#runsafely

I'm writing to understand why you felt the need to mouth obscenities and gesture for my friend and me to get off the street. You see, we were running along the shoulder, facing traffic, like we're supposed to, for our own safety. We weren't running selfishly or stupidly in the middle of the lane.

Did the need to yield for a mere 10 seconds make you miss a train, a meeting, or even worse, miss saving a life? Is your time so precious that slowing down and driving carefully, even defensively, is an absolute burden? Are you just an aggressive "road rage" kind of driver? Or did you get just get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?

Now that spring is here, we're not going to be the only runners, walkers and cyclists on the roads. We're going to come out in droves to enjoy the activities that we love OUTDOORS. We know sharing the road with us is challenging, but I promise, we're not purposefully trying to make your commute hell!

There are far too many accidents involving pedestrians and vehicles because either the pedestrian or the driver (or both) were simply not being safe. I promise to do my part to run responsibly as to not become a number in traffic incident statistics.

I'm not writing to apologize for running along the roads. I will, however, thank you for seeing us. Clearly, as far I could tell, you weren't driving and texting. I hope you weren't driving drunk. And thanks for not throwing any objects at us as well.

Best,

Nan Hill (Mom on a Run).