To whoever was running Key Bridge & Roosevelt Island 9:30 a.m. today:

Consider this... wrote:

The guy was just trying to avoid being passed. He probably was hoping that I wasn't taking the same turn as him, but he was wrong. He could have just let me pass.

It is becoming increasingly clear that you don't know what the word "bluff" means.

not a bluff wrote:

Consider this... wrote:

The guy was just trying to avoid being passed. He probably was hoping that I wasn't taking the same turn as him, but he was wrong. He could have just let me pass.

It is becoming increasingly clear that you don't know what the word "bluff" means.

We have to make some assumptions, namely that this guy was indeed trying to drop the guy and not just doing his own thing and being spooked.

If so, and if he was trying to shake the other guy he may have sped up to a pace way faster than he could sustain in hopes the pursuer would think the chaser was too strong of a runner to even bother try keeping up with.

By sticking with a surge or two the chaser could have been calling the runner being chased's bluff of unsustainable pace

So depending on your read of the situation it is not impossible a bluff was called.

Exactly. Anyhow, Avocado, I did acknowledge in my original post that it was a possibility that the guy reacted out of fear of being stalked, however, I seriously doubt that was the case, and it certainly didn't seem so at the time. Although it was pre-dawn, we were on a very popular running path (the W&OD in Northern Virginia), which is a double-lane asphalt straight path that's pretty well lit in the area we were running. I was dressed like a runner, not a mugger, and it wasn't like I jumped out of the woods to start chasing the guy. The turn off the main path that he took was onto another double lane paved path of equal width, but not very well lit at that time of day. I do acknowledge, however, that I lost my head and let the guy's antics distract me from my own running plan in order to not let him show me up - call it primal instinct, creepiness, or whatever, but I guess that's how my mind worked that particular morning.

OP behaved like a db, Deserved what he got.

So what happened to page one of this thread? Very interested in it because I used to run this area all the time and had this kind of thing happen a lot.

I won't list my PRs, but I was a competitive D1 runner and when I lived in DC, was training pretty hard and running decent marathons.

One of the things that would happen to me a lot was getting passed on the Key Bridge, and then having to deal with the awkward re-pass once we hit the paved trails in NOVA or the C&O in DC. The Key Bridge is a bit of a "stage," if you will. Heavy traffic and lots of people watching since the traffic is always stopped. Also, there can be a lot of tail on the bridge. Sometimes this makes people who are less inclined to running possibly pick up the pace while they're on the bridge.

I am a nice guy, and I think that passive-aggressiveness shows a lack of character, so I will usually just confront the situation in a friendly manner. If I were the guy latched on 5 meters back, I probably would have just asked if it was okay if I ran with the guys. It is important to note that the I wouldn't really do that, I would just run on my own, but if it were really an issue where they were running the exact same pace and there was only one way to go, I'd probably say something like, "I am not trying to chase you, I am just running a similar pace."

If I were the guys being followed, I would definitely turn around and say hey to the guy. If he was nice, I might ask him to run with us. If he were creepy, I'd just tell him to go by and have a nice run.

To the "Consider This..." guy who followed another man into the woods. Now that I know you are in the DC area and not in my new town, I will share this story... I was running with a friend the other day around 6:30 am and had to take a dump. So he needed to drop his short at his car and we had just done a 4 mile loop and were about to do another. Popular running loop in town. We split and I went on to find a spot off the trail and he went to his car. I was going to take a dump and run back towards his car to meet him again.

As I am heading back into the trail, another runner - older guy about 60 or so - heads into the trail at the same time as me. So I have to go pretty bad and I have a spot in mind that is about 400 meters into the trail, so my first reaction is to sprint ahead so that I can run into the single track and go about 50 meters into the woods and dump. Thing is, the old guy starts sprinting too. I don't really mind, but when he follows me onto the singe track, I stepped aside to let him go by. NO ONE RUNS ON THE SINGLE TRACKS, by the way. They are for bird watchers or something. Very windy and short. No conducive to running or mountain biking, so when he turned off with me, I knew it was going to be weird. He kind of stops and looks at me. I just said, "man, I am trying to take a dump so I can go meet my friend for our second loop." He didn't say anything, but he turned around and ran back to the main trail.

