Not really as much a question but more a comment. I see people running in the strangest locations or on the oddest terrain and I don't understand why. Here's an example:
Where I live there are miles of awesome crushed gravel trails that wind through forests or along creek beds behind houses. If a harder surface is your style, then plenty of quiet suburban streets.
Why do I see people running on the busy 2 lane highways near my house? Cars and trucks are whizzing by at 55 mph (100kms') every second, the shoulder on the road is full of garbage and road kill and there's a decent chance you could get killed.
I also saw a guy running through a development site where new houses were going to be built in the middle of an already built up neighbourhood with the same trails and streets as mentioned above. Why would he choose to run in the rough terrain, dangerous, muddy construction site?
I'm curious.
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Maybe they don't know where the trails are?
Maybe the construction site is closer to home?
I used to drive 3 miles away, park in the valley, to run on the most flat land I could find. I was really scared to run on the State Route I lived on.
But now I have embraced/resigned myself to running on hills, and found if I run early in the morning there is no traffic problem.
I do run in the next town, in the local park system too, for a nice flat run. I tend to do this for my long runs and after work in the winter time where I am still trying to get out in the daylight.
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I hate people like you. :moon: The best thing about running is that you can do it anywhere (other than it being free). For me, those two things are the greatest things about running. I have resigned myself to parks and secluded areas as I get leers from people and such. And even there I do also (people honking their horns etc...). Back in the day, when I was in the Netherlands, I just stopped running for that very reason. Another female student also stopped running for that reason and also because the local busses would stop for her thinking she was trying to catch it. Things like that were not isolated incidents. You have to run somewhere, so best thing for me would be to run right out my front door for half the distance I was planning to run and then turn around and run back. That's what those people are probably doing.
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i could drive just about 3 miles and get to the silver comet (a paved path) but it doesnt have any shade overhead and gets really hot. and its so crowded during prime running time.
although, since we will be in the house soon, and i will only have to walk about 20 FEET i wont have any excuse, um i mean ill probalby start using the silver comet path more.
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Right back at ya pal... :moon:
Sure, if there's no where else to run then you have to run where you need to run but that's not the case. The paths are right there, very visible for all to see and use. There's no law against it or anything and I don't really care where people run, I just find it strange. Why would you want to run amongst fast moving cars, sucking in all their exhaust when you could be running on a quiet path through the forest?
I heard one persons theory which works for them. They said they like to run on a stretch of highway because there's no way to back out. Once you start done the stretch you have to keep going because there aren't any side streets that you can go down and take a short cut.
Interesting.
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That's usually my problem outside. There are some trails close by, but I have no way of knowing distance, whereas on the roads/sidewalks, I can jump in my car and figure it out.
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My town also sports an abandoned hospital complex on 370 acres (the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center). One road thru it is still open. I do 3 mile loops on the wide, empty road. I see only one or two cars per hour taking a shortcut, and a lots of other locals use the fields and roads as a park.
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In the summer I can also drive about 10km and do another 10 mile loop through a much more heavily wooded conservation area that follows a river. This path is nice because most of it is either dirt or gravel, but they don't clear the snow in the winter.
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Everyone has their quirks on why the run where they do. I don't mind the mud of the trails I end up on while others hate it.
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