Stranger Danger – Greenway style

July 24

I planned my Saturday long run on a greenway I’ve only run on twice. But I had to go to a specific mall (UGH!) in a random part of town…so what better way the change it up and get 15 miles in on a relatively flat area of Raleigh?

It was about 5 pm…plenty of daylight hours left and I’m used to seeing hordes of people on greenways given the nice weather we’ve had this summer. The first few miles had kids on bikes, people walking dogs, the normal stuff.

Exactly at mile 3 a guy on a bike came by, slowed down, and asked, “Do you run here alone often?”

Huh? Go away, Weirdo!! I wish I was wearing headphones so I can pretend you don’t exist. “I’ve done the free fat ass runs here but other than that, no”

“It gets pretty desolate from here…not many people from here to the end of the trail”

ooooooooooooooooooooooh, crap….I’m gonna end up on Criminal Minds!

 I must have made a face, because at that point he pulled out a badge. I had heard there was a citizen bike patrol but had never seen one until now.

“We’ve had some….incidents up here. Weekend mornings are fine but I wouldn’t recommend any other time. So if you’d like I can bike next to you while you run….or you can turn around…but running alone isn’t a good idea.”

Obviously I opted for turning around and just moving the long run to Monday. It was a pain, but at least I have all my parts.

Thanks bike dude for keeping me safe. And for being creepy so I listened to the warning. Nice touch.