Is it impolite to run on the sidewalk?

michelleepotter
michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I've only just started running, and I just run around my own neighborhood. I usually run on the side of the road (against traffic, so I can see cars coming), but today I moved to the sidewalk when I realized I was on the busiest part of the busiest street in my neighborhood, right during morning rush. While there, I encountered an old man with a cane, who had seen me first and was already standing to the side so I could pass. I smiled and said good morning, but then I wondered if I was being rude by running on the sidewalk. I was definitely raised to believe that young, fit people should move to accommodate our elders who may not have such an easy time getting around, and I would have gladly run in the grass to give him the sidewalk as we passed each other, had he not moved first. What do you think? Should I not have been on the sidewalk in the first place, knowing people could be walking there?

Replies

  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    I prefer to run on the street but I'll hop up on the sidewalk if there are cars coming. I don't feel like it's rude to run on the sidewalk it just feels like the street is softer. I always get out of the way of others when I am running on the sidewalk and don't expect them to move for me. Usually if I'm on the sidewalk and there are people up ahead of me I'll jump out onto the street or move onto the grass until I get around them. I always try to be polite to everyone.
  • macpatti
    macpatti Posts: 4,280 Member
    I don't know that it's impolite, especially if you ended up running on a dangerous road. Just be careful when running on sidewalks because you can injure yourself (uneven sidewalks are not good for your knees, having to side-step someone could cause a twisted ankle, etc). I don't see many people running on sidewalks, but it may just depend on the neighborhood.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    I prefer to run on the street but I'll hop up on the sidewalk if there are cars coming. I don't feel like it's rude to run on the sidewalk it just feels like the street is softer. I always get out of the way of others when I am running on the sidewalk and don't expect them to move for me. Usually if I'm on the sidewalk and there are people up ahead of me I'll jump out onto the street or move onto the grass until I get around them. I always try to be polite to everyone.

    Exactly what he said. For some reason, the street holds more appeal than the sidewalk. But always be aware of cars. I always try to wear at least one annoyingly bright neon article of clothing. :)
  • mcrowe1016
    mcrowe1016 Posts: 647 Member
    Why would this be rude?
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
    better to run in the sidewalk than the bike lane.
  • MrsLVF
    MrsLVF Posts: 787 Member
    No, but it is rude, and dangerous to run in the street when there is a sidewalk or path available.
  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
    This is a weird one. I live in Utah and everyone is in to running or biking out here. I hate hate hate it when I am driving and there is someone on a bike in the middle of the lane taking forever. Or if I stop at a light and someone on a bike squeezes in between all the cars in the lanes to get in front and then go slow. Once coming down a mountain canyon there was a bicyclist in the middle of the road taking forever and there were plenty of places she could have pulled to the side to let the 20 cars that were lined up behind her to pass but she didn't. Seriously not cool! I also don't understand why on some roads even if they have a bike lane. A wide bike lane at that. Why do they insist on being on the part of the bike lane closest to the cars. I have had bikers in front of me that swerve in and out of the bike lane or hug the line of the bike lane so that I have to cut into the middle "turning" median just to get around them.

    As for running as far as I am concerned sidewalks are for people and roads are for cars (and apparently bicycles). I would probably find it more rude to be driving and have a runner in my way then to be walking on a side walk and have a runner come by. Where I live though we have a sidewalk trail that runs along a creek (that never has water in it) so I run on that, but so does everyone else, and people walk on it. People can use bikes on it but there are a lot of thorny plants on the sides and my kids have popped their tires at least 3 times on it.
  • thefreebiemom
    thefreebiemom Posts: 191 Member
    No, but it is rude, and dangerous to run in the street when there is a sidewalk or path available.

    Yes, I am always having to drive around people walking/running in the street when there is a perfectly good half road lane sized side walk right next to them.
  • lauleipop
    lauleipop Posts: 260 Member
    Should I not have been on the sidewalk in the first place, knowing people could be walking there?

    The purpose of the sidewalk is to give pedestrians, of any speed, a safe place to operate without having to negotiate vehicle traffic. It's not just for walkers, you're fine running there.
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
    Should I not have been on the sidewalk in the first place, knowing people could be walking there?

    The purpose of the sidewalk is to give pedestrians, of any speed, a safe place to operate without having to negotiate vehicle traffic. It's not just for walkers, you're fine running there.

    Exactly! To be extra courteous, you can yell out that you're passing on the right/left, to give people a chance to move over. That's what the faster movers do around here on trails if the slow movers (me, DH, two dogs, one toddler) are clogging up the path.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    It's not rude at all as long as you share the sidewalk with walkers and other runners
  • LindaCWy
    LindaCWy Posts: 463 Member
    Roads are for vehicles, sidewalks are for pedestrians. If you run on a deserted road and make sure you are aware of your surroundings at all times cool. Whats not cool are the people who run on the road near me that is inches away from water. The road is narrow, old and bumpy, one wrong move and you are in the canal... yet runners INSIST on running 3 beside each other regardless of the dangers of the road. That's rude...what you're doing is fine.
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