This topic popped in my mind after a run I took last weekend, when I was visiting my parents back in my hometown of Augusta, Ga. I was about half-way through a run on the trails that wind along the Augusta Canal downtown near the Savannah River, when I noticed a guy pass me in the opposite direction, looking at me as he passed.
It was one of those moments that give you a little pause, a little moment of “hmmm…” 🤔 Still, I didn’t think too much about it, and kept running.
When I got to my turnaround point, I made the turn and started running in the opposite direction, along the trail back to where my car was parked. That’s when I heard footsteps running up behind me, and saw that the same guy who’d just passed me was now alongside me, looking at me.
“What’s your name?” he asked. I was a little surprised, but told him my name. A moment of silence passed as I waited to see if he’d run ahead of me. But he slowed down to match my pace, clearly wanting to chat.
Thinking he’d take a hint, I then said, “I’m a slow runner, you go on ahead because I don’t want to hold you up.”
Apparently, he didn’t get it, because then he said, “Oh that’s okay, I like to run slow too.”
The guy was wearing what looked to be a small backpack, and I knew (because I’d just run through them earlier) there were several sections of the trail ahead that were densely wooded and secluded away from where other people might be.
Something about the guy weirded me out, so I told him, “I’m gonna go this way,” and then swiveled around and ran in the opposite direction away from him.
Who knows what would’ve happened; probably nothing. But it was enough to get my Spidey senses tingling, telling me something was off and that I needed to put some distance between him and myself.
I thought I’d share this story because A) that’s the first time anything like this has ever happened to me, and B) I can only imagine what women must go through dealing with things like this. Of course I knew this, but to experience it for yourself makes you see it in an entirely different way.
How have you handled strange or weird experiences when you’ve been out running? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and how you reacted might help others too. — Terrell
It was Christmas Day, and I was out for a short run at my parents’ house. They live close to a beach & state reservation. As I turn away from the beach & onto the Main Street, I notice a car following me really slowly. Can’t really go any other direction, and there are lots of houses around in the mile I have left, so I just keep going. Eventually, the car pulled up beside me - apparently, a coyote had been trotting behind me and the driver was trying to distract it 😳 I had no reason not to believe him, but still weird!
Scary Terrell! I'm glad you trusted your instinct and turned around. A story that comes to mind is, a few years ago, both my daughter and I were training for something. My daughter and I were running together - an early morning run, starting about 5'ish. She is a faster runner. There is a paved stretch we were running that goes into a wilderness / hollow area where a river runs, people take their dogs, run, bike etc. It was just starting to get light and she was ahead of me when this young guy with a backpack pops onto the trail right in front of her! It startled both of us. He could've grabbed her or me, he was that close. I was able to get past him, she turned around to meet up with me and we ran together until we got to the end of the trail and back up to the neighborhood. It was definitely an adrenaline rush and definitely why women are ALWAYS in or should be in defense mode. It doesn't matter what we're doing or where we are, we ALWAYS need to be aware of our surroundings. Things happen too quickly. Be safe everyone.
I was running the Monster Mash Marathon one year. I was desperate for a port-a-potty. At mile 13, I passed the last one. By mile 17, I considered the woods, I had to go no.2. I passed this one house.
The owner was out cutting his grass. He asked me if I was running the marathon (I was walking then). I said yes and asked him for a favor. I asked him to use his bathroom. He said of course. I went in. At one time he knocked on the door and asked me if I was ok. He said the paramedics were checking on me. I was fine. I finished my duty and thanked him. I went on and finished last at 7 hours, but I took second in my age group. Every time we passed that house I told my kids the story.
spooky terrell! i have had many weird experiences, but the first thing that came to mind was running with my running partner in bethesda (md). we were marathon training at the time and so starting our runs around 4:30am so he could get to work by 8. we were running in the dark, crossing an overpass bridge when my partner grabbed my wrist and said there is a guy sitting on the ground right there. we were in the middle of the woods and it was just....a disturbing place for some rando to be sitting in the dark. we talked about that guy for years after!
