Ellison running the 2010 Boston Marathon, no skeevy guys in a truck in sight.
Like my three kids being away from the soccer pitch this summer, we’ve been on a bit of a hiatus from this “game” we created last spring. In our last installment of What Would Another Mother Runner Do (WWAMRD), we told the tale of Jenn from N.C. who brought two left shoes to compete in a sprint triathlon…so she ran the 5K barefoot. (Yeah, we’re still in awe of her badass self!)
Today’s true tale happened to my good friend Ellison here in Portland. Before I recount it, I want to say we are in no way making light of a potentially dangerous situation–like an airlines, safety is our number one priority–but I will admit I love the James Bondian resolution to the situation. Here is the WWAMRD scenario:
Running solo in daylight hours, Ellison realized a guy in a truck was following her. She was in a residential area relatively near a busy street with lots of commerce on it, including a 24-hour supermarket, Starbucks, and Walgreens; she quickly changed her route to head toward those stores. The truck got ahead of her, then pulled up alongside of her, on the opposite side of the street. By this point, Ellison was near enough to people in parking lots to know help was nearby. But it was still a disturbing situation, especially since the creep had said something crude to her from his rolled-down window.
What would you do?
Sarah answers: While I would have been sorely tempted to toss out some R-rated expletives, I would have stepped on the proverbial gas and dashed into Walgreens as fast as my legs could carry me.
Dimity answers: I would definitely not have the courage to provoke him, so I’d somehow fold myself into a crowd. And I probably would’ve borrowed a cell phone and had my husband come pick me up. (That is, if he answered the phone, which he usually doesn’t do if he doesn’t recognize the number. Frustrating.)
What Ellison did: Displaying amazing cleverness and resourcefulness, this soon-to-be grandmother runner held up her left arm with her Garmin Forerunner 410 strapped to it. Figuring the bozo in truck didn’t know that cameras aren’t (yet!) standard issue in wrist GPS devices, Ellison held up her Garmin like a camera; she pretended she was filming the guy while saying, “I’m sending these images to the police right now!”
What happened: The scumbucket got a mortified look on his face and quickly drove off, leaving Ellison shaken, but not stirred.
What would you, another mother runner, do?
And if you’ve got a running-related moment you’d like some clarity on, via WWAMRD, feel free to email us at runmother [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks!
HOLY S*%#!! You are briliant and beautiful and thank God for your cleverness. I don’t know what I’d do, but I pray I never find out. I will be keeping Garmin Camera idea in the back of my head though.
Ellison’s story made my stomach flip. Talk about thinking fast on her feet. I probably would have ditched into a store until my nerves were calm and the person was finally gone.
Great idea! I’ve heard of people doing that with their cell phones too. I would have sprinted to the stores. Creepy!
Wow, quick thinking….I guess you could do the same thing with your phone, I usually have mine with me. I used to run/walk with my Rotti which kept people away, I remeber one creepy looking guy in a white van (why are they always white vans anyway) parked on the other side of the road and got out which scared me once but he said he was terribly lost and needed directions but didn’t want to come near me because of my dog :) I felt bad for him and gave him directions but my heart was beating a little quicker when I saw him get out. My dear Rotti passed away this year so I’m in the process of convincing hubby to get me another running partner.
Fortunately, I’ve never needed to, but I would call the cops. I run with my phone, all I need to do is press and hold that speaker on my headset and say “dial 911” and there you go! Of course all while booking it into the closest store.
After I WET MYSELF, I would probably run into a store…and call 911. She was amazing! very scarey stuff!
That is literally thinking on your feet! But this is the second scary incident I have read about related to this relay. Another blogger posted a really scary story about one of her teammates encountering a homeless man in the middle of the night in an abandoned area. Really scary! Are these creeps just hanging out waiting for the runners to come by? The organizers might want to think of ways to make this race safer for the runners. Scary.
Brilliant and truly bada$$!! Wish I could have seen the guy’s face when Ellison did that.
Personally I would have done pretty much what Sarah said. I’ve been in similar situations when I was younger (walking through my neighborhood as a teen), and it is very unsettling. I’m glad she is okay.
Something similar happened to me earlier this year. While my kids participate in a Sunday afternoon church program, I sometimes go running down the rural roads nearby. With 1/2 mile until I returned to the church, a creepy older man in a pickup truck pulled off the highway and started rolling down his window. I ran up the driveway of one of the farms and pulled out my cell phone. I didn’t even have to dial. I simply held up the phone so that he could see me. He left immediately, and I sprinted back to the church. I haven’t run there since.
I would have run into a store for sure.
I always have my phone, but the taking a picture or making him THINK you are makes me wonder-
some people are so insane wouldn’t it just tick someone off so they’d want to take it from you?
I would have gone into the nearest store or called the police on my cell phone (which I usually have with me while running).
This situation is always on my mind when I head out for a run. I run on country roads – houses are usually few and far between. I actually rehearse what I am going to do…not saying I’m confident I’d have my wits about me to actually remember my plan if it ever happened. That is why I carry a little can of pepper spray. Fits nicely in the back pocket of my capris, shorts or my Nathan waterbottle pouch. Hopefully, I’ll never have to use it and if I run into trouble and managed to fumble it out of my pocket, the thought of burning eyes will be enough for them to scram.
