A runner's rant

This morning, I got a bit of a later start to my run. I run on a street that goes north/south and it’s really busy, so I run on the sidewalks. This morning, I got to an intersection with stop signs for the east/west street and I could see a car just flying up the hill toward the stop sign. I was very cautious as I entered the intersection, which is a very good thing because she didn’t stop at that stop sign. She may have tapped her brakes but she hardly slowed down so forget about stopping. She also clearly didn’t see me – I had definitely seen her though, and you’d better believe I stopped. I also reached my arm out slightly and smacked her car as she sped past. That’s how close she was to me.

As you might imagine, I had a huge adrenaline dump – writing the events has taken way longer than the events themselves – so I had to walk briefly until everything calmed down again.

I will say that I am a safe runner. I wear reflective gear, I pay attention, I never listen to music or the radio when I run, and I always check traffic. I don’t want to play tag with a car – I’d lose for sure. But in return I sure wish that drivers would follow the rules of the road and pay attention to their surroundings.

This morning’s run confirmed two things for me: it’s safer for me when I run in the dark (because there's so much less traffic that early) and I miss Boston drivers who at least paid attention to runners and pedestrians.