Runners: Why are you too good for the sidewalk?

[destrekor]

Who the hell runs on the road? I don't think I've ever seen that here. I run on the sidewalk like a normal person. Of course I have the Seawall right near me, which is where I really run, but when not on the Seawall I run on the sidewalk.

KT

I avoid sidewalks like a plague.

Two reasons:
1) The sidewalks of my neighboorhood tend to vary between good and piss-poor. Most commonly, there are broken pieces, uneven slabs (sometimes to a comical extreme, but I digress), and just generally poorly maintained slabs of concrete.

2) Pure concrete is the absolute WORST surface to pound with your feet... ever.
Grass in soft soil is the absolute best, if you want the full left to right scale in mind. (That also tends to take awhile to learn how to run on, and condition yourself for, when all you've known is hard solid surfaces - btw)
One of the parks I'll run at has a crushed limestone surface. The hard pack (but still loose, in that it's not technically paved just really really packed) is absolutely awesome to run on, unless it hasn't seen maintenance and weather has been miserable (I assume they maintain it - I haven't ran on it often because I'd rather not drive that far just to go running).
Even if it's only minimally better, other varieties of car-approved surfaces do give you ever so slightly more give under foot. Asphalt and similar surfaces are ideal, if one has to run on a hard surface. It's far more forgiving.

Now, if it's a really good sidewalk, and the road is also pure concrete (cement)... I guess I'll use whichever has the least obstacles.

When I run on roads, my head is on a constant swivel (I wear headphones - thus I compensate with extra head swiveling) - looking for cars, threats of all other shapes and sizes, and escape routes.

On some of the busier roads (a few of my routes takes me through neighborhoods and on busier roads), that's when I'll suck it up and stick to sidewalks (if available). If there is space (wide 2 lane road, for instance), I most certainly will keep to the road if possible, for the previously mentioned reasons.


I ain't screwing up my run and/or increasing the odds of personal injury, just to appease you "stay off the road" types. Sidewalks suck, unless you're walking.

 

[destrekor]

it may be smoother, but road sides usually, or should, have a noticeable cant for water runoff. that is really bad for your legz

Unless you run on the same exact route for eternity, you'll usually balance out stride differences like that over time. You may balance it perfectly on the very same route.

Let's not forget, one of your legs probably is a touch bit longer than the other. It usually takes a decade or two for even the more extreme cases to develop seriously complications from an ever-so-slightly uneven gait (I'm thinking, for average cases, the more extreme is two centimeters, probably closer to 1cm).

Unless it's a seriously crazy road, that runoff cant should be very minimal. I can't imagine there are many instances where there is more than a centimeter difference at surface level between where the right and left feet strike the ground. And even then, most of us will naturally shy maybe a foot or two from the curb, probably for that reason. Literally at the curb is the most obvious difference in slope, but even a few feet away from the curb it tends to level off more (at least, in my mind I'm seeing it that way).

 

[alkemyst]

it may be smoother, but road sides usually, or should, have a noticeable cant for water runoff. that is really bad for your legz

That's rare it's that bad unless you are running on highways.

 

[grohl]

If there is little or no traffic I always choose the asphalt. It's way softer on my old man knees.

Also in a residential area, cars in the driveway block the sidewalk or are backing out. Can be a real pain sometimes.

Trust me, in higher trafficked areas, I'm always on the sidewalk.

 

[xalos]

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned in this thread. But, it's actually illegal for runners/walkers to be in the road if there is a sidewalk present in a lot of jurisdictions and runners/walkers are supposed to yield to oncoming vehicles if they need to be on the road.

However, I don't understand the hostility shown towards the runners. I can't imagine being in a big enough hurry to be angry about them being in the road.

 

[destrekor]

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned in this thread. But, it's actually illegal for runners/walkers to be in the road if there is a sidewalk present in a lot of jurisdictions and runners/walkers are supposed to yield to oncoming vehicles if they need to be on the road.

