out for a jog and women yells at me to stop

[suchclearwater]

Really feeling quite confused. I feel like I have done something wrong but I don't think that I have. Or have I? I was out jogging in some fields (a popular area for joggers, dog walkers etc) and came near two women. I was at least 5 metres away from them and keeping that distance as I was passing them when one of the women shouted, Stop!' at me.I stopped and said I am at least 2 metres away from you and she came back with, well I have a chest infection so that isn't good enough. She then went on to say that all us joggers were just panting and spreading our breathe everywhere. I honestly didn't know what to say. In the end I just jogged about another 4 metres away from her and carried on but was left feeling slightly mystified and a bit cross. I don't think I had done anything wrong. Her tone was really aggressive. What do you think? Should I have apologized or something? I don't think I should have but clearly she did.

She should be home isolating if she can't risk her health.

So when she shouted 'stop' you knew why, despite saying you were well away from her? Sounds as if she thought you were too close.

Of all the other people I meet when out with the dog - walkers and cyclists and family groups etc - i've found runners the least considerate. They will barge through any space you make to distance from others and never want to stop and wait even for a few seconds.

As @workshy44 has highlighted, the "study" about runners needing to be farther away is 1) not a peer reviewed study 2) a mathematical modelling experiment not using real covid19 particles and 3) the results suggest that even WALKERS should be 5m away to avoid all risk (where risk is the chance of any particle hitting a person). 2m is only sufficient if everyone is standing still. The media just decided to focus on runners/cyclists to be inflammatory. It also lacked modelling considerations for things like wind, weather conditions, heat... etc

We should all just be trying our best to stay physically away from others, whilst also being polite and kind. No one should have yelled at you @suchclearwater

You did nothing wrong. She has a chest infection, so why was she out? She may well have had symptoms similar to Covid 19, so should have been staying at home.

I am a walker rather than a runner, but if someone screeched "stop" at me like that I rather doubt that I would stop for them. If I paid them any attention it probably wouldn't have been polite. I think you were very restrained.

Since the lockdown, I've seen or experienced a few things where people just needed to act a little differently to before to keep everyone safe and happy and they haven't. Two examples. A jogger running on a narrow pavement and from behind pushing past a mum walking with a baby and toddler in a pram. The jogger would have seen the mum from a reasonable distance away and could have easily slowed and gone off the pavement into the very quiet lane for a few yards until safely past but chose not to. Two walkers coming quickly down a narrow track towards two people out for a stroll, one obviously very vulnerable and disabled. The walkers could easily have stopped in one of 3 gateways they passed to allow space for the strollers to pass safely but instead chose to keep motoring towards them. The strollers had to turn around, causing confusion and difficulty because of the disability, and go back down the track to wait in a gateway for the walkers to pass more safely - not even a thank you.

I think it's completely fine for you to be out jogging and completely fine for someone with a chest infection to be out too for a bit of fresh air and exercise because it is not Covid-19 she has. Joggers, walkers, cyclists and the more vulnerable need to coexist and it just takes a little mutual consideration. It is indeed true that 2m is not enough to leave between you and anyone you pass if jogging. Joggers and cyclists can get suddenly close to walkers and especially those more vulnerable, not giving enough time to move aside. I do think the onus is on them to give walkers and especially the more vulnerable a wider birth. I'm sorry you were shouted at but she was probably just worried. I do think we need to give people who are worried some help and understanding, where possible, and even if it puts us out a bit or we don't quite get their worries. Enjoy your jogging, but just give others a wider birth and then everyone is happy - and you'd be doing a good thing. A little extra consideration and cutting each other some slack goes a long way, especially in these dreadful times.

But am now thinking of all sorts of comebacks I should have said

get them all ready - if you go there often, you're sure to encounter her again - and she seems too thick to realise that if she has a chest infection it's her that should be shielding and staying home with her germs.

As for all the poster saying joggers don't keep their distance - OP said she was F I V E B L O O D Y M E T E R S away.

If she was ill with any kind of infection she should have self quarantined for 14 days or got tested. Wanker

The media just decided to focus on runners/cyclists to be inflammatory

Surely someone walking at a normal pace and therefore breathing normally is going to be less of a risk than a runner breathing hard?

WTF was she doing out with a chest infection?? She's meant to be self-isolating!

She shouldn’t be out

Anyone who shouted at me or told me off for being out when out themselves would get told to Fuck Off! Some people think they rule the world.