Very similar to your situation, which is crazy... I guess these things happen.

Very creepy.

So what happened to page one of this thread? Very interested in it because I used to run this area all the time and had this kind of thing happen a lot.

I won't list my PRs, but I was a competitive D1 runner and when I lived in DC, was training pretty hard and running decent marathons.

One of the things that would happen to me a lot was getting passed on the Key Bridge, and then having to deal with the awkward re-pass once we hit the paved trails in NOVA or the C&O in DC. The Key Bridge is a bit of a "stage," if you will. Heavy traffic and lots of people watching since the traffic is always stopped. Also, there can be a lot of tail on the bridge. Sometimes this makes people who are less inclined to running possibly pick up the pace while they're on the bridge.

I am a nice guy, and I think that passive-aggressiveness shows a lack of character, so I will usually just confront the situation in a friendly manner. If I were the guy latched on 5 meters back, I probably would have just asked if it was okay if I ran with the guys. It is important to note that the I wouldn't really do that, I would just run on my own, but if it were really an issue where they were running the exact same pace and there was only one way to go, I'd probably say something like, "I am not trying to chase you, I am just running a similar pace."

If I were the guys being followed, I would definitely turn around and say hey to the guy. If he was nice, I might ask him to run with us. If he were creepy, I'd just tell him to go by and have a nice run.

To the "Consider This..." guy who followed another man into the woods. Now that I know you are in the DC area and not in my new town, I will share this story... I was running with a friend the other day around 6:30 am and had to take a dump. So he needed to drop his short at his car and we had just done a 4 mile loop and were about to do another. Popular running loop in town. We split and I went on to find a spot off the trail and he went to his car. I was going to take a dump and run back towards his car to meet him again.

As I am heading back into the trail, another runner - older guy about 60 or so - heads into the trail at the same time as me. So I have to go pretty bad and I have a spot in mind that is about 400 meters into the trail, so my first reaction is to sprint ahead so that I can run into the single track and go about 50 meters into the woods and dump. Thing is, the old guy starts sprinting too. I don't really mind, but when he follows me onto the singe track, I stepped aside to let him go by. NO ONE RUNS ON THE SINGLE TRACKS, by the way. They are for bird watchers or something. Very windy and short. No conducive to running or mountain biking, so when he turned off with me, I knew it was going to be weird. He kind of stops and looks at me. I just said, "man, I am trying to take a dump so I can go meet my friend for our second loop." He didn't say anything, but he turned around and ran back to the main trail.

Very similar to your situation, which is crazy... I guess these things happen.

Very creepy.

Except none of this ever happened Mr. Anderson.

Agent Smith wrote:

Except none of this ever happened Mr. Anderson.

Pretty much. Paranoia/fear seems to be a thing among many runners.

What happens if some of you ran in Central Park/NYC? "STOP FOLLOWING ME!!! AAAHAHHHHHHhhhh!!!!"

Get a grip people.

Five meters is too close if you didn't ask them ahead of time. You could have done the same thing 20 seconds back and nobody would have cared when they finished and you passed them 20+ seconds later. Five meters is nothing. Five meters is how far back I run when I'm struggling not to get gapped by the lead pack on the track. Five meters is the sound of footsteps in the ears of everyone in front of you.

If I am gaining on somebody, I try to go out as wide as I can.....it just seems that reduces you trying to intrude in their space...At least I hope they feel this way.

I know it does bother me when someone buzzes by me, but I try to remember that is some weird psychology..

I try to realize that it probably bothers other people but I don't want to go off the course I am running and have planned.

If I did this, that would cause some other pointless psychosis.

If it is real narrow, I'll try and pull up to them and run with them for a few seconds explaining that I am trying to maintain pace or something of that nature.

