crimes against runners

[Heather!]

i'm sure it's happened to everyone - drivers cursing at you, dumbasses yelling "run, forest, run!", people throwing crap at you... amidst all of the inconsiderate pedestrians and horrible drivers, i bet there are afew choice incidences that stick out in your mind.

for example: years ago on the 4th of july, i went out for a run and these brats drove past and threw those little white packets of gunpowder (the kind that pop when you slam them on the ground) at my feet and then last summer i was hit from behind by a f------- cyclist.

what are your stories?

[Andrea]

This isn't really a crime against runners but....... I was doing 6 miles the other day and just before my turn around point I saw this big turtle in the road. I decided that once I ran the 25 yards to the turn around point I would move it to the grass on my way back. Well, just as I got ready to go into the road to pick it up, this jackass aims for it with his SUV and hit it. It sounded like a gun went off and I almost puked. I can't believe that ass hole hit that turtle. It's still bothering me.

[Heather!]

what the fuck? that pisses me off sooo much. i saw someone hit a little squirrel on monday morning - the car could not have not seen it and it didn't slow down or swerve or anything! i can't f'ing believe the things some people do - it's just insane. i'm not really sure what the laws are regarding animals in the road but it should definitely be illegal to hit them (i have a feeling it is but it's not soemthing that's really pursued). the guy you saw and the guy i saw are trash... maybe someday karma will kick in and they'll get run down by cars.

[cody daneille]

WTF! i hope that guy comes back as a turtle and just before a runner is about to save him a SUV smashes the shit outta him....i hate retarded ppl.

[Andrew Chandler]

I knocked out a guy once. He was driving around a corner in a car, he was just hauling it. And came around the corner, I yelled, and slapped his car (he was going around 50 in a 30). He stops, gets out and comes after me. I turn and hit him and run off.

[Adam]

Bad. Fucking. Ass.

[cody daneille]

i do that all the time too. nothing will piss off a road rager more than slamming their car...f-em theyre just ignorant and dumb. like trying to back out when im behind you? youre getting your truck slapped retard.

[Adam]

Yea, I have the normal "Run Forrest Run!" banter, but then there are more escalated circumstances such as being mooned by a car driving past. I, of course, stopped and mooned them back. Not sure whether they saw or not.

In truth, I cause more crimes than I am ever a victim of. Okay, it's just a lot of trespassing, but still I do it a lot. And going into off limits areas on an army base can be pretty life threatening because it usually doesn't give an explanation for the forbidden-ness. I could have gone through a land mine field and not know it.

[Andrew Chandler]

I heard this about Frank Shorter, that one time, he and a friend were running together and a car got out into a crosswalk, and he just jumped right on top of the hood and ran across and jumped off. Now, I have no idea if that's true or not... but knowing the stuff you hear about those earlier runners, I can believe it.

[Adam]

I fantasize about that. I am always watching those cars coming near the crosswalk wondering if I'll get the chance.

[Andrew Chandler]

The nearest I ever came was when I hit a carhood cuz the car was in the cross-walk

[Parker]

I talked about this one before, but some jackass threw a beer bottle at me from a moving car. Actually came only about 6 inches or so away from hitting me in the side of the head, it passed in front of me instead. Seriously, what the hell? It was 4pm on a Sunday too.

[Dread Rooster]

I run an 8mile stretch of road late at night with a friend about once a week. There isn't much traffic at the time we are there, and the are huge shoulders on both sides. Reflective strips, flashlights, glow sticks, and every combination of the three can't seem to fight off my two least favorite running companions.
1) hi-beams
2) honking horns

I understand that it is dark. But I (the guy on the side of the road in the middle of the night) am aware that a car is coming. As much as I rack my brain for what positive response a driver could hope to elicit from a runner, I draw a blank.

I can never imagine a honking horn suggesting, "excuse me sir, i am approaching you in my vehicle under completely controlled circumstances. Please carry on calmly"

I can also not come to reason that hi-beams from a car in opposing traffic are rendered so that I, the runner, can better identify a car against the darkness.

I understand that none of this runs through the mind of a driver late at night, but I can't come up with what does