Years ago I ran a half marathon in rural Skagit County (north of Seattle) when suddenly a large horse from an adjacent farm decided to jump the fence and run with me. The horse, having fun, ran next to me or just ahead of me for some four miles. A county sheriff tried to lasso the horse and failed. At one point as we were winding our way through the streets of the small town of Clear Lake the course marshal yelled to me as I was approaching an intersection "just follow the horse". I did. At about the turn-around point on the course the horse saw a group of horses in the nearby pasture and somehow joined them. As I (and the other runners) headed back after the turn-around all of a sudden the whole herd of horses came running towards us - only to be stopped by the fence along the edge of the road. The local newspaper got a photo of the horse running with us and I later wrote an article for Northwest Runner magazine about my encounter. Fortunately no one was hurt and the horse was returned to his home.
Years ago I was out for a few nights fastpacking on the Appalachian Trail. I rolled into a shelter (basic lean-to structure for those who aren’t familiar) as the sun was setting and began to lay out my sleeping pad. Then I heard someone else coming up the trail, and see this guy in street clothes walk into view as he came around the front of the shelter. Weird, but I thought eh maybe he just walked up here from his car for a little evening hike. He seemed surprised to see me and as I said hi he wasn’t very friendly in response. Just sort of grunted and climbed into the shelter. After some quiet moments of him just watching me set up for the night, I asked if he was planning to spend the night, to which he aggressively replied, “yea, got a problem with it?” I explained I was just curious, and that I of course had no problem with it, then shared my trail name and asked if he had one. After a pause and a puzzled look, he said, “Second chance.” At this point I was feeling fairly uneasy about the guy, and having thru-hiked the AT in the past plus spent many nights on the trail, I decided to trust my gut, pack up, night hike, and make camp somewhere farther up the trail. He didn’t say a word as I packed up or as I wished him well. Once I got off the shelter’s side trail and back to the AT (1/8 mile or so) I came across a bike that had been sort of stashed into the shrubs at the trail junction. Bikes aren’t allowed on the AT, and this wasn’t a bikepacking rig anyway. It was a Walmart style basic mountain bike. There was a road crossing not too far from here, so I’m assuming this guy was basically living in the shelter and wasn’t happy to have a guest that night. Probably would have been fine, but glad I went with my gut and got out of there just in case.
Whoa! It definitely sounds like your instincts were right. On one hand, I obviously feel for the guy; but, as we've all learned one way or another, you can't be too careful out there. How was the rest of your time on the AT?
My thru-hike (2005) was amazing. No sketchy run-ins, but a few memorable moments where I did dumb things. I arrived in Fontana Dam on a Sunday morning and didn't want to wait until Monday for the post office to open so I could get my resupply. So, I loaded up with trail mix that I found in a hiker box at the Fontana Hilton (shelter in Fontana) and headed into the Smokies. Half a day in and it snowed. So I ended up pushing through the Smokies in two days, with the trail covered in ice and snow, running on the crumbs of trail mix. Wouldn't recommend that bit. In New Jersey, I stupidly chased a black bear down the side of a ridge before it climbed onto a boulder and turned back on me. It was my first bear sighting of the trip and I got excited. Again, wouldn't recommend. At some point I stopped treating my water. After camping along a stream in Vermont one night, and cameling up, I became concerned when the next morning I realized just upstream was a beaver pond. You see, down south we don't have ponds at elevation. This was new for me. And later that day I got very sick. I curled up off the edge of the trail half way up a steep climb and spent the rest of the day vomiting. Made friends with a nice little chipmunk, though. I got sick one more time, 10 miles from the northern terminus, after getting a ride into town at Abol Bridge where I devoured like 5 Big Macs, and then proceeded to run the next stretch of trail into Baxter. Made it about 5 miles up the trail before that caught up to me in a bad way. The rest of the trip was a dream!
