Wildest Training Run Encounter

While running on the streets of NYC about 2 years ago, (a lost cause, really) it was about 10PM so the sidewalks weren't that crowded. I'd been people-dodging the entire run and swore I'd only stick to Central Park after finding out the hard way how much it sucks to run in the streets NYC...but anyway, I wasn't paying attention when out of a hotel flies Joan Rivers, who proceeded to slam into me. Or did I slam into her? It's debatable...but I didn't look left to see her running out of the hotel to her limo, and she had her head turned away and didn't see me coming. Pretty f***ing bizarre. She shot me stink eye like I've never been shot before from the sidewalk she was sprawled across and I apologized and offered to help her up - she instead picked herself and her alligator skin handbag up and went into her limo without missing a beat. Only in New York, I suppose.

Recently came running down a trail section of a greenway that follows a creek. In an opening on the other side I see a circle of 5 or 6 grungy people with one guy in the middle holding a rifle to someone who is lying on the ground.

For a few seconds I say to myself "f*** me, I'm out of here" until I see someone off to the side holding a video recorder. It seemed to be some college kids doing a civil war re-enactment.

Got the blood flowing and ended up having a great workout.

Me and my gun-ho ex-marine 40 yr old running partner from time to time were on a run when two black dudes in a car rolled past and said some shit. Well my running partner being the ex-marine (are you ever really an ex-marine?) that he is never backs down from anyting. So he started talking shit back. We all started talking shit while we were running and they were slowly driving. We followed them to a McDonalds drive-thru were more shit slinging was exchanged and one of the dudes threated to "pop a cap in our asses" with his gun. We told them to f*** off as we continued our run. They took off pedal to the floor right past us up this huge hill. We picked up two empty beer bottles we found on the side of the road (there are always empty beer bottles off the side of the road in Indiana). The come flying down the hill at about 100 miles an hour as we launch our bottles toward their car they launch a freshly bought McDonalds milkshake (strawberry I think). They missed us. We shatter our bottles on their car. They take off and we don't see them again. A week later my running partner sees one of the guys on the bus as they both are headed to the same college. My running partner really verbally abuses him asks him where is gun is now. Black dude apologizes, says he was just kidden and proceeds to get off at the next stop.

Alan

while on a long trail around Twin Ocean and Emma Matilda lakes in Grand Teton nat'l park, Wyoming, my buddy and I had the coolest running experience I can think of. 15 miles into a 2 hr run, we hadn't seen anybody (well maybe one person--but that cheapens it---at any rate, we had found some sweet wilderness)....then we heard a crashing sound. We stopped, thinking it might be a bear, and suddenly all around us came a pack of Elk, crashing through the forest on all sides. It was f***ing nuts, and the run itself was so goddamn beautiful, that I'll always remember it as a feeling that few people on this earth are lucky enough to experience.

I just happened on this thread by accident, doing some legal research on the Golden Gate Bridge and suicides (the runner who was bullhorned off the bridge came up in my search). I just spent the last hour and a half at my law office, reading all of your stories. Thanks for the entertainment! The very first post is my favorite, hands down!

bump

I was on a pretty small trail in the park that was home to my high school xc course, I followed the trail around a large tree and literally ran smack into a very large biker gang kind of dude getting some "help" from an equally homely looking 50 year old former biker chick. Very nasty. It was not only nasty, but it scared the crap out of me. After turning around it just got more disturbing. I saw some other old guy photographing the lovely couple from behind a tree. (they didn't know he was there!)

