diff --git a/lib/hydra/message/runner_messages.rb b/lib/hydra/message/runner_messages.rb
index 1f42885..4010ed1 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/message/runner_messages.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/message/runner_messages.rb
@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
           # the connectivity of the IO
         end
       end
+
+      # The runner forks to run rspec messages
+      # so that specs don't get rerun. It uses
+      # this message to report the results. See
+      # Runner::run_rspec_file.
+      class RSpecResult < Hydra::Message
+        # the output of the spec
+        attr_accessor :output
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/hydra/runner.rb b/lib/hydra/runner.rb
index 2956443..187cf66 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/runner.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/runner.rb
@@ -35,10 +35,12 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       trace "Running file: #{file}"
 
       output = ""
-      if file =~ /.rb$/
-        output = run_ruby_file(file)
+      if file =~ /_spec.rb$/
+        output = run_rspec_file(file)
       elsif file =~ /.feature$/
         output = run_cucumber_file(file)
+      else
+        output = run_test_unit_file(file)
       end
 
       output = "." if output == ""
@@ -75,15 +77,6 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
       end
     end
 
-    # Run a ruby file (ending in .rb)
-    def run_ruby_file(file)
-      if file =~ /_spec.rb$/
-        return run_rspec_file(file)
-      else
-        return run_test_unit_file(file)
-      end
-    end
-
     # Run all the Test::Unit Suites in a ruby file
     def run_test_unit_file(file)
       begin
@@ -110,31 +103,35 @@ module Hydra #:nodoc:
 
     # run all the Specs in an RSpec file (NOT IMPLEMENTED)
     def run_rspec_file(file)
-      # TODO: 
-      # 1. do some of this only once, like the requires and stuff
-      # 2. fork the file loading so that it doesn't get re-run
-      # 3. test that running two files doesn't re-run the first 
-      #    to test 2. above. Like for cucumber
-      # 4. try this on a real rspec project
+      # pull in rspec
       begin
         require 'spec/autorun'
+        require 'hydra/spec/hydra_formatter'
       rescue LoadError => ex
         return ex.to_s
       end
-      options = Spec::Runner.options
-      require 'spec/runner/formatter/progress_bar_formatter'
-      require 'hydra/spec/hydra_formatter'
-      hydra_output = StringIO.new
-      options.formatters = [Spec::Runner::Formatter::HydraFormatter.new(options.formatter_options, hydra_output)]
-      require file
-      options.run_examples
-      hydra_output.rewind
-      output = hydra_output.read.chomp
-      output = "" if output == "."
-
+      # we have to run the rspec test in a sub-process
+      # this is because rspec runs all the tests that
+      # have been required, so if we kept requiring the
+      # files they'd get run over and over
+      pipe = Hydra::Pipe.new
+      pid = SafeFork.fork do
+        pipe.identify_as_child
+        options = Spec::Runner.options
+        hydra_output = StringIO.new
+        options.formatters = [Spec::Runner::Formatter::HydraFormatter.new(options.formatter_options, hydra_output)]
+        require file
+        options.run_examples
+        hydra_output.rewind
+        output = hydra_output.read.chomp
+        output = "" if output == "."
+        pipe.write RSpecResult.new(:output => output)
+        pipe.close
+      end
+      pipe.identify_as_parent
+      output = pipe.gets
+      Process.wait pid
       return output
-
-      #return `spec #{File.expand_path(file)}`
     end
 
     # run all the scenarios in a cucumber feature file
diff --git a/lib/hydra/spec/hydra_formatter.rb b/lib/hydra/spec/hydra_formatter.rb
index 9ea5cff..a19a2e4 100644
--- a/lib/hydra/spec/hydra_formatter.rb
+++ b/lib/hydra/spec/hydra_formatter.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+require 'spec/autorun'
+require 'spec/runner/formatter/progress_bar_formatter'
 module Spec
   module Runner
     class Options
diff --git a/test/fixtures/write_file_alternate_spec.rb b/test/fixtures/write_file_alternate_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0e611a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/write_file_alternate_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+require 'tmpdir'
+context "file writing" do
+  it "writes to a file" do
+    File.open(File.join(Dir.tmpdir, 'alternate_hydra_test.txt'), 'a') do |f|
+      f.write "HYDRA"
+    end
+  end
+end
+
diff --git a/test/runner_test.rb b/test/runner_test.rb
index f5dc9a5..c293a87 100644
--- a/test/runner_test.rb
+++ b/test/runner_test.rb
@@ -37,29 +37,43 @@ class RunnerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
       Process.wait(child)
     end
 
-    should "run two cucumber tests" do
-      puts "THE FOLLOWING WARNINGS CAN BE IGNORED"
-      puts "It is caused by Cucumber loading all rb files near its features"
-
-      runner = Hydra::Runner.new(:io => File.new('/dev/null', 'w'))
-      runner.run_file(cucumber_feature_file)
-      assert File.exists?(target_file)
-      assert_equal "HYDRA", File.read(target_file)
-      
-      FileUtils.rm_f(target_file)
-      
-      runner.run_file(alternate_cucumber_feature_file)
-      assert File.exists?(alternate_target_file)
-      assert_equal "HYDRA", File.read(alternate_target_file)
-      
-      puts "END IGNORABLE OUTPUT"
-    end
-
-    should "run an rspec test" do
+    should "run two rspec tests" do
       runner = Hydra::Runner.new(:io => File.new('/dev/null', 'w'))
       runner.run_file(rspec_file)
       assert File.exists?(target_file)
       assert_equal "HYDRA", File.read(target_file)
+
+      FileUtils.rm_f(target_file)
+      
+      runner.run_file(alternate_rspec_file)
+      assert File.exists?(alternate_target_file)
+      assert_equal "HYDRA", File.read(alternate_target_file)
+      assert !File.exists?(target_file)
+    end
+
+    should "run two cucumber tests" do
+      # because of all the crap cucumber pulls in
+      # we run this in a fork to not contaminate
+      # the main test environment
+      pid = Process.fork do
+        puts "THE FOLLOWING WARNINGS CAN BE IGNORED"
+        puts "It is caused by Cucumber loading all rb files near its features"
+
+        runner = Hydra::Runner.new(:io => File.new('/dev/null', 'w'))
+        runner.run_file(cucumber_feature_file)
+        assert File.exists?(target_file)
+        assert_equal "HYDRA", File.read(target_file)
+        
+        FileUtils.rm_f(target_file)
+        
+        runner.run_file(alternate_cucumber_feature_file)
+        assert File.exists?(alternate_target_file)
+        assert_equal "HYDRA", File.read(alternate_target_file)
+        assert !File.exists?(target_file)
+        
+        puts "END IGNORABLE OUTPUT"
+      end
+      Process.wait pid
     end
 
     should "be able to run a runner over ssh" do
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index dd2dcf2..b989da1 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ class Test::Unit::TestCase
     File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'write_file_spec.rb'))
   end
 
+  def alternate_rspec_file
+    File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'write_file_alternate_spec.rb'))
+  end
+
   def cucumber_feature_file
     File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'features', 'write_file.feature'))
   end