The Night Before Grizzly

by The Lean, Mean Runner Bean

Some said "We're not deranged enough."
But Evergreen has got the stuff
     To join with me
     In-sanity
Running at night through all that rough.

So come the night of Grizzly Eve
Two jokers quit the pack to leave
     On a gentle jog
     O'er beach and bog
For some Real Running to achieve.

The roads in town were oh, so bright
Lit as they were by many a street light.
     But the darkness was black
     'Pon reaching the track.
"We're gonna need torches tonight."

Light of the moon there was none
(And obviously neither was there sun).
     But stars a'plenty,
     Approaching infinity;
A wond'rous sight on a wond'rous run.

On this, our nocturnal journey,
We felt a great sense of discovery.
     Even at night
     It felt quite right
It surely was running at its apogee.

At Branscombe Mouth I needed a drink
And, feeling weary, began to think
     That the hills seemed high.
     But the bog was dry
And from it all we did not shrink.

We occasionally stopped at our leisure
To answer the calls of nature
     A pee with a view
     Or to re-tie a shoe.
Not speed was our aim, but adventure.

Anon we reached the Fountainhead
And here, in truth, it must be said
     We turned off our light
     And stopped for a pint!
The customers thought us demented!

Ham, egg 'n' chips would've slowed us
But a Mars Bar tasted just marvellous
     For I had great need
     Of a serious feed
Since I was, as usual, quite ravenous!

On Om! We passed Berry Barton
Having first, of course, turned our lights on.
     Along the dark track
     With no looking back
We continued our way in abandon.

The waves on the beach at the Shanty
Were breaking with appearance quite eerie.
     And the driftwood memorial
     Looked distinctly surreal
'Ere we ascended to Heaven via Stairway.

From Beer Head we could see with emotion
The bright lights of our destination.
     It was nearly the end
     Of the time we would spend
On this, our great expedition.

And then we were back where we started
And here our company parted -
     Phil to the bar
     Me to my car.
"An excellent run," we admitted.
(But some say we should both be committed!)


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© The Lean, Mean Runner Bean, 2002