Runner's Forum: [Sink] Honk if you aren't a fan of honking

lol

 i was just visiting my sister in new jersey and while running i was also honked at and like you my life passed before me also.  i was also pushing my daughter in the stroller so i was super startled!

I am so relieved to see that I'm not the only one that this scares to death! It happens all the time where I live, mostly because I run in high traffic areas of Orlando, FL. The worst was when one of those big trucks that people like to jack up, and put AIR HORNS in, yea, he honked at me, and trust me he didn't regret the laugh he had, but I sure did regret the embarassment I felt for jumping like a little girl seeing a frog. Another thing that gets me is my iPod sometimes.....you know that song by buck cherry, "crazy xxxxx"? Yea, well that guy screams soo loud at the begining that there has been times when I don't see it coming and people must get a good laugh at me having a sudden outburst like some invisible person with an invisible whip just whiped me from behind.....than I gain compsure and turn even more red than I already am from this florida heat! ......oh and chiggyxc....you are not alone on the explicits I have received for my short shorts.....my wife and I get a kick out of it though.

You should try Canada, I'm in Vancouver and no-one really honks runners. Occasionally when I'm with my running club and we're doing some crazy hill work out or funky stretching/exercises at the side of the road someone's honked passing by. Usually just teenagers. People often gawk at you in a state of disbelief that you appear to be running for fun, but they do that in a relatively quiet and unobtrusive manner where I live! Even builders are pretty well mannered here!

People in New Jersey don't need much of a reason to honk, so yes, it happens on nearly every run.  It scares the crap out of me every time!  Also, I too get scared by my IPod sometimes!  For some reason, some songs are really low, so I'll turn it up and the next song is always REALLY loud.  Scares me.  LoL!

KJ

I live just outside of Philadelphia, and I get honked out regularly and it also makes me violently flinch.  I've come up with the hypothesis that these people who are honking aren't doing it to be friendly, but because they like to see that flinch.  I've slowly trained myself to flinch less and less with each honker now to the point that i'm somewhat steadfast when i'm honked at just to not give the honker the satisfaction.  does anyone else think these honkers have malicious intent?

I get a lot of honks, too.  I run on roads but not particularly busy ones.  It isn't so bad when it's from a little distance - but when they wait until they're right on top of me it scares me to death!  At least I'm giving someone a good laugh to start their day. 

Have you ever had someone veer over to the shoulder to scare you?  I swear a guy (scary looking one at that) did that to me yesterday morning.  Came right at me and swerved away at the last second in his gigantic truck.  That was horrifying. 

I used to  live in Texas and lived in a new development area and the roads were 4 lanes across with a center turn lane. (very spacious) I'd run on the road at the curb and trucks, because everyone in Texas loves their trucks, used to fly by me, either honk or get right on top of me. I would always run with traffic, thinking that's the way it should be until one day my left arm was clipped by a side view mirror off a truck that is used to hauling trailers. You know the mirrors that stick out further than the stop sign off a school bus. I'd run on the shoulder but if you've ever kicked over a fire ant hill you end up concentrating on the ground in front of you rather than enjoying the run. So I thought I'd try running "against" traffic and what I discovered was few choice drivers who intentially played chicken. Yes, 2000lbs of steel traveling at 60mph vs. 185lbs of "me" traveling at maybe 7mph. Yes, I lost every time. I' couldn't believe the wiley smiles these drivers had on their faces. You can't dream this stuff up. No need to over think this. There's just some spooky people livin out there.