When I'm training, sometimes (ok, a lot of times) I like to do dumb things -- just to push the edge. Probably the wildest experiments was doing a 20-miler in the mountains, in the summer, with just 1 liter of fluids, 2 gels, and no salt tabs. All was going great until the final 3 downhill miles, when my energy took a nosedive and I was humbled to a walk. I ended up collecting myself and managed to jog back to the car.
At my car, I laid next to it, on the concrete, just to regroup. After a while, I thought I had enough strength to make the 20-min drive home. About 5 minutes into the drive, however, my hands and arms seized up, and I began to feel lightheaded. I rolled down my window and began to grunt so that I wouldn't pass out. My hands had clenched into fists, and because I couldn't open them, I steered with my wrists. Fortunately, there was a gas station with a Circle K on the drive home. So, I turned into the service station and managed to stop safely.
When I turned off the engine, I opened the door, but couldn't move my legs. So, I grabbed each leg with both hands, one thigh at a time, and dragged them off the seat until my feet hit the pavement. I mustered enough strength to stand up and shuffled my way inside and made a beeline to the fountain drinks.
Inside, people stared at me as if I were Tom Cruise in Top Gun-Maverick who had just walked into the cafe after he'd crashed his aircraft going Mach 10.5. Like, what planet is this guy from? BUT, I got the giant Polar Pop and saved myself for complete disaster.
Big takeaway: don't underestimate the effects of heat in the canyons, and always carry a bit more hydration and nutrition than you think you'll need. Because you never know.
A few years back we were living in our previous home (inner city Las Vegas) and we dealt with a lot of homeless people and people who were out of their minds on drugs in that area. I saw SO much and encountered more than I’d ever want anyone to encounter. People would say, “Your neighborhood isn’t that bad!” I’d tell them that driving thru a neighborhood is a lot different than running thru it. You see and experience a lot more running or walking a neighborhood.
I saw many naked men, sometimes pooping or peeing, but usually they were sleeping on the sidewalk, gutter, or bushes. Some of them were just lost souls, some scared me. One summer morning really early I was running and had a similar experience to yours.
I passed a homeless guy who stared at me as I passed him, then I heard footsteps behind me. I carry mace and try to be prepared with scenarios, but I was nervous. The look he gave me reminded me of a wolf looking at a lamb. It totally creeped me out and I got a really bad feeling.
I looked back and saw him behind me, so I turned around and ran the other way (back towards my house) and he followed me. At that point I knew he was trying to catch up to me.
He got faster and faster and was yelling stuff at me. I booked it. I ran down my street and hid behind a car until I saw him pass the street opening. I waited a while and saw him run back the other way. I went inside and wondered what would have happened if he’d caught me.
I was terrified. Also glad we moved from that area of town. It was the perfect storm as far as issues go—a block and a half from a park, 4 busy streets nearby, and concrete washes behind our development. (Thieves & homeless live in the washes and use them to get around. It’s nuts.)
That IS weird. Hopefully he was just somebody who struggles to read social cues, but you did the right thing! It's helpful that it gave you some insight into how it often is for women though. My whole newsletter exists because of something some men shouted at me while running ("Keep it up fatty!") — but perhaps starting a Substack is a more extreme way to handle it! It was four years ago now and that one wasn't so much creepy as infuriating and humiliating but I've had weird experiences since where I've felt unsettled on a run. These sorts of experiences are a reason why I love running at parkrun (not sure if you have them in your region but there are hundreds in the UK), but it would be so lovely to be able to safely get out there on the trails. Love your Substack by the way, you're always so upbeat - you write like you're smiling (even when something creepy happens!).
Thanks so much for the kind words, Isabel! I'll definitely check out your Substack -- thanks for sharing! And yeah, my guess is that's what it was. The only thing I thought about later is, what if the guy had a gun, you know? (I've been held up before at gunpoint -- don't worry, I wasn't hurt -- so I'm a little "gun-shy" about anything that might appear to be a repeat of that experience.)
