Passing cars

[Plodplod]

Dear starters middlers and graduates, two of the best runs around here involve at least a half mile of pavement running next to an A road. I LOVE this new running thing, but does anyone else find the noise and or speed of the vehicles offputing? Even with my music on? Yes I’m a driver too of course so I mustn’t be too harsh, but does anyone else have this issue? Thanks!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

It must be............but surely you can find footpaths and off road routes to avoid the issue.

I often see the same runner dodging the traffic, heading down a fast, relatively narrow, busy road with no pavement and assume that he must be ignorant of the fact that there is another quiet lane running parallel, down which I have run many times and never encountered a single vehicle.

My sensitivity to vehicle fumes keeps me off major roads. Even Google maps shows some footpaths, but Ordnance Survey maps are essential to me for run planning in areas that I don't know and helped me to find all my local routes, none of which do anything more than cross busy roads.

[misswobble Graduate]

I prefer the trail but if I road run I like it much less Fumes worry me as do speeding drivers, and being seen ! You have to keep your wits about you for sure and even then You can’t account for inconsiderate drivers cutting you up, as some would mow you down rather than give way to a pedestrian

Fortunately most drivers are considerate and we can run without incident. Have you a local park where you can head to? Pedestrian bridges etc Strava or mapmyrun could be handy as you could search for runs in your area, to help you find where your local routes are 🙂

[Plodplod Graduate in reply to misswobble]

Thanks MW, yes I run all over the place and have runs that are entirely car free, I just wondered if the noise thing was just me, which I think now it mostly is!

[emily-m Graduate]

Yes! I live right in the city centre, but where I live is weirdly quiet because of one way systems, parking restrictions etc. So I've become really sensitized to car noise because I'm not used to it any more.

I'm lucky, because if I cross one main road just above my house there's a fairly large block which includes a park, a field, some allotments and some quiet terraced streets. My runs are are outgrowing it a bit, so the choice is laps (which I find tricky) or trying to get across some of the main roads. On a couple of occasions, I just haven't been able to cross so have gone quite away down the main road & know exactly what you mean!

I don't know if you use any kind of route planner, but I've found that useful in trying to find possible routes that avoid the worst of the traffic. You can always use streetview to have a sneak preview! Going to be doing that more now that it's getting darker and I feel less comfortable in the parks. I thought I knew my local area quite well, but once I started to need a circular route of about 5km I realised that what I considered my 'local area' was very small indeed, and there are quite a few places left to explore!

[Plodplod Graduate]

Thanks very much Emily. I just like loads of variety so I can’t keep in doing the same few routes. I’ve bought a treadmill today so maybe I can use that when I can’t cope with the tyres on tarmac noise!!