However, I don't understand the hostility shown towards the runners. I can't imagine being in a big enough hurry to be angry about them being in the road.

Hmm, I wonder about that sidewalk/road law thing.
In many circumstances, I'm sure a quick and simple chat gets runners out of trouble. Walking in the street is a whole different thing...
I know the reverse is true, and probably more often, in that bicycles on the sidewalk are often illegal.

 

[xalos]

Hmm, I wonder about that sidewalk/road law thing.
In many circumstances, I'm sure a quick and simple chat gets runners out of trouble. Walking in the street is a whole different thing...
I know the reverse is true, and probably more often, in that bicycles on the sidewalk are often illegal.

I'm sure 99 times out of 100 nothing would be said to the runner/walker in the road. Only in some sort of altercation would the actual law probably be brought up.

 

[MrPickins]

I ain't screwing up my run and/or increasing the odds of personal injury, just to appease you "stay off the road" types. Sidewalks suck, unless you're walking.

I'm pretty sure you increase your risk of injury much more by running in the road around 2 ton vehicles than running on the sidewalk.

 

[destrekor]

I'm pretty sure you increase your risk of injury much more by running in the road around 2 ton vehicles than running on the sidewalk.

Eh, paying attention isn't too difficult.

And it's not likely most of us are talking about running in the middle of the road. Typically, these are residential roads, maybe two lane (sometimes divided, sometimes not) roads that bisect residential areas.
In some bigger areas, perhaps they are more populated roads.

Regardless, choosing to run near the edge (curb) of a decent road, isn't really any more dangerous than simply running... or running on the sidewalk for that matter.
If you are weaving lanes, on foot, Frogger/drunk style, sure, but who runs like that? Er... who runs like that, when sober?

When running on sidewalks, you have to worry about cars still. You have cars backing up out of driveways, cars flying into their driveways from the streets. With yards, you're actually closer to some other varieties of possible injury: dogs who finally broke the front screen door, had an open gate, etc... kids playing on bikes or whatever and flying out of a blind spot... it's all pretty equal.
The super-smart runners don't run with headphones, or at least they refuse to run with noise-canceling headphones, and they keep alert. Some of the slightly lesser intelligent runners choose to have some audio quality and run with IEMs (or, used too... I destroyed a pair of Shure's once - now my Shure's are for dry activities, and I have sweat-resistant, bluetooth IEMs for active wear) - but depending on intelligence level, they compensate with other approaches. Me, I buy running-specific clothing (for the typical "technical-clothing" approach - lightweight, wicking, etc), which almost always has reflective marks on it. I also don't stop moving my head - I might get into a tunnel focus and really get into rocking out more than focusing on how much the whole running thing sucks (or get lost in thought), but that can physically happen only when I'm completely alone, not a single thing stirs near me, and there are no driveways, roads, intersections, etc in the vicinity. Mostly on long straight stretches, and usually only in parks.
Even then, my paranoia keeps my head in the game, even if I'd rather just float on and ignore the realities of the world for a brief moment in time.
Even in parks, my head swivels because I'm waiting for the knife/gun, with arm attached, to demand what I'm wearing (MotoACTV, BT headphones... they think, who knows what else?)

Perhaps that's the benefit of growing up in Detroit Jr - shit's too real to let your guard down.
On my runs, I'm just as prepared for an out of control, asleep at the wheel, holy shit it's rolling, spinning, perhaps even flying through the air car, as I am for some wannabe thug demanding that shiny thing with an LCD on my wrist. And in any moment, I'm prepared to enter heart-attack, holy shit why don't you just roll over and give up mode - than I am to succumb to the shit around me (retards behind the wheel, jackasses on the street).


I can't say everyone running on the street is as mentally prepared as I am, but it ain't no game to me, I don't even trust the damn squirrels peering at me from the base of the tree I'm passing. I usually smirk and giggle because I have ADD like that (and I'm not afraid to feed the damn things )... but I can honestly say my eyes and brain compensate for when my ears aren't doing what they should be doing when running.