RUN INTO TRAFFIC!!! (Read 1067 times)

I just want to reinforce a recent thread in light of today's run. I was in the last mile of a 10-miller, cooling down after a workout. The road I was on was a flat, straight back country road -- never much traffic, maybe 1 car every mile or two of running. A pickup rounded a turn and came toward me from a half mile away. He had a clear line of sight to me the whole time. It was bright and sunny, perfect visibility. When he was about 50 yards away and going about 40-50mph, I saw him look at a house to his left. As he had not yet started to move over for me like he should have by then, when I saw his head turn away I started for the narrow shoulder. Sure enough, the truck veered sharply off the edge of the pavement, so far off that I nearly tumbled into the ditch trying to avoid being caught be the front bumper. I bounced off the middle of the truck lightly and caught myself on my feet as the truck passed. The driver did stop, and he got quite an earful from me even though he was apologetic. I'm sure the apology wouldn't have cut it with my wife either as I would have been killed if A) the truck had come another foot over, or B) I hadn't been paying attention and reacted so quickly to hit the ditch. Be careful out there...

Just to clarify--You mean run facing traffic, right? I mean, running into traffic is never a good idea!

Glad You're ok.

You wouldn't have been able to take evasive action had your back been to traffic. I had a similar experience a couple years back; no traffic, a sunny day and unlimited visibility. The driver never saw me because she was too busy talking on a cell phone and I had to hit the ditch to keep from getting run over. You definitely have to watch out for #1 and the few extra seconds you get by facing traffic can make the difference between becoming a victim or being a survivor . Glad you are ok. Tom

I just want to reinforce a recent thread in light of today's run. I was in the last mile of a 10-miller, cooling down after a workout. The road I was on was a flat, straight back country road -- never much traffic, maybe 1 car every mile or two of running. A pickup rounded a turn and came toward me from a half mile away. He had a clear line of sight to me the whole time. It was bright and sunny, perfect visibility. When he was about 50 yards away and going about 40-50mph, I saw him look at a house to his left. As he had not yet started to move over for me like he should have by then, when I saw his head turn away I started for the narrow shoulder. Sure enough, the truck veered sharply off the edge of the pavement, so far off that I nearly tumbled into the ditch trying to avoid being caught be the front bumper. I bounced off the middle of the truck lightly and caught myself on my feet as the truck passed. The driver did stop, and he got quite an earful from me even though he was apologetic. I'm sure the apology wouldn't have cut it with my wife either as I would have been killed if A) the truck had come another foot over, or B) I hadn't been paying attention and reacted so quickly to hit the ditch. Be careful out there...

Glad you're OK, and a good reminder, Spaniel. Ditto whatyou said, and the thread you referred to. http://www.runningahead.com/forums/topic/6f3b07ec4b7d418495fe55d0114e7a27 Jeff

Good reminder and glad nothing worse came of it - that's a close call. My suggestion: Don't ALWAYS run on the side of road facing traffic in the situation you describe. What I do, on the rare occasion I run on a road with only 1 or 2 cars per mile, is to switch sides of the road. You have to be very, very, very cognizant of what may be coming up behind you but I'll switch to the other side of the road - still facing the oncoming car but at least he SHOULD be one lane away from me. Then cut back over until the next car comes. If it's a car coming from behind me, obviously, I stay where I am. Be careful of big curves too, many times I'll switch to be on the OUTSIDE of the curve. I am constantly evaluating where I think the safest part of the road is.

For me, it's like flying. Each time I fly, I ask myself if this is the day my plane will crash

So every time you drive, do you ask yourself if this is the day the car is gonna crash? 'Cuz that's way more likely.

Good reminder and glad nothing worse came of it - that's a close call. My suggestion: Don't ALWAYS run on the side of road facing traffic in the situation you describe. What I do, on the rare occasion I run on a road with only 1 or 2 cars per mile, is to switch sides of the road. You have to be very, very, very cognizant of what may be coming up behind you but I'll switch to the other side of the road - still facing the oncoming car but at least he SHOULD be one lane away from me. Then cut back over until the next car comes. If it's a car coming from behind me, obviously, I stay where I am. Be careful of big curves too, many times I'll switch to be on the OUTSIDE of the curve. I am constantly evaluating where I think the safest part of the road is.

I do the same things around big curves.