Wow! This is a long running post isn't it? I didn't read through all of the posts, but I don't know if many have had this experience. I frequent a nearby park with a 2.5 km tartan loop here in Japan. Usually, I go there to run after work around 6pm. It gets dark around 5:30. Thursday, I went at the usual 6 and began my 5k warmup. On the second lap, I noticed a guy who appeared to be standing next to a big Zelkovia tree next to a crate. It is dark on that corner and I can't see him well. Now, there are a lot of stray cats whose former owners set them out to be free in that area of the park, so I assumed that he was either doing that or feeding the cats. Also, the forecast called for snow that night, so I figured he could be making shelter for one of the cats as some do. I change, set off on my ladder workout. On the recovery after a 2km repeat, I pass him again and see he hasn't changed positions and is kind of swaying back and forth. I figure that he is debating whether to leave a cat there or not, so though I think about saying something, I leave it at that. My 3km repeat goes past that area, but i don't look. The recovery is a backtrack, but I am only taking 4 min. and have to take a shortcut that doesn't go past that area. The 2km is in the opposite direction around the loop and I do a short recovery to finish with a 1km interval. From there I finish the loop starting my cooldown towards my car. I pass by again and the guy still hasn't moved. The wind has picked up and I notice he is heavily swaying. It is not the Japanese nature to approach strangers, it is dark and I don't want to risk anything, but I try to get a closer look... and I see the crate is on it's side and a rope extending upwards from his head! I sprint to the park manager's office to tell him what I think I've seen and luckily another guy was there after reporting it. I went with them to await the cops, but i just couldn't stand it. I used an excuse that I wasn't the first to come upon the guy and left as the cops showed up. I couldn't eat that evening and had trouble sleeping after that. I've managed not to think about it much, but can't forget it either.

I posted this under a different thread back in August 2004, here it is..and it is still a true story:

I was running on the Appalachian trail in mid-June of 1996 in the Michaux State Forest, about 10 miles south of Boiling Springs, Pa. It was shortly after 5 a.m. and the sun was already well over the horizon. I was 3 miles into my run, heading into a decent breeze, when I crested a small hill and almost ran right into what I first thought was a black bear. It stood at least 6'5" and was walking upright...smelled like a garbage dump and was carrying what looked to be 2 or 3 large trout and a branch with red berries on it.

It showed no fear and actually seemed to step aside to avoid being run into by me. It immediately turned its back on me and bounded down the other side of the hill into the woods. I told only my wife about this until now, because I didn't want to hear all the Yeti, Bigfoot b.s. (and to this day, I don't think she even believes me).

This thread is...different.

We were on a shakeout run following our conference meet a few years back and were out running through fields/cow-town roads and heard some serious moaning. Kept running only to find a cow sitting on the ground groaning in pain...not 3 seconds later she gave birth- little sucker just jumped out...pretty crazy.

Just a couple of weeks ago---I'm running down the road, and some guy is walking down the sidewalk a short distance in front of me, carrying a plastic bag. Suddenly, he starts swinging the bag back and forth wildly and swaying from side to side. He collapses in the street. Naturally, I got out my cell and called 911. they send an ambulance, but before they get there, the guy stands up, tells me that he's OK, it was just a seizure, and walks away. He was out of sight by the time the ambulance showed up, and I had to stick around to tell the EMTs what happened

B B B B BUMP

the guy who claims to have met kilgore would have a legit addition to this thread.

rimshot

About a month ago I was running on the local golf course at about 9:00PM with my teammate. Came up over a short, steep crest to see a large cougar staring me down. Jaw opened up and did its terrifying version of a house-cat's hiss. Turned and ran like hell. Free dove a fence and landed on the other side. Haven't run there since and don't plan to anytime soon.

One crisp spring morning i was running in the forest in brisbane,australia.I rounded a blind bend at speed and was confronted with a middle aged man with nothing on but a john deere hat walking towards me,how should i say this,"standing to attention' so to speak.He absolutely shit himself and tried to cover himself with his shorts he had in his hand.

I waited till i had past him and then yelled many expletves at him!@#!@#

I used to live in Marietta around the time you wrote about. Did you ever run on the trails at Life University? My training partners wouldn't run there unless I was with them. They,both guys, wanted all of the gays hanging around to see them with a girl. The funniest thing I have seen on a run was on the trails at Kennesaw Battlefield National Park. The same two guys and I were cruising down a trail that opens up unto a huge open field. Both guys were sorta layed back,"nothing gets me that worked up" type of guys. Anyway, all of a sudden one of them throws his arm out and starts pointing to something in the distance and stuttering,"look, look!" So we looked. What we saw were two fat, white butted girls laying out trying to tan their hides. I don't know which was funnier, seeing the reaction of my training partner or watching the two girls scramble to cover them selves.

yesterday i saw a guy playing fetch without a dog. he would throw a stick ten meters or so, walk over, pick it up, and throw it back the other way.