True Ghost Tales

Speed Walker

I'm not sure if my story was sent from the webite.. So I am emailing it as well. Thanks!

I have lived in Austin, Texas all my life. I have always heard those ghost stories, like the haunted train tracks in San Antonio, or a haunted park in the hill country, but I had never actually seen anything haunting before.

One day in August of 1997, my neighbor who lkive in my dorm told me and some fellow residents about this ghost story he had heard about a lady who used to speed walk down Lamar Blvd. She worked late hours, and would walk every night sometime after 2 a.m. Apparently on one of these walks there was an accident, she was hit by a passing car and killed. So, the story was that if you drove down Lamar between the blocks of 24th street to 34th street between 1:30 and 2:30 in the morning, you could see her ghost still speed walking down Lamar. He went on to describe exactly what she would be wearing and everything. White leggings, pink running shorts, a white sweater and a white cap.

So, after hearing this story, later that same night 3 or 4 of us from the dorm decided to go check it out. We all hopped into the back of a friend's truck and went to Lamar at the right time to see if we could find this "ghost". We drove around for probably 35 minutes before giving up to go home. Thinking it was just some made-up story, we forgot all about it.

Then, November 1st (about 2 months later) I went to a party with some friends. It was a Saturday, the day after Halloween, yet it was still a costume party. Afterwards, I dropped my friend off at her house in north Austin, and was on my way back to my dorm. I was stopped at the light on 24th street and Lamar, waiting to continue east on 24th (Named Windsor street before it crosses Lamar). I was the only car waiting at the light, because it was about 1:45 a.m. by this time. As I waited I noticed a lady walking along the street on the path that borders Pease Park. She was speed walking somewhat, and crossed the street right in front of me. Seemed normal enough, as there are many people who walk this trail (just not so many after 1 am on a Saturday night). But what first caught my eye is how odd this lady seemed. She was walking as if she were 100 years old. As she slowly crossed in front of me, I ralized that she indeed seemed very old, and I could not see her face.

In fact, I could not see any skin at all. She was wearing a white cap that seemed to cast a shadow over he entire face. Then, slowly I began to realize.. the white cap, her legs were white as if she were wearing white tight leggings, and the pink shorts... matching the description of that ghost story I had forgotten about. As it came back to me, she was walking right in front of my car, but I was so scared I could not move. I stared at her in disbelief, wanting to honk- or something, to see if she was real. But, my hands were gripped to the steering wheel, and I did not move until she had walked out of sight, and the light turned green.

I don't know if the story about the lady was true, or if I actually saw a ghost.. probably never will. But, the way that lady looked might have scared me even if I had not heard the story. The details matching just seemed to confirm this. I have not seen her since, nor have I heard the ghost story told from anyone else. But isn't it weird...?