Runners - Is it rude...

alpine1994
alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
To run through a cemetery? There's a huge one with lots of great hills near my house but I've always steered clear because I wasn't sure about the etiquette. Thanks!

Replies

  • wordena
    wordena Posts: 177 Member
    Lots of nice flowers and I bet the grass is nice and smooth! I wouldn't worry, the bodies won't complain too much. Plus I doubt anyone would actually come up to you. Though I'd stay away from active funerals.
  • madworld1
    madworld1 Posts: 524
    I just wouldn't run on the plots. I was taught it was disrespectful to walk directly over plots. It's a place of rest. Otherwise, I don't think running in the cemetery is rude.
  • Rhia55
    Rhia55 Posts: 247
    Stay on the paths and try not to step on the graves, stay away from active funerals as the previous poster said, you'll be fine. Run harder if you see orbs or ghosts.
  • BobbyDaniel
    BobbyDaniel Posts: 1,459 Member
    I have to agree with the previous post.
    I'm one of those weird guys who likes to wander through cemeteries and check everything out though, which contributes to my love of history...so I would personally see no problem with walking or running through one. If there are people there for a funeral, yeah, find a different route.
  • minnesota_deere
    minnesota_deere Posts: 232 Member
    its the best place place to run, a lot of lonely people in there, they would love the company....and its said be the safest place on earth....amazed to see all of the advice on what to and not do, if i were dead and laying there first off, i don't care i am dead, if there is such a thing as an after life and I am confined to my grave site, i would love the company of anyone wanting to run over the top of me...
  • possibri
    possibri Posts: 158 Member
    Run harder if you see orbs or ghosts.

    HA!

    duderun.gif
  • Thomasm198
    Thomasm198 Posts: 3,189 Member
    Different people will say different things. I was always thought that it is very disrespectful to walk or run on the graves. Stick to paths and don't go near funerals and you should be OK.

    Just watch out for zombies.
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
    To run through a cemetery? There's a huge one with lots of great hills near my house but I've always steered clear because I wasn't sure about the etiquette. Thanks!

    I personally wouldn't... respect for the dead and all that. There has GOT to be other alternative places to run in than through a grave yard.
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    Stick to paths and don't go near funerals and you should be OK.
    Just watch out for zombies.

    this :)
  • lizblizz2012
    lizblizz2012 Posts: 196 Member
    I personally don't think it's rude, but the only caution I would give you is if there are grieving families there. A lot of people think cemeteries are sacred and not a place of recreation, that's what parks are for. Just be very careful.
  • originalcookiemonster
    originalcookiemonster Posts: 278
    Stay on the paths and try not to step on the graves, stay away from active funerals as the previous poster said, you'll be fine. Run harder if you see orbs or ghosts.

    Yup. EXACTLY.:glasses:
  • Seraph1120
    Seraph1120 Posts: 194 Member
    I just completed a Cemetary 5k at night a couple weeks ago. I don't see a problem with it, especially for general running. As long as you don't get lost in the place, go for it! I'm sure the tenants don't mind. =) May seem a bit creepy, but it's nice, quite place to run.

    Edit...as others say, I would keep away from any active services though, out of respect.
  • PJ64
    PJ64 Posts: 866 Member
    Stay on the paths and try not to step on the graves, stay away from active funerals as the previous poster said, you'll be fine. Run harder if you see orbs or ghosts.

    Yup. EXACTLY.:glasses:

    DITTO:bigsmile:
  • Rhia55
    Rhia55 Posts: 247
    See if you can read some of the epitaphs on the gravestones.. some are pretty cool.. one I always remembered was,

    Stop and look as you go by,
    For you are now what once was I.
    As I am now what you will be,
    Prepare for death and follow me.

    Macabre, no?
  • ObtainingBalance
    ObtainingBalance Posts: 1,446 Member
    I just wouldn't run on the plots. I was taught it was disrespectful to walk directly over plots. It's a place of rest. Otherwise, I don't think running in the cemetery is rude.

    Yeup.

    Avoid running on plots.. Stick to the pathways. Steer clear from active funerals. You'll be fine!
  • optigal
    optigal Posts: 42 Member
    I just wouldn't run on the plots. I was taught it was disrespectful to walk directly over plots. It's a place of rest. Otherwise, I don't think running in the cemetery is rude.

    I agree. I was always taught the same thing. There was a cemetery close to where I lived in Ohio that had some great hills and it was nice and shady. I didn't feel like I was breathing the excessive carbon monoxide by staying on the main roads. I stayed on the road way within the cemetery and if I saw a family name I recognized I would usually pause to express my regrets. So, no, I don't think it's rude at all as long as you follow certain guidelines.
  • madworld1
    madworld1 Posts: 524
    See if you can read some of the epitaphs on the gravestones.. some are pretty cool.. one I always remembered was,

    Stop and look as you go by,
    For you are now what once was I.
    As I am now what you will be,
    Prepare for death and follow me.

    Macabre, no?

    Interesting. I like reading epitaphs too. Lots of history.
  • buzzcogs
    buzzcogs Posts: 296 Member
    I'm with you all who love cemetaries. I was in training at Camp Shelby and we got lost and actually came upon an old abandoned cemetary. It looked like a family plot. It was really cool though a little sad too.

    In DC at Congressional Cemetary they actually sell permits to allow people to walk their dogs in the cemetary. It's gross sometimes because not everyone picks up after them.

    So I guess if it's okay to walk you dog, then it's okay to run in them! Now I'm going to have to find myself a local cemetary to run through!
  • emtjmac
    emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
    I used to run on a cemetery path and I loved it. It was really quiet and peaceful.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I love cemeteries and wandering through them looking at the various tombstones.

    That said, as someone that also goes to cemeteries to pay my respects to friends and family that have passed, if someone were to run past me, obviously on a recreational run, I would be a bit put out. Even if they were only on marked paths through the area. I am there trying to have that moment of time and peace with the person that I lost from my life and I don't need people running past ruining that very personal experience.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    I would think of it like this, how would I feel if somebody out running were to run across the plot of one of my loved ones who had passed on. The answer would be I would get really pissed off.

    Stick to the paths, never run over the plots or graves.
  • mamaclose
    mamaclose Posts: 179 Member
    I live right by a cemetery and walked there for years, started running there this spring. It's got lots of hills and stairs! I stay on the path at all times. I've never run across a living soul, except the guys who mow the grass and maintain the cemetery. It's very peaceful in my opinion.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    When my mom passed, I brough my children there for a picnic. They were 2,4,6 yrs old or so. I remember a runner running by and me saying "Hey ma, can you run now?" :cry: It did not make me upset at all.

    One weekend we were there and the family of a 17 yr old girl came to visit her grave. I went to gather our stuff and apologized to her mother. She said "Oh no my dear, stay. My daughter always loved the little ones"

    Just keep an eye out for someone who may not feel the same.

    If you are in Fort Lauderdale, run extra fast by my mom's grave. She would love it!!:drinker:

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