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Scaring people while running (Read 1036 times)

keeponrunning


    I do the majority of my runs in the dark, and have no problem with this.  However, it seems many times when I give out a warning call that I'm coming up behind, people are very startled.  I'm just afraid that sometime I'm gonna have an extremely negative reaction to the start I give people, but I'm not keen on running on the roads.  How do you guys warn people you're coming without scaring them?

    Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022

    Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)

    Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022

     

     

      I wear a headlamp... They see me before I see them.


      Feeling the growl again

        A sniff, a throat clearing, a gratuitous cough.  Make enough noise that they know you're coming up on them, but not enough to startled them like yelling out.

         

        A number of years ago (the details will give away the magnitude) I did a LOT of night running.  One evening I found myself on a dark path along a university stadium, approaching a co-ed jogging in the same direction.  I sniffed...I coughed...I made several loud noises that would let anyone paying a bid of attention know that someone was coming up 20 yards behind them.  No response.  So I swing wide and pass, and this girl freaks out and starts screaming at me for scaring her.  I point out that since she was oblivious to the world around her because she was jogging on a dark, secluded trail at 11pm while listening to her Discman (yes this was awhile ago), I could have been a rapist and she would never have heard me coming....perhaps she should rethink her personal safety precautions.

         

        Be considerate.  But after a certain point, others have an obligation to make themselves aware of their surroundings.

        "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

         

        I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

         

        zonykel


          I do the majority of my runs in the dark, and have no problem with this.  However, it seems many times when I give out a warning call that I'm coming up behind, people are very startled.  I'm just afraid that sometime I'm gonna have an extremely negative reaction to the start I give people, but I'm not keen on running on the roads.  How do you guys warn people you're coming without scaring them?

           

          I found out something similar. Leave the warnings for the track.

           

          you can also wear an electronic metronome. The beeping will alert others. I used it for a short time when I was trying to increase my cadence. But I abandonEd it quickly.

          keeponrunning


            A sniff, a throat clearing, a gratuitous cough.  Make enough noise that they know you're coming up on them, but not enough to startled them like yelling out.

             

            A number of years ago (the details will give away the magnitude) I did a LOT of night running.  One evening I found myself on a dark path along a university stadium, approaching a co-ed jogging in the same direction.  I sniffed...I coughed...I made several loud noises that would let anyone paying a bid of attention know that someone was coming up 20 yards behind them.  No response.  So I swing wide and pass, and this girl freaks out and starts screaming at me for scaring her.  I point out that since she was oblivious to the world around her because she was jogging on a dark, secluded trail at 11pm while listening to her Discman (yes this was awhile ago), I could have been a rapist and she would never have heard me coming....perhaps she should rethink her personal safety precautions.

             

            Be considerate.  But after a certain point, others have an obligation to make themselves aware of their surroundings.

            Thanks for the suggestions!  I'll try the noises other than talking thing.  And from a female in university, many aren't concerned with their personal safety.  I don't live near campus (relative, it's a 40min commute), but if I did I wouldn't run after dark, especially not on a secluded path.

            Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022

            Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)

            Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022

             

             

            xor


              I cough or sniff or say... without yelling... "coming up on your left".  However, sometimes that makes them swerve left.  Or, as has happened to you, it startles them.  I still do it.  It beats startling them by smacking them.  Also, if you DONT make any noise, you will likely startle them if/when you go around anyway (providing you don't smack them).

               

              Some people will yell TRACK.  A great many recreational runners, me included, rarely run on tracks and are not familiar with that term.  If you yell TRACK on a road, you are likely to get a WTF response.

               

              LedLincoln


              not bad for mile 25

                Also, I know a lot of runners and cyclists, sometimes myself, are guilty of warning too late.  It's bound to be startling and not helpful if the warning is given two seconds before whizzing past someone.  It's more polite and less likely to startle if you give 'em ten seconds.

                keeponrunning


                  I cough or sniff or say... without yelling... "coming up on your left".  However, sometimes that makes them swerve left.  Or, as has happened to you, it startles them.  I still do it.  It beats startling them by smacking them.  Also, if you DONT make any noise, you will likely startle them if/when you go around anyway (providing you don't smack them).

                   

                  Some people will yell TRACK.  A great many recreational runners, me included, rarely run on tracks and are not familiar with that term.  If you yell TRACK on a road, you are likely to get a WTF response.

                  I know what TRACK means on a track...if I heard it on the road, I'd probably give a WTF response too...

                  Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022

                  Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)

                  Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022

                   

                   

                  Buelligan


                    I like to scream "Run... for God's sake, ruuuuun!" as I come up on people.
                    flarunner


                      I do what Spaniel does; the sniff, cough, etc. And then I say: "Coming up behind you". I don't say Left or Right. I let them make that choice and I go the opposite way. So far it's worked pretty well.

                      Durrr


                        Sometimes it's so dark (when there are no street lights and houses are spaced apart) that runners scare each other. Awhile back, when I was running pre-dawn on a morning of a inscrutable blackness, I looked up and thought I could see a shadow darker than all the others moving toward me, but I couldn't tell if it was just my imagination. Then suddenly the glow of a running watch cut through the gloom directly in front of me, illuminating the fact that I was poised to collide with a female runner --- who promptly gasped ... but then giggled, because it was someone who I encounter regularly whilst running.

                        mab411


                        Proboscis Colossus

                          I know what TRACK means on a track...if I heard it on the road, I'd probably give a WTF response too...

                           

                          Same here.  That's why I always yell, "ROAD."

                          "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people


                          Resident Historian

                            Same as SRL - I'll cough, scuff my foot a bit, say "on your left" calmly when I'm a few seconds back.

                            The oblivious ones with headphones - they get startled.

                             

                            The oblivious ones with headphones on a rural trail -- "Lucky I'm not a bear!" as I pass.

                            Neil

                            --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            “Some people will tell you that slow is good – but I'm here to tell you that fast is better. I've always believed this, in spite of the trouble it's caused me. - Hunter S. Thompson

                              I like to scream "Run... for God's sake, ruuuuun!" as I come up on people.

                               

                              I just loudly yell "GIVE ME YOUR WALLET".   Sends them running away quickly every time.   They definitely don't veer in my path when I say that.  And see, that is like life.    Say something 'nice' like "passing on your left" and you collide as they move left.  Say something mean, scary or otherwise rude and they clear out quick. Noooo problems.

                               

                              Seriously though, I either: 1)  Move to the street if they are on the sidewalk and pass... 2)  Move to the sidewalk if they are on the street and pass...  and if that is not an option, most of the time I will drag my feet on a couple steps as I am approaching from the rear, and that noise draws their attention and alerts them that I am approaching so they aren't surprised as I come even with them.  --If they are wearing headphones and don't hear me, their fault and I could care less if they get startled.

                              .

                              The Plan '15 →   ///    "Run Hard, Live Easy."   ∞

                              Buzzie


                              Bacon Party!

                                Several houses prior to passing a pedestrian at 0-dark-thirty, I moved from the sidewalk to the street.

                                As I went by, he turned toward me with his arms above his head and growled like a bear.

                                Guess I made a good choice to go around. Roll eyes

                                Liz

                                pace sera, sera

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