S3 · E6Nov 4, 2019 · 17 min
It was Mother's Day - and at Susan O'Brien's home in Wellington, New Zealand, it was hectic. Instead of waking up to breakfast in bed, she was getting ready to compete in a 20-kilometre fun run at the Remutaka Forest Park. Her husband, Daniel, and their two kids, Meisha, nine months, and Jayden, two were coming to cheer her on.
It was a mad rush to get out of the house - Jayden needed his breakfast, Meisha was still breastfeeding and in a last-minute dash, Daniel searched the house high and low for strapping to protect his wife's feet from blisters. Despite the mayhem, Susan made it in time for the safety briefing. It was a challenging trail and the organiser had an important safety tip. If you get lost or hurt yourself, stay put.
As the starting gun sounded at 9am, Susan was off like a bullet. Still, she searched the crowd for her family. Susan had hugged her loved ones goodbye before setting off. But she'd see them soon. The plan was to smash out the 20-kilometre run in just two hours.
At first, Susan stayed with the 100-strong pack of runners, then they began to fade into the distance.
The trail soon became steep, the ground muddy. Slowing to a jog, Susan navigated her way around branches and jagged rocks, all the while keeping an eye out for the blue flags that were there to guide the runners. Suddenly, Susan realised she was all alone. Surely she couldn't be that far ahead.
She didn't have her phone on her, but Susan's GPS watch told her it'd already been more than two hours. Daniel, Meisha and Jayden would be waiting anxiously at the finish line. Panic quickly turned to fear and Susan began to realise she'd taken a very wrong turn. She was hopelessly lost. This is how Susan survived.
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