-
when it’s after 9pm and I’m running, do not : try to block me with your fucking bike, try to stop me in order to “ask a question”.
-
when I’m crossing as a pedestrian on my fucking light, fucking yield, fucking SUV.
Grrrrr
I always yield to runners because they are cranky from all that healthy exercise.
I’m confused as to why the time of day matters and why being a runner stops you being a helpful human being.
First, when a stranger pulls that shit at night, it’s not unusual that the intent is to set up a con or theft or mugging.
Second, this is my workout time. It takes a certain amount of time to get warmed up and moving at my target pace. Stopping screws that up .
On the other hand, runners:
-
When you’re on a busy pavement, don’t come up behind us, jogging on the spot right up our arses , sighing and puffing because we didn’t part for you like you’re fucking royalty. We don’t have eyes in the back of our heads. Or worse:
-
Don’t decide that you’ll be damned if you’re going to break your stride and just barge straight between us. Saying “excuse me” once you have done so and are six feet past us isn’t good enough either, you sweaty tit.
I train at night and in locations with low pedestrian density.
I agree about not plowing through pedestrians, but even when I’m walking, some people insist on walking side by side, taking up both sides of the sidewalk.
My ire is somewhat ameliorated by the fact that I think it’s great to see people running rather than clogging up the London roads with more cars (I’m pretty sure a large percentage of the runners we encounter are commuting), and if it wasn’t for my poxy arthritis I might well be running with them, rather than walking.
We do move aside if we sense someone coming up behind us, but we do get the occasional self-entitled eejit.
Not stopping for you on a pedestrian crossing though; fuck those guys.
More like trying to engage me in the middle of the crosswalk: ride your bike on one side not the middle. Get your fucking bike out of my way.
Responding to stangers at night is a good way to get conned or mugged.
What did Grrrr do to earn your rancor?
I normally don’t have problems with pedestrians outdoors since I run on streets, in parks, or on the canal tow path. If there are pedestrians, there is plenty of room to get around them.
As a guy, if someone were to start talking with me in the middle of the street, I probably wouldn’t think much of it, even at night (unless I were in a scary part of town, in which case I wouldn’t be out running). But I can imagine that female runners would never want to hear someone trying to talk to them after dark.
At the gym, once in a very rare while I get a group of women who saunter slowly around the indoor running track, blocking both lanes, and I ask them kindly to let me past (signs tell slower walkers to go single file on the inside track). After four or five laps like this I don’t care if they get grossed out by my slimy sweat as I squeeze past, they are having a casual chat side by side in a place where the signs clearly tell them not to do so.
I am of mixed opinions on folks who let little kids run on that track–the rules allow kids to do this, and I love to see children having fun, but they are very unpredictable and I am always afraid one will cut in front of me and stop, causing me to injure myself badly in an attempt to not squash a five-year-old.
Outside, my main problem is automobiles.
I wear bright green T-shirts all the time (I get a whole stack of them at AC Moore for cheap) and still cars can’t see me.
In NJ it is state law that cars must yield to pedestrians at marked crosswalks, but I have been almost hit in multiple occasions by jackasses who don’t believe they need to stop.
The last time this happened, I was crossing a main road with a brightly lit and signed crosswalk at a park entrance, with traffic obediently stopped on both sides as I ran. Some idiot used the shoulder to slip around the stopped car on my right and almost hit me. I smacked my fist in his side window as he brushed past me, to get his attention.
On a previous time I was crossing the road in Princeton at a place where they installed bright flashing warning lights embedded in the roadway, triggered by a button I pressed–one woman honked at me as I ran in front of her, and I believe I may have given her a hand signal. Even with all of the flashing lights folks still try to hit me.
These days I never trust a car to not try to hit me. That absolute lack in trust continues to keep me unbroken.
[Bolding Mine] It’s name confusion. They are taking that Sidewalk name to mean walking side by side instead of a walkway on the side of the road.
- Do not ride your bicycle on the sidewalk around a blind corner. You almost ran me over as I was running around the corner in the opposite direction. This is California, there is a 6-foot dedicated bicycle lane for your use. Use it or walk your bike!
I haven’t encountered 1), but I heartily endorse 2). Way too many drivers cruise right through the crosswalk without even looking.
I’ve been running at night for about 20 years.
-
My assumption is that every car I encounter is going to do its level best to smear me. I view cars the way rabbits view mountain lions, and as a result I’ve only been hit by cars 3 times! So, this assumption is a pretty safe one.
