Deranged runners in public spaces....

[SoHereItIs2016]

I am genuinely interested in other people's opinions following a really unpleasant experience when out with my two kids and DP yesterday.

So we have membership to a local, but national attraction. It is a very large outdoor type of space which people generally go to to walk, take kids, picnic, and walk dogs. The layout is in two halves so in one side nog dogs are allowed at all and hence the other half is where you find the dogs.

For info no bikes or scooters etc allowed.

We were about half way round the dog walking half and as we had gone late in the day it was very quiet and we could see in front and behind quite far. We have a 6 month old toy breed puppy ( eg very small) who has no aggressive or overtly bothersome behaviours, we are in the process of completing her off lead training, which is why we went late and only let her off in the parts of the attraction where we had good visibility, not wishing to be in any way a nuisance to others.

So all of a sudden a runner emerged AT HIGH SPEED from the trees, not from main path, as he hurtled towards us both DP and I tried to put her back on lead as well as get the kids out of this mans way as it was fairly obvious he was not going to be sensible and actually slow down/ alter his path so that we could all pass sensibly.

As he approached he the. Started shouting at us to put dog back on lead as by this point she had started trunking over to this fast moving object who was shouting and flapping his hand about. At no point did she jump up, bark, growl or do anything whatsoever other than trundle along next to him. The verbal abuse then escalated to the point she this man was swearing and literally screaming at us all the while still trying to run....please note he was not being impeded in his run in any way.....

Eventually my DP by this time rather peed off with all the shouting and swearing in front of our kids shouted back very firmly to him to STOP running so we could put dog back in lead if this is what he wanted.....man went ballistic carried in verbally abusing me/DP and at one point literally launched himself over out dog due to having distracted himself off his own path.....

Whole,episode was really upsetting and both kids by now in tears, dog shaking like a leaf etc.

Now my AIBU is really why do people undertaking timed/ serious sports use public places where to encounter even the possibility of a hold up is going to cause them immense rage/distress/or where they are so 'in the zone' they lose the ability to be a. Rational human being.

It seems to be happening more and more recently, with runners coming at us en masse. In addition to this last incident we have had a few near misses recently where groups of runners have literally forced my young DC off the road....

I appreciate that we all have the right to use the roads, pavements and public spaces but ultimately they are not sports arenas or running tracks, there are designated places for that which I for example wouldn't go to walk the dog or take the kids to play, realising that the two uses do not mix, and often the person coming at you at speed seems to feel that their right to peruse their sporting goals trumps everyone else's right to quiet enjoyment of the public and open spaces.

And just to make it clear the dog was at no point engaging in aggressive, or disruptive behaviour, she was just trundling along faulty bemused by the shouting flapping jumping man!!!!

It's designated for dog walking? Only dog walkers allowed there?

Ya!ppy as well as happy

Mum- no, as she is not dangerous in any way, same as I don't have my kids on a leash, they too have the right to move about a bit as long as they don't annoy people! And dog wasn't 'chasing' him she trotted fairly slowly over to him only after he started screaming and flapping!!!! He might as well have called her over!!

If a park is divided into "dogs off" and "dogs on" leads areas, then if you do not like dogs off leads, it's pretty easy to work out where you should run.
And just because you are a fast moving runner absolutely does not give you right of way in a public place.
Sounds like OP was trying to be reasonable, and this person was a dick.

Actually, i don't think OP is saying her right to walk is greater than his right to run. What she is saying is that if he is so self important that he can't compromise (ie appreciate that appearing at speed out of nowhere into an area where dogs are allowed to run free could cause a bit of a pickle) then he shouldn't be exercising in a shared space.

OP YANBU

What Bippity said

But is it really ok for dogs to be off-leash in public places if they run after people? I'm not a dog-owner would have thought that there's an understanding that if your dog is going to chase people you need a leash. Also it's interesting that the man was "hurtling" along and the dog was "trundling" next to him - yet somehow keeping pace.

You met one rude runner, most aren't like that!

I try everything not to stop to give way to large groups when I'm running. I'm running, I lose my rhythm if I have to keep stopping! If they are taking up the whole path I will politely announce my presence and ask to get through or squeeze past. Blocking the whole path is inconsiderate and rude imo. The bloke you encountered sounds vile though!

We have signs on our promenade path asking that groups don't take up the whole path when walking, it's sound advice and makes for much more pleasant experiences for everyone.

