Watch Out for Wildlife
“A squirrel crossed my path and landed on top of my shoe. His little foot got caught in the loop of my shoelace. This all happened in front of a busy brunch spot with families eating outside. I was screaming, the squirrel was beyond freaked out, and a college girl [that was running by] was screaming along with me. No one was injured.”—
[A Quick Guide to Surviving Animal Encounters Out on the Run]
Bee PR
“Got a bumblebee stuck in my ponytail, and in the process of trying to remove it, proceeded to shriek, wave my arms, and (after it came out) ran the fastest 400 meter of my life.”—
Gunky Glasses
“Not the funniest, but recently had to wear my thick glasses on a run in a large city I was visiting because I got tea tree oil in my contacts and sinuses. I ended up being a snotty mess in my thick glasses and getting lost.”—
Bathroom Blunder
“I once had to poop very badly and found a building to go behind. I finished up and discovered that building was a bathroom!”—sghost2
Phone Fumble
“Dropped my phone midstride, tried to snatch it in flight. Instead, my forward stride was timed perfectly, and I watched in terror as it made impact with my phone and thrusted it back into the air…essentially drop-kicked my cell phone!” —
[Armbands for Carrying Your Phone on a Run]
Not-So-Sweet Surprise
“Careful, not all things handed to you on a course are for ingestion. Running a marathon, just finished a hill climb, and there were spectators on both sides handing out honey on Popsicle sticks. Yum yum, I thought, as the whole wad goes in my mouth. It’s amazing how much Vaseline looks like honey!!! I did have the best smile from mile 20 on.”—
Faceplant
“Running a typical 10-miler in my neighborhood, no traffic, not one car passes by until about 45 minutes in, and right as they pass by I trip and fall—arms straight out flat on my face. [I was] hoping they didn’t see me and just kept driving. [But] they pull over, and the guy gets out all concerned asking if I was okay. I wanted to roll over into the ditch and die!!”—lins_thibodaux
[The Best Running Shoes for Every Type of Run]
Dental Disaster
“I was running down the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the Charleston Half runners who were in their street. Tripped over a curb and broke the bottom half of my two front teeth out. Luckily, I had run almost 10 miles, but was only a quarter mile from the hotel, so I could walk back. We found a dentist open on Saturday and he had my tooth rebuilt by noon.”—edeewilcox
Ambulance Exit
“During my first cross-country race. (~7 years ago) I got a bit overzealous and didn’t control my pacing. I made a mile (with a sweet 1-mile PR) before passing out at the top of the first hill. Had a blast on the ambulance ride out.” —multiuse_spud
Wasted Water
“While running a half-marathon I threw a half-full water cup, and not realizing my strength and the wind, the cup went back and flew all over the water-stop people and open cups of water on table! I heard someone yell ‘WTF, now we need to throw away all of the poured cups.’ Needless to say, I sped away into the crowd feeling utterly embarrassed!”—rmwrocks
Fart Jokes
“I was doing speedwork at my son’s high school track. There were some lingering football players there doing so extra practice. On one of my straights, I was running hard, and just as I passed a group of boys, I farted. I have to say, typing this right now is making me LOL all over again. There was nothing I could do. I know they heard it, so I just sucked it up and kept running. When I came back around and passed the same group of boys they were all eyeballing me and snickering. Luckily the boys didn’t know whose parent I was.”—covenantgrrl
Digital Editor Her love of all things outdoors came from growing up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and her passion for running was sparked by local elementary school cross-country meets.
