I was running yesterday morning a little after 6a.m. As I ran south on Yaupon just north of Oyster Creek drive I saw two women running in front of me. They were running a little slower than me on the same sidewalk and I knew I would have to pass them. For me this is always an uncomfortable situation because you never want to startle someone in the dark – especially if you are a male and they are female.
A couple of years ago I was running in the winter one evening and this lady was checking her mail. She was shining her flashlight into her mailbox as I ran by and I surprised her by doing nothing but running. If her flashlight would have been a gun I wouldn’t be sitting at my keyboard typing right now. My wife would be husbandless and my kids fatherless because she would have taken me out. Needless to say I am a little gun shy (no pun intended).
Anyway, yesterday morning at mile 1.5 of a seven miler as I ran up behind these two women in the dark I started coughing and scraping my shoes on the sidewalk and generally trying to make enough noise to let them know I was there. As I got close they still hadn’t looked back so I stepped off in the grass and tried to give them wide berth (I probably should have gone all the way to the other side of the street). One of them looked back at me nonchalantly and when she did the other one looked back and jumped and said “Oh MY GOSH!” I prepared myself to be blinded by the spray of mace – but thankfully this morning they didn’t have any. And come to find out one of them goes to our church.
I write all of that to ask a simple question. What’s the etiquette? When I approach another runner at night from behind traveling faster than them and they never acknowledge that I am there. Should I start screaming at about 100 yards out, “Hi up there?!?! My name is Tommy and I am a runner! I am not a serial killer! Please don’t mace me … or shoot me … or stun gun me … or beat me up with your cane!”
??????
Thursday, November 11, 2004
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5 comments:
Tommy-
Maybe you don't want to shout either because a lot of people have trust issues, especially in Texas where a lot of people may have a gun, bat, mace, cane, walker, some sort of sport ball, stun gun, long sticks....well, you get the point.
Other than that, I personally have no answers for you.
two options:
1) air horn.
2) start carrying a taser. make some preemptive strikes.
I'm pretty sure the whistling idea is not such a good one. Someone always tells.
Other than that and the dangerous weapons that phillip is suggesting, you might try turning around and running backwards. That way, when you pass them they'll think, "Hmmm, I didn't notice him before."
I said "a little slower". It took a while to catch up and pass. I KNOW I am not speedy.
And ... as much as I hate to admit this, whether the idea is good or not, I don't know how to whistle.
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