In about 2015 I ran the Maui half marathon and it was the most dangerous and strange race I’ve ever run! The island did not properly shut down traffic on the racecourse, and there were vehicles driving straight into the running pack. Pretty sure some people were still drink and just coming back from a late night out. The race started super early like 5am so it was pitch black, drizzling, and with traffic driving into the runners and people diving into ditches to avoid getting hit.
Nothing too creepy thankfully but I believe in spidey sense and I think you most likely made a wise. ❤️
It was Christmas Day, and I was out for a short run at my parents’ house. They live close to a beach & state reservation. As I turn away from the beach & onto the Main Street, I notice a car following me really slowly. Can’t really go any other direction, and there are lots of houses around in the mile I have left, so I just keep going. Eventually, the car pulled up beside me - apparently, a coyote had been trotting behind me and the driver was trying to distract it 😳 I had no reason not to believe him, but still weird!
Wow!!!
Scary Terrell! I'm glad you trusted your instinct and turned around. A story that comes to mind is, a few years ago, both my daughter and I were training for something. My daughter and I were running together - an early morning run, starting about 5'ish. She is a faster runner. There is a paved stretch we were running that goes into a wilderness / hollow area where a river runs, people take their dogs, run, bike etc. It was just starting to get light and she was ahead of me when this young guy with a backpack pops onto the trail right in front of her! It startled both of us. He could've grabbed her or me, he was that close. I was able to get past him, she turned around to meet up with me and we ran together until we got to the end of the trail and back up to the neighborhood. It was definitely an adrenaline rush and definitely why women are ALWAYS in or should be in defense mode. It doesn't matter what we're doing or where we are, we ALWAYS need to be aware of our surroundings. Things happen too quickly. Be safe everyone.
I was running the Monster Mash Marathon one year. I was desperate for a port-a-potty. At mile 13, I passed the last one. By mile 17, I considered the woods, I had to go no.2. I passed this one house.
The owner was out cutting his grass. He asked me if I was running the marathon (I was walking then). I said yes and asked him for a favor. I asked him to use his bathroom. He said of course. I went in. At one time he knocked on the door and asked me if I was ok. He said the paramedics were checking on me. I was fine. I finished my duty and thanked him. I went on and finished last at 7 hours, but I took second in my age group. Every time we passed that house I told my kids the story.
spooky terrell! i have had many weird experiences, but the first thing that came to mind was running with my running partner in bethesda (md). we were marathon training at the time and so starting our runs around 4:30am so he could get to work by 8. we were running in the dark, crossing an overpass bridge when my partner grabbed my wrist and said there is a guy sitting on the ground right there. we were in the middle of the woods and it was just....a disturbing place for some rando to be sitting in the dark. we talked about that guy for years after!
I actually wrote about it like last month. https://substack.com/home/post/p-144735643 it was a very weird one, at least for me..
Years ago I ran a half marathon in rural Skagit County (north of Seattle) when suddenly a large horse from an adjacent farm decided to jump the fence and run with me. The horse, having fun, ran next to me or just ahead of me for some four miles. A county sheriff tried to lasso the horse and failed. At one point as we were winding our way through the streets of the small town of Clear Lake the course marshal yelled to me as I was approaching an intersection "just follow the horse". I did. At about the turn-around point on the course the horse saw a group of horses in the nearby pasture and somehow joined them. As I (and the other runners) headed back after the turn-around all of a sudden the whole herd of horses came running towards us - only to be stopped by the fence along the edge of the road. The local newspaper got a photo of the horse running with us and I later wrote an article for Northwest Runner magazine about my encounter. Fortunately no one was hurt and the horse was returned to his home.
wow!
Doug that's amazing!! What a cool story. Do you have a link to the piece you wrote about it?
My article was in print (no internet version) but I can provide you with a PDF copy, if interested.
