So I'm plodding along at a steady pace on one of my standard courses through Hoylake this evening. Two youths (late teens, maybe even early 20s I guess) appear on the rather narrow pavement (left-hand side of the road) ahead of me. One of them moves across towards the edge of the pavement, directly in front of me. Maybe he hasn't seen me.
Oh yes he has - he's staring at me, running on the spot and pumping his elbows in some sort of attempt to mimic me. I maintain course, speed (~9.5 mph), and full eye contact.
As I approach, my own elbow action (particularly on the RHS) becomes exaggerated, as if I'm about to swing a punch at him. The bluff works. At the last moment, he moves out of the way, to my right.
He's forgotten he's standing on the kerb. As I pass him, he totters, off balance, into the road. Bang! The car passing by at 30 mph has no chance of avoiding him. I carry on running.
All the above really did happen this evening - with one exception. There was no car passing at the critical moment.
Spoilt my run - heart rate leapt by 10 bpm from that point onwards - and largely stayed there, as I contemplated what might have been.
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Was it the fact that he might have been run over, or the fact that he wasn't, that spoiled your run?
Cheers, V-rap.
Tend to agree with all. Didn't they invent wars to get rid of this dross or am I just cynical (or hopeful).
Mr Angry of Reading
Also, the route I use involves two loops through Hoylake - and the second one was still to come! I did wonder if they'd spot me coming round again before I spotted them & lie in wait.....so, one way and another, the HR stayed high for the rest of the run. Not the outing I wanted.
Anyone got one of those "Stinger" devices the police use????
Robin
Instead of continuing at my comfortable pace I found I was running practically flat out when I went past them becuase I felt so uncomfortable. You usually only get cyclist and dog walkers on the track, meeting this group has kind of put me off doing this route on my own in the future becuase its quite isolated.
Anyway after that the run was ruined - I'm supposed to do my hard sessions tonight but feel like I already did one last night!
Would we be better off built like some rugby forwards?
Perhaps the sportswear companies could come up a 'don't-mess-with-me-look' that would make us look more important and menacing... kind of robocop running outfits!!