-
I get asked for directions more than one would expect. Maybe it’s because my usual route is on some back country roads that are only 5 or 6 miles from an interstate. It seems like a lot of travelers make a wrong turn after getting off the highway for gas and work their way back my way. This used to annoy me a lot. Stopping, giving directions, etc it breaks up your rhythms, ruins your time, knocks you out of the zone. I got so frustrated that no matter what I got asked, I would say “Keep going straight. Take a right a the first stop sign, and then a right at the giant cannon. You can’t miss it.” I would say this with such authority that people would absolutely accept it, thank me and drive off, leaving me at peace. Of course, there is no cannon that I’m aware of.
I started to think that doing this, while it seemed easy and amusing, was making me a bad person, or at least an asshole. I also wondered if I was building up a karmic debt. So now, I always stop and try to be as helpful as I can with the directions. What I lose in time I seem to gain in smug satisfaction by being nice and helpful.
The viewpoint that I try to adopt when I go for a run is that I am Spider-Man out on patrol. My purpose is to help people, right wrongs, use my powers for good, etc. I carry my phone in a fanny pack along with some toilet paper, a sealed sanitary napkin (a cheap aid for trauma,) my pocket knife, a whistle, and some paracord. In the last ten years or so I’ve managed to give out good directions, help somebody push a dead tractor into a garage, helped change a tire, moved kittens off the road that were just sitting there cowering, and smiled and waived at a lot of folks.
I guess my point is, is that you are probably exercising to be healthy and feel good about yourself. Why stop with the physical? Feel good mentally by being a mobile helpful asset.
I kind of doubt the scam, mugging thing that the OP talks about, at least for male runners. We aren’t good victims since we are usually physically fit, and we tend to not be varying a lot of valuables on our runs.
I get asked directions a lot when riding*, but someone trying to stop me at night had better think how they are doing it.
- The most common direction being ‘where are the Rocky steps/statue?’ when they are very close, but the GPS keeps trying to send them to the parking garage.
My only complaint about runners would be the rare ‘flaily mcflailus’ who jog down the middle of the path like the yellow dividing line is a slot for their slot-car lives and with their arms wildy jutting out at random (very, very poor running technique) this position and action makes it very hard for other path users to get around the person. I saw a runner once go off on one of these guys (its never a female runner) after he bopped her in the head when she tried to pass.
What confuses me is this concept where I’m obliged to serve as a roving information booth person during my runs. Screw that. I’ll likely rescue kittens and puppies on the road, but buy a Garmin or use your cellphone for navigation assistance. You wouldn’t interrupt a person working out in a gym during their workout, why is someone working out outside up for grabs?
And with maybe one exception, when I’ve entertained a question from a stranger at night in a suburban or urban environment, it turned into panhandling or an attempted con game .
I guess the assumption people make is that if you are out there runnin the neighborhood, you are somebody who is familiar with the area and knows what he is about. Maybe they look at you and think “He looks safe, confident, knowledgable and friendly, and I need help.”
I guess your choices are either to be the awesome helpful person that they are hoping and thinking you are, or to work harder to appear like an unfriendly self-centered jerk who might be dangerous to interrupt. You kind of have to choose.
Actually inconveniencing yourself to help others is the cost of being a good guy?
I don’t run (not in a hurry) but I do walk a trail locally. I wear earbuds to help discourage chatty folk.
If I’m in the middle of strenuous run I’m not inclined to stop and engage in conversation. Sorry, I wouldn’t expect someone playing soccer to stop their game and answer my questions, and the same should hold for someone out running.
I don’t understand the dislike for helping out someone else.
It isn’t going to inconvenience me—I’m in the middle of a ten mile run, the pause isn’t doing jack to my run time or heart rate, and I always like to stop for a quick chat if there’s a compelling topic (e.g. Check out that turtle!)
But then again there are runners who look straight ahead and don’t acknowledge my wave as we pass, while there are others who return a wave. A couple of months back I passed a guy on the canal and he smiled as he raised his hand in hi-5 position. I did the same and we probably had a 12mph combined speed high five!
I’m a 6’1" guy who weighs 200 lbs and has been lifting for 3 years. People tend to avoid asking me for help unless they need it. My friend is 5’1" 100lbs and she can’t go for a walk alone in broad daylight without 3+ guys needing “help”.
Living in an urban area makes you noided af about people, but its not without reason. Plenty of muggings happen near my apartment.