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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be annoyed at joggers

67 replies

quix · 08/05/2015 11:36

Walking along with dh the other evening, we heard someone shout 'excuse me' from about 10 feet behind us. Turned around to see a jogger bearing down on us, not slowing or changing course, obviously expecting us to step into the road as it's a narrow footpath, so she doesn't have to break her stride.
AIBU to think that if she wants to run on public footpaths, it is her responsibility to run into the road to overtake people, rather than just shouting and expecting others to make way?

OP posts:

timelyreminder · 09/05/2015 00:51

YANBU. Joggers don't have priority.

Doyouthinktheysaurus · 09/05/2015 06:19

No absolutely, joggers don't have priority! Nor do walkers! But we can all share the same space and mostly ensure no one ends up in the road by being considerate and mindful of others

As I've already said on a quiet road, I'd just run round on the road, wouldn't think twice about it but if it's a busy road I will politely ask people to let me past. Surely it's not 'entitled' to want to finish my run without being squished by a car or being forced to stop running in case I offend walkers by asking them to make room for me

MidniteScribbler · 09/05/2015 06:27

It's the assumption that everyone will dive out of their way just because you shout 'excuse me' at them. If you're on the road, you don't get to beep your horn and all the cars in front of you pull off in to the verge to let you through. You wait for a safe place to overtake, then you go around them.

oddfodd · 09/05/2015 06:34

Loving people saying the jogger should have waited. Like it wouldn't be intimidating to have someone jogging on the spot behind you while you're having a romantic stroll

Just move aside. I say excuse me to people walking two abreast on narrow pavements on the school run. If you're strolling side by side, it's just courteous to allow someone who's moving faster than you to overtake. Obviously if the pavement is really narrow the overtaker goes into the road or is patient.

A little common sense doesn't go amiss I find ...

DryHeave · 09/05/2015 07:15

As a jogger, I've noticed that most walkers are lost in their own world and just a single person walking can take up a whole pavement by dawdling/winding around and swinging their bag. This is fair enough as when walking you're not expecting to be overtaken. It's just common sense and courtesy for a faster person (walking, running) to ask for space to move past when there's room.

Hmmmm, she may have 'shouted' just because she wanted to ensure you heard her. It's hard to judge your volume when you're running up you don't know precisely how fast you might be approaching another moving person. Also tricky to judge volume when your breathing is heavy. And also tricky if have headphones in - even if only quietly playing a podcast).

Having said that, I always say 'thanks' when someone moves (but maybe that's sometimes construed as shouted or curt for the above reasons!) and will run into the road and round a pedestrian if it's safe to do so. When I do run in the road, it seems like I can't win as some pedestrians act startled as I pass - as though I should have shouted AND run in the road.

FindoGask · 09/05/2015 07:23

I wouldn't ask someone to move over when out on a run. I check traffic and then run past on the road, or if it's too busy just wait for a gap. I can't say I always do this with good grace though! And most people, if they're aware, will do their best to give me room.

IamJeff · 09/05/2015 07:27

Joggers and walkers have equal entitlement to footpaths!

If you're blocking the paths then move?

Normanpriceisnotarolemodel · 09/05/2015 07:34

YABU.

Shock horror, some asked you at a volume you could hear to move aside as you were blocking a footpath.

And that annoyed you enough to post about it on a forum. Err...Really?

Blueskybrightstar · 09/05/2015 07:45

Being asked to move out of the way by a jogger when enjoying a stroll on a footpath is not a problem. Good lord, some people don't know they're alive. Of all the great ways you could choose to enjoy life, you choose complaining on an internet forum because a jogger asked you to move out the way. If they'd smacked you round the head you wouldn't have BU but as it stands, moaning this much over something so minor makes you VVVU.

timelyreminder · 09/05/2015 11:28

The way to say "excuse me" is not to shout it at people. It should sound like a polite request, not an order.

Someone approaching you at speed (bicycle, jogger etc.) shouldn't bark "excuse me" as they power towards you. They should be willing to deviate slightly from their own course or slow down, not just expect you to move. Politeness is sharing any inconvenience, not telling someone else to take it all.

timelyreminder · 09/05/2015 11:30

A polite "excuse me please" is fine, with a smile and a willingness to compromise a little.

Gabilan · 09/05/2015 18:05

"Someone approaching you at speed (bicycle, jogger etc.) shouldn't bark "excuse me" "

IME whatever you do someone will object. I quite often cycle on shared use paths. My favourite conversation went like this:

Me:
Man: you should ring your bell
Me: I did
Man: Well I didn't hear you. I'm deaf.

Ring your bell too quietly and someone will be annoyed they didn't hear. Ring it too vociferously and someone will shout "I don't have to get out of your way you know" (yes, thanks, I do know and I wasn't expecting you to. I was ringing my bell so you were aware of me and didn't shout "argh you came out of nowhere why can't you ring your bell" as I pass carefully and considerately. Also, I was trying to make sure you knew I was there and didn't randomly change direction without looking and lurch into my path). I should imagine joggers similarly find they're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Without knowing the random stranger you're about to pass you just can't second guess what their reaction will be. All you can do is what you think is right and then, if they have a pop at you, shrug and get on with your day.

MissDuke · 09/05/2015 20:13

Of course YABU. You were blocking the path, so the jogger had no choice but to ask you to move over. I refuse to believe that she couldn't have jogged by had you both moved into single file. I think she should have said thank you though. Sadly bad manners is just a part of everyday life, not something I would think to even mention to someone, never mind bother to start a thread on.

TheChandler · 09/05/2015 20:22

To be fair though, it was probably only 70 or 80 years ago that people simply didn't run. Or go out cycling, at least not women alone at any speed. Or even swimming without those little bathing cabin things to hide them...

My mother used to go out cycling, alone, and the comments she would get just 25 years ago, because it was so unusual for people to see in that area. Now, most people ignore a person cycling, and don't get unnecessarily shocked or even frightened, but I guess some people still maybe find it unusual?

MrsItsNoworNotatAll · 09/05/2015 20:49

Yabu. You were blocking the path so she asked to get past.

Would you have reacted the same way if it had been anyone else or because she was a jogger?

Momagain1 · 09/05/2015 21:12

It's the assumption that everyone will dive out of their way just because you shout 'excuse me' at them

How is that any different from the assumption that you neednt let any one pasS you? It doesnt matter whether they were walking or running, coming from behind or in front if you. No one has any more right to the path than anyone else, and if you are blocking the path, YOU are the one who needs to move. No one has the right to block a path.

EastMidsMummy · 09/05/2015 21:32

YABU.

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