Australian Runner Finds Corks With Nails on Populated Trail – Runner’s World

• An Australian runner found corks with nails through them along a trail during a run on Monday.
• In total, eight objects were found placed in piles of leaves along the trail at Lake Macquarie State Conservation Park. Local police were notified and are investigating the incident.

An Australian runner found an unpleasant surprise while running on Monday near his home in New South Wales.

Paul Roberts, 42, was doing run-walk intervals at Lake Macquarie State Conservation Park. when he saw what looked like a man-made pile of leaves along the trail. Though not heavily populated, the trail does get foot and bike traffic, which is why Roberts was shocked when he kicked off the top of the leaves and found wine corks with nails through them. These are similar to historic weapons known as .

At first, Roberts said he didn’t think much of his initial discovery. So, he collected the two that were there, took them off the trail, and kept going on his run.

That mindset changed when he came across another pile and more corks with nails under leaves not 500 meters away from the first.

“I was like, ‘This is not right. Someone is up to no good here,’” Roberts told Runner’s World. “I started to think about what if someone stepped on them or I stepped on them?”

Roberts hightailed it back to his car to grab his phone to take pictures. He was on his way back to the first pile when he spotted a third pile right in the middle of the path. As he was taking photos, a walker and a cyclist stopped to see what was going on and were shocked when Roberts informed them of his findings.

Courtesy of Paul Roberts

In total, he collected eight dangerous objects within the piles. At home, he posted on Facebook to alert his fellow runners and also notified police, who came to collect the evidence Roberts had gathered.

The New South Wales Police Force is currently investigating the incident.

“It’s bad enough when you’re on the trails looking for snakes and other hazards in the bush,” Roberts said. “This was considered and calculated by someone. I don’t know what the motivation is, but it made me wary. I don’t want to go running in that bush for a while now.”

Anyone who may have information or noticed suspicious activity in the area is asked to contact in New South Wales.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time trail runners and outdoor enthusiasts have experienced this type of hidden trap. In 2017, dozens of nails were found on a popular trail in North Carolina, and just last spring a cord strung across a bike trail in Colorado severely injured a 69-year-old cyclist.

Gear & News Editor Drew covers a variety of subjects for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand.