The Sweat Wipe Dangers of Urban Joggling

Imagine the scene…

The weather : Sunny, 78F and humid

The place : Quite sidewalks of Toronto

At the 44th minute of a 45 minute joggling run, your legs are tired.  If you generated the proper amount of physical exertion, your shirt and most other parts of you are coated with a thin layer of sweat.   And if you’re like me, you produce so much sweat that drops of water are flying off making you look like a robotic sprinkler hosing down the sidewalk.

The sweaty incident

This is where I found myself Saturday during my trip to Toronto.  The end of the workout was near and I needed to spend the very last bit of energy left.  I kicked my pace into high gear and sprinted for the end of the block.

Half-way up the block was a young couple walking along the sidewalk.  They were walking the same way I was running.  Fortunately, the sidewalk was wide enough for me to pass.

But at the same time, I noticed a lady walking a bit faster coming towards us.  While the street was wide enough for 3 people, 4 people would be pushing it.  An unconscious calculation led me to conclude I could seamlessly pass the couple on the left and weave back to pass the approaching woman on the right.  It would be a feat suitable for a Joggling Banzuke course.

Unfortunately, my inner calculations were off.

As I approached the coalescing biomass the amount of space available for passing was significantly smaller than anticipated.  But there was still a small opening so I continued on my quick pace.

To ensure a drop-free maneuver, I twisted my torso to one side and threw the flying Gballz up and over the unsuspecting guy.  The ball cleared perfectly as did my right hand.  But as I twisted back to make the catch, my slippery, sweaty right forearm glanced off the pedestrian’s bare arm.

All sounds momentarily faded and I heard

“Yuuhhhhkkkkk!”

I continued to run since my finish line was only 30 feet away, but I felt terrible.  I began to think of the story he would tell at parties of the disgusting juggler who ran past him and sweat all over his arm.  He would see jogglers mentioned in newspaper articles or tv shows and would forever think “what a disgusting activity”.

When I finally stopped running, I turned around and motioned to the guy.  “I’m really sorry about that” I said.

He waved and said in a sneering but friendly way, “Don’t worry about it.”

I quickly ducked around the corner of the building and hoped never to see him again.

Bottom line

This wasn’t covered in the Joggling Etiquette series, though it should’ve been.  Please try to avoid bumping in to spectators after you’ve been running for more than a half hour.  Apparently, some people find other people’s sweat disgusting.

Do you know of other disgusting runner habits?  If so, leave a comment below.