This past Saturday, I was chased by a pit bull while on my run. It was absolutely terrifying. I was around the 4 mile mark into my 9 mile run. I saw a dark flash as the dog darted from their front door, running through their deep yard before catching up with me. I picked up my pace and she did too, lunging at me and coming within inches of my ankles. I succeeded in avoiding her somehow but only because she decided to finally turn back towards her home.
I wanted to give up and call someone to get me as honestly I was scared to go back by the house (as I had to do in order to get home.) But I kept on going. My breathing was so fast and every noise startled me as I felt like everything was coming at me.
I guess it was fate but when I passed by the house again (totally didn’t recognize since I think I only was able to focus on the dog trying to attack me in that moment) the owner was just driving out into the main road. He stopped and called me over. I was scared to go over since I didn’t know for sure if it was an accident or not. This isn’t the first time I’ve had dogs dart over towards me on this country road, though the last I believe was in a yard with an electric fence.
The owner apologized saying that this had never happened before. He said they always have her on a leash but this time she got away. I want to believe him but who knows. I didn’t call the police. Not sure if I should have?
I took a picture on the last stretch of my run just to remind myself of the moment and that I was okay.
I took a day off from running since I was pretty rattled. Today I felt a bit better — and I went out with a stronger lamp on and my mace in hand. I can’t decide though if I should go back to that road again or avoid it going forward. There aren’t a lot of great spots around here for long runs that I’m sad to lose one of my favorites — one which has a strong connection for me to my mom, who we lost almost 6 years ago.
It did get me thinking on some good reminders for my fellow runners.
- Keep your volume low enough to hear your surroundings and wear headphones that allow you to hear your surroundings as well.
- If you’re running in the morning or night, wear strong lights to allow you to see as much as you can of what’s around you.
- Carry something else to protect yourself (mace, pepper spray, etc) and keep it so it’s easily accessible throughout your run. I didn’t do the latter so didn’t do me any good to have it in the moment.
What do you do to keep your runs as safe as possible?
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