Runners' Etiquette

As I was running last night, I was thinking about runners' etiquette. I was mostly thinking about it because there was a guy doing something that I found incredibly annoying.

He was running slow (slower than me!) and I came up and passed him. No big deal, right? Well, then he speeds up and goes back around me. And then after a bit slows again. But as I come back up on him, he speeds back up. Then what he would do is start walking. And as I closed in on him (since I was still running) he started to run again just as I came up beside him. So then we're basically running together, which is awkward. I kept thinking, "Just pick a speed, but stop running right on top of me!" Maybe I was the driving force to keep him running, but I don't care. It was annoying having him in my way the whole time. Maybe he didn't want to get beat by a girl. Who knows. But I don't think that's proper etiquette. I noticed this same thing at the Zoo run. As soon as you start to pass someone who has started walking, they start running again and you're just on top of each other. It sort of reminds me of when you're driving and start to go around someone slow, and then they just speed up again once you start to pass them, so you can never get around them, but then they slow down again after a bit.

Another thing that happened to me was, during my walk after my run, I swung my left arm out a little (where I was holding my keys) and ended up jabbing some guy in the leg as he ran by. I don't think I did it hard, but I said, "Sorry!" However, he had on earphones and was running along past me, so I know he didn't hear it. But am I still required to say, "Sorry"?

Finally, another pet peeve is people running with strollers. It doesn't happen a lot to me at the track, but during the 5K last week, there were quite a few stroller runners. They take up a whole lot of space and it can be hard to get around them. The 5K next week doesn't allow stroller runners, so I'm happy about that.