Observations on a country road #1 – Speeding drivers

“Keep an ear out for cars”

I live in the country-side with no forest or Phoenix Park nearby so a lot of the miles that I need to cover training are along public roads into oncoming traffic. In choosing what roads I run on - busier main thoroughfares or slower local ones – I always choose the latter. While the main roads are wider and straighter, I much prefer the prospect of oncoming traffic that is going less than 80 km/h to a busier route where many are motoring at a 100+.

Though you might think a country road is more dangerous with the occasional unsighted bend, the small amount of traffic and the speed they tend to go at, not to mention how you generally can hear from a distance a car approaching, means that running on a local road is usually a peaceful pursuit with the only worry being that farmer’s collie that is slightly bananas but which you can’t imagine will ever bite.

However, there are a few drivers who speed, which from my observations fall into two distinct categories that divide roughly on gender:

Fast moving male drivers: This category of fast driver tend to go wide when rounding a bend.

This is better for the runner but obviously not so good for traffic coming the other way. These drivers tend to drive Audis, VW, Opels and cars with silly sized exhaust pipes.

Fast moving female drivers: This category of fast driver tend to go tight when rounding a bend. While better for traffic coming the other way, this is crap for the runner and the most common reason I reach for the hedgerow. I don’t know what these drivers tend to drive as I am too busy jumping up into the ditch.

Yesterday’s running
A short 20 minute run to keep the recovery going..