Definitely! I’d love to see it. You can email me at terrell@thehalfmarathoner.com
Years ago I was out for a few nights fastpacking on the Appalachian Trail. I rolled into a shelter (basic lean-to structure for those who aren’t familiar) as the sun was setting and began to lay out my sleeping pad. Then I heard someone else coming up the trail, and see this guy in street clothes walk into view as he came around the front of the shelter. Weird, but I thought eh maybe he just walked up here from his car for a little evening hike. He seemed surprised to see me and as I said hi he wasn’t very friendly in response. Just sort of grunted and climbed into the shelter. After some quiet moments of him just watching me set up for the night, I asked if he was planning to spend the night, to which he aggressively replied, “yea, got a problem with it?” I explained I was just curious, and that I of course had no problem with it, then shared my trail name and asked if he had one. After a pause and a puzzled look, he said, “Second chance.” At this point I was feeling fairly uneasy about the guy, and having thru-hiked the AT in the past plus spent many nights on the trail, I decided to trust my gut, pack up, night hike, and make camp somewhere farther up the trail. He didn’t say a word as I packed up or as I wished him well. Once I got off the shelter’s side trail and back to the AT (1/8 mile or so) I came across a bike that had been sort of stashed into the shrubs at the trail junction. Bikes aren’t allowed on the AT, and this wasn’t a bikepacking rig anyway. It was a Walmart style basic mountain bike. There was a road crossing not too far from here, so I’m assuming this guy was basically living in the shelter and wasn’t happy to have a guest that night. Probably would have been fine, but glad I went with my gut and got out of there just in case.
wow that is spooky. that is super cool that you did the AT.
Whoa! It definitely sounds like your instincts were right. On one hand, I obviously feel for the guy; but, as we've all learned one way or another, you can't be too careful out there. How was the rest of your time on the AT?
My thru-hike (2005) was amazing. No sketchy run-ins, but a few memorable moments where I did dumb things. I arrived in Fontana Dam on a Sunday morning and didn't want to wait until Monday for the post office to open so I could get my resupply. So, I loaded up with trail mix that I found in a hiker box at the Fontana Hilton (shelter in Fontana) and headed into the Smokies. Half a day in and it snowed. So I ended up pushing through the Smokies in two days, with the trail covered in ice and snow, running on the crumbs of trail mix. Wouldn't recommend that bit. In New Jersey, I stupidly chased a black bear down the side of a ridge before it climbed onto a boulder and turned back on me. It was my first bear sighting of the trip and I got excited. Again, wouldn't recommend. At some point I stopped treating my water. After camping along a stream in Vermont one night, and cameling up, I became concerned when the next morning I realized just upstream was a beaver pond. You see, down south we don't have ponds at elevation. This was new for me. And later that day I got very sick. I curled up off the edge of the trail half way up a steep climb and spent the rest of the day vomiting. Made friends with a nice little chipmunk, though. I got sick one more time, 10 miles from the northern terminus, after getting a ride into town at Abol Bridge where I devoured like 5 Big Macs, and then proceeded to run the next stretch of trail into Baxter. Made it about 5 miles up the trail before that caught up to me in a bad way. The rest of the trip was a dream!
i am in awe of this story!
When I'm training, sometimes (ok, a lot of times) I like to do dumb things -- just to push the edge. Probably the wildest experiments was doing a 20-miler in the mountains, in the summer, with just 1 liter of fluids, 2 gels, and no salt tabs. All was going great until the final 3 downhill miles, when my energy took a nosedive and I was humbled to a walk. I ended up collecting myself and managed to jog back to the car.
At my car, I laid next to it, on the concrete, just to regroup. After a while, I thought I had enough strength to make the 20-min drive home. About 5 minutes into the drive, however, my hands and arms seized up, and I began to feel lightheaded. I rolled down my window and began to grunt so that I wouldn't pass out. My hands had clenched into fists, and because I couldn't open them, I steered with my wrists. Fortunately, there was a gas station with a Circle K on the drive home. So, I turned into the service station and managed to stop safely.
