Early on during the pandemic, I was annoyed whenever a runner zipped by at such close range that I could feel the COVID-filled air tickling my earlobes. Was I the only one taking this public health crisis seriously?
But I realize now that I was wrong; I'd forgotten that casual runners are not good at running. They do almost nothing to become better runners - no practicing, no stretching, no resting - they just continue in the same straight line doing the same exact thing incrementally faster than they did yesterday until their body gives up; there are injuries specific to casual runners. So why did I expect them to suddenly go out of their way? The problem wasn't a disdain for public health, it was a deficiency of skill and mindset combined with stopwatch obsession; looking back, it's shocking that anyone got out of the way at all.
