Day 3194 —the Story of the Skunk —

I was just thinking about how many of the stories that happened during the race on Saturday I didn't write down. So, here is one of them. When I started mile 60, I was running alone, and it was starting to get late, probably close to 10 p.m. I was running on a single-track trail at least a couple of miles into the woods. Suddenly, I saw something black and small running in front of me. It was around 100 yards away when I first saw it, but despite how quickly it was trying to move, I was gaining on it. My mind was slowly beginning to process what I was seeing. I first thought it was a possum, not that I had ever seen a possum this small or this color before, however, the tail looked similar to a possum's tail. I know possums usually scramble up trees and are afraid of humans, so I should have realized sooner it could not be a possum. But the skunk's tail did not look fluffy at all, so I was shocked when it stopped suddenly. I stopped too, just out of habit. The skunk put its white tail up in the air in one last attempt to get me to back off. In that moment, I was so scared. If it had decided to spray me, it would have hit me directly in the chest. But it didn't, it gave me a warning, so I stopped and started walking and felt relieved to not be sprayed by a skunk. Thank you, skunk! I owe you. I can understand completely why I scared you.