John O'Donnell wrote:
There is an inclination in such situations to tell fellow runners to be careful out there. then we read the details and learn being careful had nothing to do with it: he was facing traffic, wearing reflectivee clothes, on the road shoulder; and he still lost his life. To most of us, this is just the latest in a long line of such stories, and we forget about it in a day or two. To his family and those who loved him, the loss never goes away. All I can say is I'm sorry for the tragic loss.
^ This. I can't tell you how many of my coworkers have already asked "Why don't y'all just run on sidewalks or the Riverwalk (pedestrian path)?"
Because true runners, passionate people like Cameron, NEED to run further than sidewalks can take you. They NEED to explore. And they KNOW what to do in order to explore safely. Yet they end up being chastised (at best) or injured and killed for pursuing their passion.
We don't tell people that they should re-read yesterday's newspaper every day for the next year -- and feel fortunate to even have that. Or tell a guitarist to learn Stairway to Heaven, and then play only that song, every day. So why the widespread urge to stifle this particular passion?
People like me may take a day off to contemplate Cameron's death. And then in a few days, we'll probably go for a run. We might even masochistically run to Moccasin Bend road and try to make sense of what happened. All the while, we'll be thinking that we're some kind of advocates for safer conditions, raising awareness by putting more runners on the road.
But really, we're just the next moving targets.
Sincerest condolences to Cameron's family, friends and community. Chattanooga has lost too many good people under such tragic circumstances.