Pure genius on Ellison’s part. Good stuff to share, I’m going to keep that trick in mind.
That was pretty smart! I would have done a Dimity most likely, although I wouldn’t have been borrowing a cell phone as I always make sure I have mine with me just in case. You never know what might come up on a run and I’ve had to call for back-up before! :-) Good call on Ellison though and so glad she was near active areas. Scary stuff…
I wouldve headed for Starbucks singing loudly to draw attention to myself. Something like the beatles “HELP”. Once in starbucks I would have the manager call the cops. I don’t mind looking goofy so singing loudly is not a big deal. My scariest run though was being followed by a coyote….and where there is one there are more…..eeeky creepy. Glad Ellison was safe though.
smart thinking!! I would have pointed at the mace i wear on my wrist and then ran to the walgreens with the quickness! :)
Reading about these kinds of incidents makes me want to kick some a$$. Funny how you never hear about a man feeling threatened by some creepy, aggressive woman following him while he’s minding his own business on a run! What gives these losers the right to to act like that?? Ellison did some amazing quick thinking. Good for her! I hope if I’m ever in a similar situation (KNOCK ON WOOD THAT I’M NOT) I can keep my wits about me like she did.
That is amazing creativity. Not sure what I would have done, simply because of where I live. I run in the middle of nowhere where people get lost and stop and ask me for directions all the time, so talking to strangers is a common occurance. Guess I should start thinking about this kind of stuff a little more!
Wow, good for her. I’m not that quick thinking, I would have headed right for those stores as fast as I could. What a JERK that guy is.
On another note, I run with my husband, have never thought about anyone bugging me. But that’s a good thing to keep in mind. Also, should I ever run alone I am bringing my cell phone with me!
I run at 4 am, and a few weeks back a guy in a black Honda began following me down a residential street. The music on my iPhone was low and I could clearly hear “excuse me miss…” I ignored him. I whipped my pepper spray out and had it on the ready just in case. I hightailed it and took the quickest way home. I was freaked out. Never saw the guy again either. What got me most was I took a mental image of what the guy looked like, dings, scratches, stickers on his car but never looked once at his license plate. Be safe Mother Runners.
So smart!!! I would have gone into one of the stores and called for hubby.
I actually had something similar happen to me recently in a neighborhood. A man in a truck slowed down his truck to my running speed and blatantly stared at me as I ran. He kept looking at me up & down, not the look of a man who needed directions. I slowed my running enough to put myself behind his truck and started yelling out his license plate # and said “Good, I’ve got your plate # memorized! I can’t wait to share it on Facebook with my 1000 friends!” Just say he sped away very quickly.
Nice thinking! Hopefully I’m never in this situation, but thanks for this idea!
Funny thing is I carried 2 pepper sprays with me today. If there is a dog or creep I may need back up. Not that I don’t REALLY want a tazer or gun, but I have been too chicken to do it since I have kids. But reading this kind of stuff makes me revisit the idea. A woman was just grabbed in daylight on our peaceful trail Sunday. She is lucky she got away. One of the oddest parts of Ellison’s story, is this creep probably thought he was normal. How many crazy people think they are crazy?….ZERO. So glad she got away and scared him.
I would have pulled out my cell phone and possibly called the police (or acted like it), and definitely have ducked into a store after getting his license plate number — and then definitely would have called the police to report the vehicle.
Glad she’s safe.
And if I was really thinking, I’d take a picture of his license plate or at least his vehicle with my cell phone.
Though I’m not sure I’d be thinking that clearly.
I wish there was some way we could fireball these creeps. You know, like a Super Mario Bros. move or something?
On a run on the bike trail nearby there is a mile stretch with an access road about 100 yards away and no other civilization. When a pickup drove by me, turned around, drove by again then turned…again, I texted (while purposely staring at the guy) my location, the truck’s make/model and plate # to my hubby’s phone but didn’t hit send, then ran fast to nearest crossroad. The guy didn’t follow but if he had, my finger was on send and I had 911 ready to dial, too. I was so nervous, then just p!$$ed that he messed up my run!
Omg that is amazing! So clever! Scary situation, but she handled it very well!
This is when I start calling my dog “killer”. No killer -bad dog – killer heel! I seriously would have booked it to the nearest person/store and dissolved in a mess!
Such quick thinking- I am totally going to remember this one!! This post made me remember my scariest run – http://onethousandtwelvemiles.blogspot.com/2012/09/creepers.html
Though I don’t think I would have wanted to engage my creeper.. I just wanted to get away.
This is similar to something that happened to me, only I was on my bike. I was riding as far right on the road as possible and a man literally drove on the shoulder of the road right next to me while talking to me. I was petrified! After trying to ignore him and then telling him to move along I finally took out my phone, and said “you have a choice, I can either press send on this 911 call or you can drive away – oh, and I have already noted your license plate.”
I agree with Kayla- what is it with men that they feel they have permission to do things like this??? I love men, but I also think that they NEVER have to worry about a woman doing something like this- or if a woman did, they would probably feel macho about it. It is this difference in perspective that colors so much of our world. I run with my dog a lot, and I have to say that when I run without her, I am on more of an alert- and it pisses me off that I even have to THINK about this stuff. I cannot believe that this guy was so brazen about his actions in such a public place- kudos to this BAMR for thinking on her feet and making him feel guilty for his horrible actions.