@workshy44
Interesting article, but isn't it for people exercising together?

Based on these experiments, Blocken and his team of researchers concluded that when taking part in sports, the 1.5-meter rule is not sufficient to protect against infection with the COVID-19 virus. Instead, they recommend a distance of at least four to five meters when walking in the same direction, 10 meters when running and cycling slowly, and at least 20 meters for faster movement.
According to Blocken, the safest thing is for athletes to move next to each other at the same speed, because the droplets they emit will land behind them. Diagonally offset, the risk of inhaling particles from the air breathed by the person in front is also lower than if one is directly behind the other. The risk of contamination is greatest when the person behind is directly in the slipstream of the person in front.

So just jogging past someone isn't going to up the risk.

OP, way over-reaction from that woman. Sounds like she was on a hair-trigger and just looking for an opportunity to sound off. Jog on, I say to you (and I mean that positively!)

I had a woman walk into me (literally) whilst shopping who then barked at me about social distancing she was too busy with her head down in her phone to noticed I'd stopped in the aisle!
I've also had glares if I've as much walked past someone at a distance. Some people are just neurotic with a combination of cabin fever.
Dont worry OP, carry on jogging you've done nothing wrong!

That 'study' that workshy links to doesn't meet any criteria for a bona fide study whatsoever! No one can infer anything useful from it.

Link to a proper randomised, repeated, peer reviewed study or don't bother.

I go running and I'm very aware that many people are now scared of runners, I just give them a wide berth.
I wouldnt stop to bandy words with random strangers trying to tell me what to do, if they want to chat they'll have to catch me first :o

@PotholeParadise's link is really interesting, @BorsetshireBlueBalls, because it explains that Blocken is only talking about aerodynamics and is not an epidemiologist. So the air movement might be a contibutory factor, but he's in no way qualified to state categorically that runners must be 5 or 10 metres apart and cyclists 30 metres or whatever. The transmission of a virus is a lot more complex than just the movement of the air. But of course it makes it look nice and simple, and now that everyone is becoming territorial about the roads, tracks and pavements, it's fuel to the fire. No-one knows enough about the transmission of CV19, that's the problem, so let's not all become experts based on one questionnable study that's not even been published.

Some joggers seem to think that as they are going past fairly quickly then social distancing doesn't apply.

Yes

Pisses me off!

Me too

I think that close enough to hear them breathing is too close!

And yes again

There are lovely people and knobheads in every social activity runner/ walker/ dog walker/ cyclist/ whatever.

I wish more people would adopt "BE ALERT" and notice other people facilitating them being able to adopt appropriate distance. Whether I've been running or walking, I haven't had an issue with another runner or cyclist, but they tend to have the advantage of being solo. It's dog walkers being socially distant from their dog on their lead on the opposite side of the path (plus all the extra dog shit loitering in verges and on paths) and the sauntering conjoined couples that must occupy the central two thirds of a path at all times are far greater in numbers than panting arsehole runners. It doesn't mean that all or most dog walkers or walkers are arseholes, it's just easier to notice the small minority that are.

It can also be great to see - considerate - people out and about, and a nice smile and hello can be very welcome from a distance. You might be the only person that person or couple or family sees all day. It can be turned in to a positive encounter.

Enjoy your jogging, but just give others a wider birth and then everyone is happy

Op gave them at least 5 meters.

Stupid bitch - if she's got such a bad cough, she should be staying in - not shouting at random passersby who aren't doing anything wrong.

Ignore, ignore, ignore

I find OP that in situations where a witty comeback is not coming immediately to mind, a simple eff off usually suffices.

Maybe there’s a reason why not, but I’d have thought it would reassure the non-cycling non-jogging possibly anxious walkers if the cyclists and joggers would wear a mask. I think everyone’s wearing masks when out in Germany just to reassure everyone else.

The vast majority (where I am anyway) are so considerate, especially the younger cohort. Great parents there!

There will always be idiots around and they need to be called out. Which I did in Aldi (sorry not Waitrose or M+S sigh), when the person behind me got too close. I just politely with a smile said, there is a mark on the floor there thanks. She jumped back.

Ah...A Special Snowflake Dementor!
She should not have been out.
Here's a comeback:
Point your finger at them..."Expecto Patronum!"
Guarantee that'll leave them speechless.