Encounters with non runners

Jez

01/11/2002 at 09:08

The best, or is that worst, encounter with Mr and Mrs Non Runner so experienced. Evening run, last winter, in London. Wide pavement (ish, it was London after all) and coming in the opposite direction 2 middle aged couples i.e. walking four abreast. With a wall to one side and parked cars to the other, surely one of them will leave me room to pass? Of course not. Having effectively stopped to squeeze between them, I offered them thanks in the form of "Thank you VERY much". The reply was priceless - "You should run on the road"! In London in the dark with a perfectly good pavement - I can't repeat what I said.

Pernickity Butt

01/11/2002 at 09:28

Oh go on! Tell all!

Yes, I have come acorss pavement rage before - teenage kids a while ago when a teenage girl deliberately moved in my way whilst grinning at her friends - it was the end of a fairly long run so I was quite angry and did not slow down, and pushed her out of the way.

Two other odd ones. Was running up local hill of death, so was red in face, and out of breath, when someone stopped me to ask directions. About 20 mins later when running quite fast down an incline someone else stopped me to ask whether I'd seen her dog.

In the US I was stopped many time by people asking the time. In the end I used to say "it's just a stopwatch, sorry".

fat buddha

01/11/2002 at 09:39

But it's the owners of dogs on long leads that usually drive me nuts. What usually happens is the dog is one one side of the track, the owner is on the other with the lead streched between the 2. The owner sees you coming, moves to the opposite side of the track to be with the dog BUT the dog then moves across as well. The result? The lead is still across the track and the owner says "Sorry!" usually with a giggle meaning "Oh,isn't my dog silly". For some reason these people take exception to being sworn at.

Other greetings:

"Alright?" usually in South Wales

"Watcha!" usually said by someone who looks like Jack the Lad and often with an accompanying wink and grin

daisy dog

01/11/2002 at 09:51

The nicest comment I ever had was when I was running in a massive thunderstorm in Paris early in the morning. Several men shouted "Bon courage" which was just so nice and French.

Mind you every woman I passed looked at me like I was something they'd stepped in...

Mike S

01/11/2002 at 10:04

I remember getting an equivalent response (and applause!) from some people sheltering at a bus stop when I ran past them in a massive cloudburst in Walldorf, Germany, some 14 years ago. Would never get that here.

As for the dog issue - most recent incident came Wed night as I was running along one side of a residential road. A dog off the lead galloped across and began to harass me loudly as I proceeded up the road - getting in my way on one occasion (but a shade too big and too far away to kick alas). The owner had the cheek to shout across to me & ask ME to stand still rather than her dog!
At no stage had I tried in any way to eyeball or otherwise challenge the stupid mutt - she was q clearly incapable of controlling it.

Timothy Rainey

01/11/2002 at 10:05

That long dog lead trick happened to me in the Blackpool marathon. The owner crossed in front of us and the dog stayed behind so the lead stretched across the path!

MartinH

01/11/2002 at 10:10

Generally I find non-runners very supportative here in Germany and they usually hold onto their dogs before as I run past.

My solution for pavement rage is generally to speed up, put head down and generously flail the elbows - people generally move out of the way.

Karaoke Pacer

01/11/2002 at 10:39

Hey,

I've had a bra thrown at me once when out running.

Either I excite the same responses while running as Tom Jones does with his singing - or she thought I was on my way to the luanderette.

Sadly the most likely explanation is that it was a drunken bet (late night run past a pub).

JAMES SMITH

01/11/2002 at 11:10

At least those dogs had leads recently while running to work I approached a "lady" with her dog from behind. I did not want to surprise the dog which was a lurcher type, so i ran on to the road and gave it a wide berth as i ran past it pulled away on its lead knocked me off my feet and bit me on the chest and stood over me while i was on the floor in the road. The most painful aspect was the as the dog jumped on me it kicked me in the crown jewels. As you can imagine when i got up i went ape and tore of a strip of her. As i got in to work i took of my vest to reveal quite a nasty bite. I contacted the police but nothing happened.

