Runderdog: Runleashed and Runstoppable: Social Distance running is a whole new game

Thursday

Social Distance running is a whole new game

It seems like everyone wants to be a runner, now that social distancing has become a thing.

Regular runners definitely took the lead on this. Keeping up with running and avoiding contact with others (and possible Coronavirus / COVID-19 exposure) is something of a balancing act, isn’t it? From race cancellations to gym closures, runners are taking to the trails (and streets) to keep moving. Virtually every race director is coming up with virtual races to offer the running community at-large.

Hey, we’re still free to lace up our sneakers and go pound out as many miles as we want.

In these crazy days of pandemic uncertainty, scores of other folks are stepping into sports shoes and hitting the bricks or tracing out trails to escape cabin fever and burn off some of those shelter-in-place calories.

If we’re heeding the warnings, we’re running (or walking) solo. Or we’re pairing up, but trying to stay 6+ feet apart (per federal guidelines). Maybe we’re wearing face-masks or stretching neck gaiters / buffs or lycra headbands over our noses and mouths.

Then there are those devil-may-care hotshots, who think they’re tougher than anything Covid-19 can throw at them.

Those are the hard-core runners who still post Instagram photos of their running crews with arms draped over each others’ shoulders. They’re the ones who jog three or four across on single- or double-track paths.

Take a look at these photographic examples. (Disclaimer: These stock photos were taken before the pandemic hit. So these individuals were not violating any current health standards.)

An active worldwide pandemic makes running a whole new game.

Tons of runners have posted photos depicting the lack of social distancing in favorite running spots. Chicago's mayor has now closed the city's scenic lakefront paths, for example. On the other hand, Wisconsin has waived fees for state parks and trails, urging people to practice safe social distancing.

Experts tell us COVID-19 can spread like wildfire. Would you run through wildfire?

Have you encountered others along your running routes, who crowded your Coronavirus-avoidance personal boundaries? How did you handle this?

I have darted into the street to cross and put appropriate space between me and them. Two days ago, a pair of runners came up behind me and passed me on a local trail. One actually shoulder-bumped me, as he crowded past.

Seriously, folks?

Call me germophobic. OK.

I just want to stay healthy, so I can keep running and doing the rest of life well (or reasonably so). I battle a chronic medical condition daily, which threatens to sideline me, if a serious illness throws my immune system into overdrive. I have family members and other loved ones who could likely not weather such a storm, if they became infected.

Bet we all do, if we think about it. Because when it comes right down to it, it’s not just about us. It’s about who our lives might impact.