Why would a someone run on the road?

[Mollyjon]

Just a normal industrial street - pavements on either side, yet why is there someone running on the road and holding up traffic? The traffic couldn't overtake safely as there were cars coming either side and the pavement next to him was clear.
What is the logic?

Where I am (Ireland) the pavements/footpaths are concrete whereas the roads are tarmac, which is a bit easier on the knees etc for people who are seriously into running.

I ran on the road for a bit today as the pavement was completely flooded. Waited until there were no cars though! I'd be worried about being run over doing what you've described if the cars were coming up behind him, you're supposed to run/walk on the same side as oncoming traffic if there's no pavement.

@notknowledgeable nope not lighting, we have recently installed fucking irritating white LED lights. I think it's because the want to cut the corners

I run on the road because the pavements are uneven, the road surface is more consistently level and it’s better for my hips/ankles. The very edge of the road surface is actually nicest as it has more grip, it’s never really driven on. The pavements are covered in poo and glass etc. I do hop on the kerb when a car is coming though and I also run super early so I get the roads all to myself.

I’ve seen people jogging on the road around here before - next to the pavement, while there’s a steady flow of traffic - and I’m guessing it’s because the pavements are uneven or they don’t want to be going up and down kerbs at crossings.

But I just don’t understand why they aren’t more worried about the traffic 😵‍💫
It’d just take one inattentive driver for it to be game over for the jogger.

Tbf I have a bad back at the moment and find the constant dropped kerbs etc make it more painful to walk so where I can I walk in the road as it’s flat (not when there’s cars around though!)

I run on the road - not for the whole time, but for short stretches when the pavements are bordered by dark bushes, trees, undergrowth etc - because I'm a woman alone and I'm less likely to be assailed on the road.

I also sometimes push my baby's buggy on the road, but that's because the pavements are constantly blocked by arseholes drivers who park their cars across the whole pavement and so I'd have to be going up and down kerbs every two minutes.

I know what you mean. Our street lighting is pretty grim. I know they are low intensity to help with light pollution, but there is about 5ft around each lamp post illuminated, then it's dark till you get to the next one. I live in a very quiet safe area, so I know the likelihood of anything happening is remote - but I don't want to be the exception to the rule. Plus the pavements are uneven, and you can't see the lumps and bumps in the dark. So I walk down the middle of the road at night and keep an eye and ear out for traffic.

There's a stretch of pavement on one of my running routes that is covered in a thin layer of moss (it's under trees).

Slightest bit of damp weather and it's like ice so I always run on the road along that stretch.

Arrogance.
I'm a serious runner, me. Pavements are for those wimpy walkers, and old ladies with zimmer frames. I'm an actual ATHLETE.

I’ve definitely encountered these. Bloke running down the road of a congested high street at just the time the maximum number of people were leaving work was a highlight recently.

There was also a trend several years ago of men walking in the road presumably to look hard, but I rarely see that now.

I definitely wouldn’t do that! However this morning I ran before work with nobody around (so certainly not trying to impress anyone) and I realised there’s one place I routinely run in the road - thinking of this thread I considered why - it’s a smoother surface at that point, there’s lots of dropped kerbs so the pavement undulates a lot and it’s also somewhere there are a lot of sneaky puddles that you don’t see until you’ve stood on them. The pavement also seems narrow on that road although it might just be how it feels.

It's the same thing that compels mamils to ride their bikes on roads alongside perfectly good cycle lanes, as happens near me. And it's not because the roads are in better condition, they're definitely not.