What's the worst "area" you've run in or through?

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm biracial (half (east) African, half white) but that's never happened to me. Have you considered living in PG county? It's where my parents moved to, and it's mainly upper-middle class black people (at least where I lived) so I've never felt like the neighbors were hostile.

I phrased that poorly - I've never felt that the neighbors would call the cops on me since virtually everyone's the same race

Which downtown? Atlanta has 3 downtowns.

I've run in 4 continents... I've run on a road in Chennai India during rush hour, in Nairobi, in Mexico City... None of those places are anywhere in the top 10 scariest places I have run. No homophobic comments nor any yelling in general. Compared to Dallas, TX even in one of the biggest LGBTQIA neighborhoods in the US I get yelled a homophobic slur about once a month. I'm not even gay just I guy where running shorts. But still felt safer there than many other areas I have run in in Dallas where crime is high... Hear gunshots far more than once a week. Random city in Colorado was getting yelled at at least once a week a homophobic comment and a homeless guy with a tear drop tattoo saying @#$_ that white guy. Ran over about 7 needles on the sidewalk in Vegas... Yeah the US is very very unsafe in major cities and unsafe if it looks like there could be a slight chance you could be gay in the country

Not sure why South Bend and Notre Dame are getting so much hate here. It's actually quite safe and a great place to run. There are many running paths and a good running community. Clearly, the haters haven't been to the serious redneck parts of the country, and we're far more integrated than other parts of Indiana or many larger cities.

Worst place I've run is Beijing. Not bad people, but scary, scary traffic.

This is a loooooong time ago, but I was in Norfolk, Virginia for work and ran down a road named Killam Avenue over near Old Dominion University. Didn't appear to be a very nice neighborhood, at all. A lot of abandoned buildings and some rough looking houses.

Was telling a co-worker about it and he said Its pronounced exactly as it looks: "Kill Em".

Two scary experiences.

A redneck threw a beer bottle from his truck at me while I was stopped at an intersection. I didn’t see it coming and it didn’t miss by much. This was broad day light in a DFW suburb.

A pack of five dogs in rural Oregon. I was running on a dirt road in a remote location and a pack of dogs came out of a home. In truth it was a shack, while well intentioned the meth head who tried to control them had absolutely no control and for a few minutes I was sure I’d be mauled. Luckily I got away without a scrap.

Ask a (non-gay) friend their honest opinion if your running shorts are too short!

There should be a running shorts rule something like add an extra inch for every 5 years after age 25.

GSU, Ga Tech, CNN headquarters, Coca Cola areas.

I once went running in my big city known for high crime and got lost (only a few months ago). I was in pretty bad areas (boarded up houses, just looks run down, a couple street memorials, etc) but I was relieved when I began seeing Ukrainian and rainbow flags since I was going into a gentrified area.

In my experience it really depends on the time of day. For example running down Flatbush in Brooklyn during lunch hour, I've been subject to really aggressive heckling. Running on main roads through deep west or deep south Chicago during the morning, I get the impression that a lot of folks are more scared of me than I am of them. Walking down the street in most neighborhoods of Philly after the sun sets, downright terrifying.

You racist pig!

Very similar to rural Mississippi, particularly the gravel roads. I had routes where my turn round points were determined by the unrestrained dogs that would charge out of houses. People so poor that they aren't afraid of being sued for any damage...

Weirdly, the only place I have ever been harassed by a redneck for the length of my running shorts was in Logan Circle in DC (a famous gayborhood).

Anyway, it's not an age thing; it's a body thing. I've seen guys over 70 who pull of split shorts just fine, but they're still wiry.

Running in Baltimore, we used to have a bout a quarter-mile stretch that could get real murky after dark on the way to and from the track. Typically even after a hard workout that pace could jump up if things got a bit hairy especially if it was darks. Most of the time it was just taunts or people just giving sideways glances, but we had bottles hurled at us. The most interesting part about it was at the end of it, there was a highly affluent neighborhood that was of course blocked off to traffic. So you'd get to nice suburbia after the Danger Zone.

Where was that? Are you talking about the Hopkins actual track?

The only other track I can think of is the Gilman one, and that's in Roland Park and there are always people around

On occasion, I ran on the stoney run trail at night and that wasn't scary but just eerie - you'd only hear yourself and it was dark.

The thing I didn't like was once I ran the back hills of Druid Hill Park at night - that was scary since it borders bad areas and was pitch black. I was convinced it was safe-ish, though, when I saw a random young female walking on them pressing a book up to her nose so she could barely see. If it's safe for her, it'll be safe for a few young males running together.

Man I don't even remember the name. It was the old track we used before they build the Hopkins track. You'd go from posh neighborhood cross the street to a rough stretch then the area by the track was fine (mostly just because it was a busy-ish set of roads and a school).

Victorville, CA. Those houses you see in movies like Training day, where there are waist heigh fences around the front yards. Bunch of rusty Bullet holes in windows of cars on front dirt lawns. A bunch of pit bulls wanted to eat me alive. And the owners were just standing in the doorway. I don’t think they had ever seen a runner. Especially in that neighborhood.