JAMES SMITH

01/11/2002 at 11:13

Running with my club recently a bunch of kids in front of us started shouting and jeering which is nothing new, however this was a sub 6.30 group, so we came upon these kids pretty quick but they did not attempt to get out of our way in fact one young girl jumped in the way of one lad. One of the sweetest moments of revenge for all the hassle we get was this as she did this another chap with a water bottle squirted her in the face and all we heard as we moved on was a single scream and then laughter GREAT REVENGE!!! Abit of water doesnt hurt anybody

Daisy Duke

01/11/2002 at 11:39

I was running along a small country road, only been running a few months so I wasn,t exactly pushing on, an old man with his dog, smiles, your fair struggling the night lass .. huh .. I had already ran 8 miles.
I have only once came across nerdy teenagers getting in my way, I altered my path to run straight towards the smart ass one with the 'watch me I'm big' grin lifted my head for eye contact & sped up. he quickly jumped into the mud. I aint exactly small you see.

skinny whippet

01/11/2002 at 12:53

I don't know if any of you were out running last night, but I got an exceptional amount of hassle from irritating kids, p***ed students, etc. etc. By the end of the run I was pretty much ready to deck the next person that got in my way.

Must make a mental note to stay in the gym next halloween ;-(

Nicola Joyce

01/11/2002 at 13:34

I had an egg thrown at me by trick or treaters whilst running last night - they were about 14 yrs old.....(trick or treaters, not eggs) Not the 1st time I have encountered egg-throwing whilst running in London, but 1st time it has been on hallowe'en. (By the way they missed!)

Dangly Spice

01/11/2002 at 14:48

Welcome back Nicola. haven't seen your name for a while.

Last winter we had a bloke running with us who we called the Juggernaut - he was a big ex-boxer type. Any gangs of teenagers and we let him go to the front. The teenagers didn't seem so keen to block the way. Our Juggernaut has now moved to another area so we're back to the running in a crowd and hoping to keep out of trouble. So far this year, we haven't had more than the 'run forrest run' comments shouted at us. But it's early days yet. Roll on the cold nights when the brats are indoors.

Guestie

01/11/2002 at 14:53

We were out with the running club last night and there were obviously a lot of kids out - generally harmless but one group got egged - I'm glad I wasn't alone.

DanCoo

01/11/2002 at 16:36

Hi
This is a good one for this time of year (probably to do with the time of year!): kids at side of the road with badly-dressed Guy, they ask (as I zoom/drag myself by), "Penny for t'Guy, mister?" Can they not see my complete lack of anywhere to put anything?!

Sarah Pemberton

01/11/2002 at 17:48

There were tons of kids out letting off fireworks in the road last night (apparently this is normal in North America rather than a sign they should be jailed, as i had assumed) & a fair number of adults in silly costumes, but i mostly just avoided them. Met another amused runner admiring the houses adorned with scary pumpkins though. Running is seen as pretty normal in Vancouver, so we get a lot less hassle here than in London. still, pesky kids etc.

Drinks Station

01/11/2002 at 18:34

I was out on a swift 5 miler one Halloween a few years back and ascending a steep hill when I heard the sound of breaking glass from a side-street up ahead. A group of kids emerged from the street and disappeared around a corner. I ran on, passing the entrance to the street. You can probably guess what happened. Broken window + running man = guilty party. Next thing, I'm being chased by a very irate householder. I stopped to explain, calmly, in moderate tones, between rasping breaths, that I was just "a jogger" (it was the early eighties). Then I spied an older man in the background, but getting closer all the time, carrying what appeared to be a carving knife. "Hurry up dad, we've got him" said man number 1. I think my training log said something like "5 miles with fast hill".

Tricia Dennison

02/11/2002 at 12:08

Re James Smith & the dog incident. It is an offence under the dangerous dogs act for one's dog to cause someone to feel apprehensive even if it doesn't actually attack you. The police should have responded & that dog should be muzzled when in public

We had loose dogs under our feet in a recent XC race in Bacton Woods & small children chasing us blocking our way while the mothers/dog owners looked lovingly on

Dave Lord

02/11/2002 at 12:59

how about "where's yer shovels?" from a group of teenagers as we returned on an evening run with several members with head mounted lights, better than "run forest run"

Hot threads

Most discussed articles