Are you a friendly runner/walker?

I think it depends on the city you live in. In general, Toronto is not a friendly city that way- you smile at someone on the street and you take the risk that they follow you home. If I'm not in the middle of a hard sprint I will sometimes (rarely, really) smile at another female runner as she goes by, but usually all the runners on the streets are all very focused on what we are doing and paying too much attention to not running into anything or anyone to be smiling, waving or talking. I am always irritated by everyone in my way, and wish that I had all the streets to myself, so I'm not really a friendly person during my runs, as gregarious as I am otherwise. That's why I run at 6:00am- less people to have to swear at!
 
I think my DH is more friendly than I am. He waves and greets everyone. I try but sometimes I not paying attention. On our long walks, (we walk along the access road of a highway)we wave at everyone, runners, bikers, big rigs that wave at us. We get a mixed bunch of responses from nothing to waves & good mornings; it depends if the other person is focused on what they are doing or not. I find most people are friendly and will respond to our greeting or initiate the greeting. If we get no response, I figure they are too focused on their run/walk/bike or didn't see us.
 
i've been running in my neighborhood for 13 years, at the same time of the mornings, so i know many of the regulars and we always acknowledge each other.
 
story1267 said:
At DF's, which is a bit more rural, there's more actual "hi" going on and, once the folks in the neighborhood recognize you, you'll also get the New England wave from them in the car. This is all fingers lifted from the steering wheel while thumb stays attached. Movement is not permitted.
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I get the same wave from drivers! I guess it's a good way to wave without removing your entire hand from the steering wheel!

I have conditioned myself to watch the steering wheel hands on drivers that pass me by. I'd hate not to wave back when they've waved at me!
 
I live in a western suburb of Chicago and find more wavers than non-wavers when I go out. I almost always get some type of acknowledgement - a head nod or something, even with the headphones on.

I have yet to meet someone with a dog they can't/won't control and remember only a handful of drivers who didn't stop for me at an intersection in the last year of regular running.
 
I usually hit the road at 4am, while it's still dark and spooky, so I don't see many people out and about. The few who are up and about at that hour seem to keep themselves to themselves, and I like it like that!

I would never deliberately be rude to anyone (I return waves and other greetings), but I must say I like my solitude while running - it's what gives me the mental equilibrium to be polite to people everywhere else all day long. :)
 
I think it is interesting that a lot of you wave/get waves from drivers. I don't think I have ever waved to someone driving a car while I am walking/running.

Carrie
 
My running buddies and I have made an interesting observation....9 out of 10 men wave, 9 out of 10 women don't. And, I can guarantee if a big a** SUV goes barrelling by at 100 mph nearly taking us all out...there is a woman behind the wheel!
My sister lives in Orange County CA and NO ONE makes eye contact, let alone waves or speaks. We're convinced when my mom visits that someone is going to call the police on her for following them around trying to carry on a conversation! :p

Becky
 
As shy as I am I wave to everyone when I'm running. One of my jogging routes is through an old Veterans Home and they hardly ever wave back. I just wave and say "Hi" anyway. I'm sure they think I'm just crazy because I sing when I run too.
 
In my neighborhood (suburban Philly) I always smile and say a quick "hi" with a wave. People seem surprised, but then usually say hello back, like, "oh, yeah, I guess it is nice to be friendly".

When I'm walking around the area near work (South Philly) I'm pleasant, but people will stop me on the sidewalk and ask me all sorts of crazy questions, like what should they do with their hair, or why don't I wear sweatpants everywhere I go?

Walking on campus in North Center City, I keep to myself because a lot of people in that neighborhood are whackadoodles, and if they are classmates, they are usually hunting me down to ask me to help them study.
 
as a native new englander, i am guilty of the grimace/nod mentioned by suzanne. and depending on the age/gender of the responder, i sometimes get the same back with an added grunt =) i do get lots of smiles since i mostly travel with a super cute baby (if i do say so myself) in the stroller in front of me. also, ppl have stopped me after seeing me a whole bunch of times to say, "did you really walk from all the way over there? do you walk everywhere? where did you put your groceries?" yes i did walk all that way and my groceries are in the basket under the baby!

wendy
 
I find this fascinating--I read an article about it recently. I think it was in Runner's World, but I have no idea what issue. I really think it's a personal style thing. I do wave and say hi to everyone when I'm running, but I do that anyway, I'm a gregarious person. I also think the folks who are willing to write on an open forum are probably more social anyway, so it doesn't surprise me that most of the responses have been yes. I'll see if I can find that article online.

anne
 
I live in SE PA in a pretty rural place. The 2 runners I pass are friends and we usually stop and caht for a few moments. I run on back roads and will wave to drivers and smile, especially if they slow down as they go past. I pass a lot of cows and horses and always say hello as I go by. They respond sometimes...:)
 
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