Thank you five and bippity, that's exactly it.....and no my right to walk ( with dog) of course does not trump anyone's right to run, hop, roll or whatever....it's just that we should all be courteous to kne another surely. Swearing and screaming abuse at a family who have not harmed or affected you in any way, other than maybe to make you feel anxious ( perhaps if he had a fear of dogs) or annoyed because you anticipate having to slow down to pass/ avoid crushing dog or whatever, is simp,y not on tho.

But why didn't you just go over and pick up your dog??

YANBU. If you go to a public place you must be prepared to share the space with others. You can't race your car along the public roads at top speed, you go to a track day. Similarly, if you want to run at absolute top speed without meeting other people moving more slowly, a track would be a far more sensible place to be.

This is s coincidence

I had a brush with a lycraclad arsehole runner on Friday night.

I was walking alone down a busy city street, it was dark and raining do as my eyesight is pretty poor and my glasses all misted up. I might not have seen arsehole runner coming.

I was just coming up to a crowd at a bus stop when he sort of emerged out of the crowd and face to
Face with me.

He then clapped his hands once, hard, in my face. I screamed as my eyesight is so poor I was unsure what just happened.

He then continued pounding down the street.

What an utter prick.

As a previous poster said, it is extremely common for runners to be chased by dogs while their owners flap about ineffectively, as seems to be the case here. If a dog comes towards me while I'm running, and the owners don't/can't do anything about it, I have no way of knowing if I'm about to get attacked or not.

If your dog has no recall this was simply the wrong space to let it off-lead in.

It's no good you saying that your dog wouldn't hurt anybody. How is a stranger supposed to know that FFS?

Fivegomad I read it as half for dogs, half no dogs. Not half on lead, half off lead.

No matter how well behaved a dog it is a risk having them off lead in a shared public space.

Oh wait shouldn't dog training be done in a designated dog training arena? Just like it's a the sports arena the OP thinks should be where runners run?

I'd love to hear his version of events

YANBU

This man is one of types that gives runners a bad name.

I used to live in London, we had a large common and leading to it, a busy highstreet. There were always a few runners on the common but not nearly as many as on the highstreet.

They were always running on and off the pavement and bus lane, huffing about people getting in their way.

I always felt they needed to run on the highstreet instead of the common because their need to be noticed trumped their need for an adequate space to run freely.

Perhaps your runner had the same need to be noticed as a serious running pro, rather than someone going out for exercise, the latter are the ones who usually don't act like entitled twonks.

theycallmemellojelli a chihuahua can run at 20+mph... The average human's top speed is a trundle to most dogs!

Also people don't seem to understand that dogs have to learn. OP sounds like you are being responsible. You'd be hard pressed to call most dogs back in the face of a fast moving, hand waving, loud lunatic.

I used to puppywalk for guide dogs for the blind and you'd be amazed at the number of people pillocks who didn't understand that guide dogs weren't either born with the 'knowledge' or thought that on the chime of midnight when they turned 2 years old were suddenly blessed with all the skills to be assistance dogs

And yes I've had s 'thankyou' and a friendly save when letting joggers through.

Irony is that there are plenty of parks and tracks to run down - not busy city streets.

Walter that's exactly what we do, but because he had started screaming and sweating before he had even passed us, as he did pass ( and kept running, and flapping) she did follow him which made it much more difficult, she was not 'Persuing' him and in fact did not really get that close until DP shouted at him to please stop IF he wanted us to put her on the lead.

If he had just run past in a normal fashion minus the verbal abuse and gesturing from experience to date she would not have shown him any interest at all.

Spudlet - fair enough - but my point is that if the dog was running up to him and then next to him it won't have seemed like trundling.

Did you consider that he might have been taking part in a race?
Just about all trail races go through public spaces such as the one you refer to. Yesterday a major 21-mile event passed through the grounds of Chatsworth, for example.

As for those posters who suggest all fast running should be done on a track - you really don't get it, do you?!

Mum oh yes I'm sure his version involved an out of control pit bull terrier lunging wildly at him whilst we, the irresponsible owner actively encouraged the aggressive behaviour lol!

Thanks, OP. Just couldn't quite picture it.

So he effectively came out of the trees already screaming? Nutter!

Sorry, sohere, it's your job to control your dog, not his. He shouldn't have sworn, but it's not his fault the dog followed him, you shouldn't have it off leash if you can't prevent this. And telling him to stop while you put it on the leash doesn't really make sense.