was happy to know that my chances of running into someone crazier than me now dropped to 50% and I would potentially be able to make it home to shower off the mysterious liquid that had fallen on me earlier.

Once I got to the fork, my back smiled with relief as I could stand to my grand height. Well mostly stand up straight since at that point my back still hurt a little bit from the crab crawl. You win some, you lose some.

I started picking up the pace faster and faster as I saw the final exit and the entrance to where the *fun* had all began. There it was, my freedom! After a few steps out into the rain, I let out a jubilant yell that I had made it through the endeavor. And I was pretty sure the only liquid on me was rain which was a big win in itself too.

As I began the climb up the hill, it took me to my hands and knees due to the rain. No wonder this was not a popular route and why most people stick to running on normal surfaces. Sometimes though, you gotta push the bar and live a little. As long as you don’t bring home an infection or run into a snake.

What local adventure did you find near home? What new route have you wanted to explore?

Average Runner Paul