I do have a bad feeling when it does happen however.

ive had similar experiences on our local greenway. The last time was I was about 3 miles into an easy 18. I come up to pass this guy who I was probably going 30secs/mile faster than. At about the time I'm shoulder to shoulder with him, he gives me the look. The same "look" that Lance Armstrong gave Ullrich in the TDF up one of the mountains before he dropped him. He then took off as fast as he could. I just maintained my pace.

He lasted about 1/2 mile (he was progressively slowing after about a minute but still faster than his previous pace) and he hit a hill. He turned around about halfway up the hill and was walking down. I was probably 10 secs back and gaining again. It was a secluded place and he likely had another 3 miles to get back to the nearest parking area. As I passed him going the opposite direction, he tells me "nice try keeping up." It took me a few seconds to comprehend what he actually said, so I was well past him so I didn't say anything back. I thought about turning around and asking him if he wanted to race back, but just kept going.

malmo wrote:

Tyrone Rexxing

AND.....I guarantee that every single person who complains about it, has at least once (likely a few times) done the same exact thing: been passed and picked up the pace to keep near, saw someone in the distance and picked up the pace to haul them in, tried to hang with a faster runner who went by them, in other words: "raced" someone on their workout. Everyone has done it at sometime, so people, please don't be hypocrites, despite one's rationalizations on why "when *I* did it, it was 'different'," i.e., acceptable behavior. )

Well you're wrong. I've never done this, not even once.[/quote]

Ok malmo, I should have known that you would tell me I was wrong ( you always do, and I know, that's because I always am), and yes, it is quite possible that you speak the truth in this case. If so, I'd say you are a rarity in this regard (and you of course, being a world class runner, had a lot fewer people that could even hang with you for a little while compared to almost all other runners). But I still find it hard to believe that not even once in your entire life (HS, college, beyond) did you pick up the pace in reaction to another runner that you saw on a training run (in front of you in the distance, trying to hang with you, whatever the case may be).

But you already told me "never", so no need to repeat yourself on that.

Why don't you b!tches run on Memorial Park in Houston, where you are challenged and passed, and pressed on every run by complete strangers!!! 3,000 runners/day run at Memorial. It is the mecca of Houston running.

You won't survive, DC b!tches!!!

Kind of dumb to be racing (or even doing a "tempo") on Key Bridge, especially at that hour, given the high number of pedestrians, cyclists, and runners going in both directions on a narrow strip of sidewalk. I'm thinking that the only reason that you got within five meters of your opponent was that he had to slow down for people walking in front of him.

Cop An Attitude wrote:

emaciation station wrote:

Oooh a tough guy, eh? I'm sure you Montgomery Burns-like distance guys can really pack wallop!

Former runner - not emaciated at all nowadays.

Guy is a creep for sticking that close.

I'd slow and let him go by and then stalk him to see how he likes it.

If that didn't work, I'd knock him out...same thing that I'd do to you.

Sound the alarm! We have a real internet bada$$ here!

lolhttps://sports.vice.com/en_us/highlight/running-makes-people-insane-and-this-forum-thread-proves-it/

sdfasdfsdfsdfsdf wrote:

Cop An Attitude wrote:

Former runner - not emaciated at all nowadays.

Guy is a creep for sticking that close.

I'd slow and let him go by and then stalk him to see how he likes it.

If that didn't work, I'd knock him out...same thing that I'd do to you.

Sound the alarm! We have a real internet bada$$ here!

Pacers is actually the name of a local running store chain. runpacers.com

that vice article made my day, haha.

As far as the subject of this thread, both the OP and the guy who cursed him out are at fault for creating this situation.

Picking up the pace and following so close to someone is borderline creepy and weird. Either pick it up and ask if you can run right with the person, or just let them go and do your own thing. Following that close behind someone is antisocial and puts the person you're following in an awkward situation.

Dude who cursed you out massively overreacted.

classic case of 1 dude being dumb, and another being dumber.