Running

I find running up behind people you can't do the right thing. I make people jump all the time by accident when I feel like I have been quite loud as I approach and often cough or clear my throat as the initial noise to make someone notice me. Then it's a cheery hello or excuse me in a raised voice. Then I often stop running and repeat louder, sometimes several times before anyone notices you're there. If people are chatting and they are facing away from you it can be really hard to hear what's coming from behind.

I really pissed off a chap once who admitted he was deaf in one ear but also said I had snuck up on him when I'd made an attempt to make myself known several times already, getting louder as I approached. When he finally looked around I was closer than he was expecting which gave him a shock. I wasn't right on his shoulder or anything and felt like I'd acted reasonably but he was really angry even after I apologized for making him jump and explained that I had called out several times. It bothered me that I'd caused him distress and I thought about it a lot but not really sure what else I could do apart from hang right back and shout really loud but that feels pretty rude too.

Sorry, not a direct answer to your question but relevant I think... I always smile and wave at runners and cyclists I see when out running, hopefully it comes across as friendly and not creepy.

Great question. I don't have an answer but I am a keen-o for saying hi and sometimes wonder if I should just leave it and leave people to their space to be undisturbed

I go in the morning (just about to go now) and I try to go as wide as possible - normally in the road if it’s safe.

I don't really run at night but during the day I always try a give a smile or a wave to other runners. It's kind of a automatic thing from cycling where that's just what you do! It definitely doesn't seem to be as much of a 'thing' in running.

I'm thinking now when a female runner is out on her own a smile and a wave could come across creepy from a stranger, even if it's just meant in a friendly manner. So might be better to cross the road/give space and not interact.

Thanks for raising this. I saw that tweet and I feel exactly the same. Every year when the clocks go back, I change my running routine so I'm running in the morning or at lunch time (easier now we're working from home!) to make sure I can run in the light... I'm jealous of my partner, who finishes work and runs around the marshes in the dark – that must feel freeing...

FWIW, for me personally, when someone makes eye contact and smiles/says hello, it puts me at ease. And the same goes for crossing the road (whether running or walking). I don't think it comes across as creepy, and it's something that we should all get used to doing anyway just to be friendly – when I'm running int' countryside, I'm always struck by how every single person seems to say hello! Just to add, it's not only running at night – it's also when in spaces that are a bit more removed from public eye. Ie. industrial estates / underpasses / the back bit of the walthamstow marshes where it butts up against the trading estate. I often run there because it's unpaved and a bit more 'trail' like than the main track, but it's always deserted* and it's nice when other runners say hello.

Also, what's the Beacon feature?

.* potentially near a cruising spot (as someone pointed out on here a while ago) which may explain the shifty looking people. I learnt my lesson after running right into the lion's den at Hollow Ponds...