My DH thinks I wbu, do you agree? People interrupting me whilst out running...

[Livingtothefull]

I know I am being a bit precious but here goes…

I live in an area which has a fair few tourists, this morning I was out for a run. There is one spot in the middle of the route where I have to run up a hill, I choose it purposely as it is v challenging to do.

I was running up the hill, just looking straight ahead and trying to focus and get up there. Then a couple approached me from the side & tried to ask me the way to somewhere (I think) but I just blanked them as I didn't want to stop and couldn't talk while running, not even to say 'Sorry can't stop'.

I did feel rude but then I thought, why ask a runner for directions when there are plenty of other people to ask? It was not an isolated spot, there were literally dozens of other people walking up & down the street. They did not look distressed, if I had thought there was any kind of emergency I would have stopped & helped….but I heard them giggling in amazement at my rudeness after I blanked them & ran past.

This has happened once before & I did the same thing. I told DH about it and he said they probably asked me because they assumed I was local. He thought I was rude and should have stopped, I said they should have known better than to try to interrupt a runner for a non-emergency. We had a bit of an argument about it & I said that they would never have done it if I had been a man, as they would have then assumed I was a 'serious athlete'.

WIBU? This is a genuine question.

On MN we are always told that 'No' is a complete sentence.

So next time try and find the breath to shout 'No' as you run past - then no-one should have a problem!

brandy because the legs and breathing would loose the rhythm and it's difficult to get it back.

Some women (especially when they are fell walking) presume lone men are rapists / mad axe murderers so I suppose they are more likely to ask a woman for directions.

I think YWNBU.

I know mousmous , I just didn't understand until I started myself!
Best of luck Rita

I did ponder making the swap from walking as fast as is humanly possible to running, but reading this I don't think it's for me. I am not assertive enough.

God no YANBU what a totally ridiculous thing for them to do.

I think your point has been well and truly made, Sparkling :)

I did think it was common sense not to stop a runner and I am firmly and quite categorically not a runner.

I am a horse lover and will often chat to horse riders about their horses if they are walking: I would hardly stop a trotting, cantering or galloping horse for the same reason.

There is a tiny possibility OP, that because you're into running, you might think the people around you have more opinions than they actually do, if that makes sense?

I said that they would never have done it if I had been a man, as they would have then assumed I was a 'serious athlete'

What makes you think they would assume anything at all?

I don't look at runners of either sex and think 'Oh there goes a serious athlete'.

Same as I don't look at dog walkers and think 'Oh there goes a serious animal lover'.

Oh right misty. Thanks. I will be off then.

I'm a runner, and I would have stopped. You are hardly going to wreck your training by pausing for 5 seconds.

sorry brandy
have not read properly...

Yanbu, I plan my running routes so as not to have to cross roads or stop for anything. Once I stop it's very hard to get back into a rhythm again.

What I'm is the giggling from the people after the OP blanked them.
Why would anyone giggle? If anything they should have been angry by the rudeness. That looked like they were actually making fun of her.

Up a hill, people! She was running up a hill! Have any of you ever tried stopping and starting on a hill? It's a killer.

Also, I do agree with your point about men, OP. Men are taken more seriously as 'runners' , including by themselves. Men I have passed out whilst running almost variably look disgusted/pissed off.

Male runners, I meant n that last sentence.

YANBU, I totally don't get it and hate it when people do this. Running is different to walking, it can be very hard to get back in the moment if stopped.

I think YANBU as it sounds annoying! I run and unless I'm in a race then I don't care too much about my times and I don't mind being stopped. However I live in a rural area so appreciate this probably happens much less than it does to you. However I'm a bit at people who run back and forth at traffic lights. Just stand still it won't mess up your run I promise.

men doing anything are considered more important than women, it's so ingrained it's not even noticed or acknowledged
the thing about lost children and safety apply to many other situations, too
our time/energy/bodies are public property available for the convenience of others

I wouldn't have stopped you. When runners are coming towards me I step aside - within reason, I don't grovel . I remember when I first started getting fit what an effort it was to weave round people and how hard it was to get going again if I had to stop.

get a t shirt saying
MY BODY CANNOT BE STOPPED I AM A TEMPLE

I think yabu really. I appreciate I'm somewhat of a couch potato so I'm not aware of these specific "rules" but even a quick acknowledgment of them would have been more polite.

Not worth having an argument with dh over though. Forget about it. Even if it was a bit rude, it's hardly the crime of the century.

Men I have passed out whilst running almost variably look disgusted/pissed off.

Oh yes. I can't run fast enough to pass many men but I'm a very fast swimmer and often pass men or more frequently get stuck behind them.

Some men are fine about it and let me go first if we reach the end together and a few have even congratulated me. But some get very angry and deliberately rock the water. Because I'm small it can bring me to a standstill.