Bad Intentions
I was on a popular trail that goes along the river through several small towns. I was on a fairly barren part of the trail about halfway between two towns—tall grass on one side and river on the other.
I see a man running solo in front of me. I am a bit faster, so in time, I pass him. I notice that he’s suddenly keeping pace with me—he’s not falling behind as fast as he should.
Instead, he’s flanking me, just diagonal to me on the riverside. I get a feeling that with one good push, he could have me in the tall grass and there are no witnesses to see what happened.
I give another 10 seconds before I start panicking…yeah, this doesn’t feel right. I whip out my phone and dial 9-1-1. I don’t push send, but cup the phone in my hand with the screen facing toward him.
I otherwise kept running at the same pace, pushing myself to the next town. I notice within 30 seconds that I don’t hear him as close anymore. I give it another 30 seconds (counting in my head), then chance a look. He’s gone!
I full-on stop to turn around. He’s gone-gone. The trail is flat and straight in both directions as far as the eye can see. Where did he go in the span of a minute? Either the grass or the river…
I can only guess that his reaction validates my feeling that he had bad intentions. This is why I don’t run with headphones when I’m running alone and why I don’t trust anyone when I’m out on the trails.