Does anyone else miss all those cat posts from a couple days ago?

I live in NW and just about every morning I see people who, for whatever reason, jog in the street instead of the sidewalk. Not only that, they run against traffic. I really wish I understood the logic behind this... I could chalk it up to plain ol' crazy if it was just one or two people, but this behavior seems to grow more and more prevalent.

Sidewalk cafes are plentiful in the NW, and frequently their tables, chairs, and signs extend illegally into the pathway. When this happens, runners sometimes have to go into the road. If they do so without looking, they're idiots.

However, if you must run on a road, you are supposed to do so facing traffic so you can get out of the way of any cars driving erratically; if you run with traffic, you'll just end up dead when you get hit from behind.

Again, these are not universal circumstances--there are plenty of times when runners are fucking addle-pated and just dart into traffic without looking. That's Darwin at work. Similarly, plenty of drivers blow past stop signs or do the California stop, and enter the path where runners are supposed to cross the street.

Bottom line: everyone needs to be aware of their environment.

Not to excuse the behavior, but the running in the street thing stems from, as Satorical notes, sidewalk obstacles. These are not limited to street cafes, but include roots, people walking dogs (who get spooked when you run by), those obnoxious strollers (which you can't get by) etc. It's also plain annoying to jump up and down curbs or run up and down curb cuts. Finally, if you're running in the street, you're much less likely to get hit / cut off by a car approaching on a cross street--drivers look into the street for emerging traffic much more regularly than they look to the sidewalk for that. Again, I think it's annoying too, but this is why it happens.

It takes a lot of balls to run in the street, and that's why I display mine while I do it ... wait, which post is this?

In addition to obstacles like booyah says, roads also tend to be better kept than sidewalks in a lot of neighborhoods. I've planted a couple times because slabs were at different heights and I stubbed my toe.

That, and Portland has a hell of a lot of people oblivious to the world around them while walking on sidewalks.

lol@sidewalk obstacles. There are obstacles in the streets too - two tons of moving glass and metal. I'll take my chances with the inanimate cafe table vs the 30mph SUV that isn't expecting a jogger running the wrong way in their lane.

^Seriously. While I understand and have experienced the various obstacles and excuses, I still don't see how getting hit by a car is preferable.

I suspect that what's really at work here is an SEP ("somebody else's problem") field.

Based on the assumption that drivers would rather not deal with the aftermath of hitting a pedestrian, runners figure that since the sidewalk is inconvenient, they'll run in the road and make the inconvenience a problem for drivers and cyclists instead.

I jog two abreast before I jog two abreast, and then I jog two amore.

This phenomenon stems from the whole self-absorbed yuppie / post-yuppie mantra, which goes something like this:

1) I am the center of the universe.

2) I am living a low-impact, eco-conscious lifestyle that is focused on achieving the ideal zenlike urban existence. I don't even own a TV / car / human slave

3) I reclaimed this city / neighborhood / street / house / one-third of a standard lot. You weren't doing anything worthwhile with it anyway. Just like that dump you call a body.

4) My interactions with the world are certified 100% positive and correct by an army of lifestyle blogs and magazines, there is no way I could ever be found spiritually, morally or culturally bankrupt.

5) You, on the other hand, ought to be ashamed of yourself. At least try to recognize my achievement and strive towards it yourself-- do it for your own sake (I did)

Or if they're really ballsy they'll claim jogging against traffic is simply "performance art: a statement on car culture and its tyrannical impediment on the urban pedestrian lifestyle".

I always honk at these idiots that want to use streets for their run instead of sidewalks - they belong on the track or a trail, but not where cars and bikes go.
The Especially Stupid Award goes to those women who just don't put their own lives at risk doing this, but insist upon endangering their babies too.

@ Rich:

You don't know how to use the three seashells? Heheheheheheheh!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBI8uCKi2lI

I love the irony of this post. A bicycle telling a runner to get out of the road. I hope this person never buys a car, or his head might explode