Forums >Off the Beaten Path>Scaring people while running
Where I run, it's mostly cows that I frighten. They often return the favor, though.
I inadvertently scared a bald eagle on Monday. And he definitely scared me right back. It was awesome.
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
Ultra Cowboy
I try to be conversational in my warning from 20 or 30 yards : "I'm gonna come by you on your Left folks..." Half of the people will step to their left. But usually it is early enough that I can veer to the right.
I had a screamer on Burdell Mountain one morning. She was bundled up in a rain coat with the hood on and with her dog on a leash just gabbing away to her walking partner. As I called out, she shrieked and her dog gave me a tail wagging grin as if to say "Got her good dude!"
WYBMADIITY
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I'm more likely to scare walkers than runners. When I pass runners it is usually on a surface road, or bike path. Regardless when I come up to someone I make more noise as I step so no one jumps. Bikers occasionally make me jump if they say on your left within 10 feet of me.
The other day I almost jumped into a car. I had been on 1 sidewalk and crossed the street. On my way to the other sidewalk I could see a walker, and was hitting a minor intersection so stayed out there for maybe 50 yards. Cars often roll through crosswalks (including a driver training car yesterday but I digress). A guy slowed down to yell at me to run on the sidewalk causing me to almost run toward his car. I was pissed and yelled back as we exchanged barbs I rarely use.
Cat Herder
I live in the dorm of my factory, and I'm always out running at around 5 AM, and I regularly scare the night shift guards eventhough they can normally hear me running, and I can see their flashlights. Some of the night shift guards are really old and I was always afraid I might give them heart attacks.
Luckily we installed LED street lights recently, so there's less chance of scaring them now. :P
I breathe so loudly, a few people thought I was a big dog coming up behind them.
I spooked a horse and rider on my run yesterday. They saw me coming too, but that horse must've been a skittish one.
jfa
Like the others, I scuff,cough, clear my throat, etc.
this reminds me though of a time that a young girl scared the crap out of me. It was late fall and dark on a paved trail. No one else around. About 8 at night. I come to the crest of a hill and as I'm going down, I see a young girls face in the distance. ONLY her face. Gliding through the air about 7 feet off the ground. I'm trying to focus and figure it out, and thinking I should not get closer to this "ghost".
As it turns out, she was riding a tall beach bike with her phone up to her face, giving it a weird illumination ,and making the rest of her seem invisible.
Very spooky.
Tessa
Usually a "Coming up on your right!" as I approach. Sometimes a cough or similar noise. (Word of advice: passing gas noisily, though an effective alert, is not often appreciated by the person you're approaching.)
What is amusing and a little worrisome at the same time is how quickly they relax after they look around and assess the threat I pose. A middle-aged, short, plumpish, gray-haired woman with a British accent, clad in running gear, is apparently a member of one of the least threatening demographics around. If I did have nefarious intentions it would be scary how unafraid of me the other pedestrians are.
Walk-Jogger
LOL - reminds me of a 100K race I followed a few years back. Friend, or foe...?
Retired & Loving It
Queen of 3rd Place
Heavy breathing.
One night I was approaching some people who appeared to be leaning against a car. As I got closer, I realized they were, um, having relations. They were loud enough that I was able to glide by unnoticed.
Ex runner
Where I run in the summer this is a problem. But personally, I'd rather scare a cow than a human. Although one time I spooked a herd of them I couldn't see and they stampeded, which scared the daylights outta me!!! (this is in a very remote part of Canada, so my initial thought was BEAR!!)
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 am curious how you scare a cow? I run across them from time to time when I'm running the trails, and the two ferociously barking miniature Australian shepherds I run with barely get them to look up from whatever they were doing. Except for the time a couple of the cows decided they ought to chase us off, but I think I was more scared than they were that time!
I ran a relay in NH a while ago, and saw about 4 pigs escaping from a farm heading out to the course but didn't see them once I attacked a hill.
Usually I suddenly get bad cough. But if this does not help, I cry like the Road Runner from Looney Tunes: 'meep, meep!'. Once I was following a hare few hundred meters. He was just leaping before me, was not afraid of me.
Proboscis Colossus
I ask myself that every time it happens, too. Usually they see me coming from a ways away (depending on the foliage, whether the road has turned, etc.) and are pretty mellow about it once I get to them. But every once in awhile, for whatever reason, even if they appear to see me coming, one or two will get startled when I get within 20-30 feet, and then the whole herd gets scared and starts running away.
One time, the bull didn't like this at all, and charged toward me. Yes, there was a flimsy barbed-wire fence between us. No, it didn't look like it would stop a two-ton bull if he decided to press the issue.
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people