When I turned off the engine, I opened the door, but couldn't move my legs. So, I grabbed each leg with both hands, one thigh at a time, and dragged them off the seat until my feet hit the pavement. I mustered enough strength to stand up and shuffled my way inside and made a beeline to the fountain drinks.
Inside, people stared at me as if I were Tom Cruise in Top Gun-Maverick who had just walked into the cafe after he'd crashed his aircraft going Mach 10.5. Like, what planet is this guy from? BUT, I got the giant Polar Pop and saved myself for complete disaster.
Big takeaway: don't underestimate the effects of heat in the canyons, and always carry a bit more hydration and nutrition than you think you'll need. Because you never know.
omg! this whole thread needs to be a book!
Wow, John!! What a story! I don't think I'll ever forget this
Definitely I good lesson! Glad I didn't crash... Oh, and I also make sure I keep water in the car for after the run.
A few years back we were living in our previous home (inner city Las Vegas) and we dealt with a lot of homeless people and people who were out of their minds on drugs in that area. I saw SO much and encountered more than I’d ever want anyone to encounter. People would say, “Your neighborhood isn’t that bad!” I’d tell them that driving thru a neighborhood is a lot different than running thru it. You see and experience a lot more running or walking a neighborhood.
I saw many naked men, sometimes pooping or peeing, but usually they were sleeping on the sidewalk, gutter, or bushes. Some of them were just lost souls, some scared me. One summer morning really early I was running and had a similar experience to yours.
I passed a homeless guy who stared at me as I passed him, then I heard footsteps behind me. I carry mace and try to be prepared with scenarios, but I was nervous. The look he gave me reminded me of a wolf looking at a lamb. It totally creeped me out and I got a really bad feeling.
I looked back and saw him behind me, so I turned around and ran the other way (back towards my house) and he followed me. At that point I knew he was trying to catch up to me.
He got faster and faster and was yelling stuff at me. I booked it. I ran down my street and hid behind a car until I saw him pass the street opening. I waited a while and saw him run back the other way. I went inside and wondered what would have happened if he’d caught me.
Wow, Corrina! That is really, really scary. I can imagine you were pretty shaken up. I'm so glad it's over!
I’m glad that you are okay! I listen to true crime podcasts and stuff happens to men too. Be careful out there!
I was terrified. Also glad we moved from that area of town. It was the perfect storm as far as issues go—a block and a half from a park, 4 busy streets nearby, and concrete washes behind our development. (Thieves & homeless live in the washes and use them to get around. It’s nuts.)
That IS weird. Hopefully he was just somebody who struggles to read social cues, but you did the right thing! It's helpful that it gave you some insight into how it often is for women though. My whole newsletter exists because of something some men shouted at me while running ("Keep it up fatty!") — but perhaps starting a Substack is a more extreme way to handle it! It was four years ago now and that one wasn't so much creepy as infuriating and humiliating but I've had weird experiences since where I've felt unsettled on a run. These sorts of experiences are a reason why I love running at parkrun (not sure if you have them in your region but there are hundreds in the UK), but it would be so lovely to be able to safely get out there on the trails. Love your Substack by the way, you're always so upbeat - you write like you're smiling (even when something creepy happens!).
Thanks so much for the kind words, Isabel! I'll definitely check out your Substack -- thanks for sharing! And yeah, my guess is that's what it was. The only thing I thought about later is, what if the guy had a gun, you know? (I've been held up before at gunpoint -- don't worry, I wasn't hurt -- so I'm a little "gun-shy" about anything that might appear to be a repeat of that experience.)
In about 2015 I ran the Maui half marathon and it was the most dangerous and strange race I’ve ever run! The island did not properly shut down traffic on the racecourse, and there were vehicles driving straight into the running pack. Pretty sure some people were still drink and just coming back from a late night out. The race started super early like 5am so it was pitch black, drizzling, and with traffic driving into the runners and people diving into ditches to avoid getting hit.
Whoa! What a crazy, crazy thing -- and at totally *not* the time you're expecting to see something like that. Hope everyone got through it okay!