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!