Suchclearwater: I’m sorry you were upset, and do hope you feel more relaxed now. I’m a jogger who also walks slowly at times with my dogs, so do have a view of both sides of the coin. I don’t think you did anything wrong, I suspect you caught a bit of backlash from the woman who was feeling pretty worried and perhaps had been frightened by other joggers getting too close to her? I’m sure you were polite and I’m going to suggest that if it happens again, you might say: ‘I’m sorry you are upset, perhaps I was a bit close’, and you then move away. That’s then the end of the story, the woman would be happy, you’ll stay relaxed, you haven't actually apologised (you hadn’t done anything wrong of course), but have acknowledged that she was upset. Some of the very confrontational replies that some people here have suggested you give, really don’t help the situation at all, and just get everyone completely wound up and angry.
Research in fact has suggested that sweat comes off joggers, potentially spraying over several metres, and although any risk of spreading an infection is unlikely, it’s still there. In France, joggers and cyclists are asked (I understand) to stay ten metres from each other and presumably from other people, and in Spain I think that people exercising by running, jogging, etc, go out at a different time to others who are slower.
Some joggers can, I’m afraid, be too fast and too close. I’ve actually been knocked recently by a jogger coming along the path in our park, as I simply had nowhere else to go, and the jogger was not stopping for anything or anyone! Last week, a friend was pushed over, by mistake, by a jogger rushing round a corner on a narrow pavement. It can be nerve wracking trying to get out of the park gate with joggers and cyclists coming in at speed without, it seems, any consideration for others including people with pushchairs or in wheelchairs.
Anyway, hope you are ok now and that you dont have any more people shouting at you. 🌺