Shortcut on the Marathon Course... [Scary Encounter]

Behind the elementary school, there was a hill called Gotenyama, and we had the 'Gotenyama Marathon' every week for physical training. The beginner course was just going up and down the stairs. The intermediate course involved going up to the park at the top, running around the park's perimeter, and then descending back to school. The advanced course was a loop around the entire perimeter of Gotenyama. Partway through the advanced course, there was a tunnel that served as a shortcut, about 8 meters long. The tunnel itself was only about 4 meters high and could shorten one of the outer corners. It wasn't a huge time saver, but for elementary school kids, it felt like a great deal, so some students would occasionally use the shortcut. The incident happened when the baseball team was doing the Gotenyama Marathon as part of their club activities. They were all on the advanced course and decided to go through the shortcut tunnel. Inside, they found a man in ragged clothes who started chasing them, so they panicked and ran down Gotenyama. Club activities were also canceled for the girls' softball team, and the teachers went up Gotenyama to investigate. We students were never told what happened afterward, but the Gotenyama Marathon for club activities was discontinued. (The weekly school-wide marathon continued.)