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Seattle Runner Killed by Car

April 21st, 2007

Wow! As I was out on my long run this afternoon, I was diverted from my intended path by police barricades and flashing lights. As I approached the scene I saw another runner being turned away, and when I asked what had happened, I was shocked to hear a runner was stuck and killed by a driver on the exact path I intended to run on.

More details on the tragedy here.

This put a whole different perspective on my long run. And it got me thinking about a lot of things…

The way I see it, life is mostly about over coming obstacles. You can’t just have whatever you want. You have to work to get where you want to go. Challenges, tragedy, and victories are all part of our path to wherever we are going. I’d like to think that my destination is happiness… hopefully that’s where we are all trying to go. Although recent events in the US (the Va. Tech an NASA shootings) are clear reminders that some people are having a harder time finding happiness than most of us.

As I was out on my long run, I was confronted with a rather small obstacle. I couldn’t run the path that I originally intended to run. Now, please I don’t want to sound heartless… obviously I was also struck by the sadness of a life lost, I’ll get to that in a second, but I am simply pointing out that obstacles come in all shapes and sizes, and my immediate one, was a rather small one, I couldn’t run in the same direction I intended to run.

As I ran through the back alleys of the Portage Bay neighborhood of Seattle, I was struck by of course the utter randomness of life. Here was a woman who was out running with a friend. From the report, it sounds like she was a new runner, but one that showed promise and was working toward a healthier lifestyle. She had friends, she had a family, she “had promise”… and then according to the report she “died instantly”. Wow!

This is a pretty safe neighborhood. Sure, Boyer and 24th are both busy streets, and Boyer east of 24th is a pretty narrow winding road that has poor sidewalks… so it is not one of the most pedestrian friendly streets in Seattle, but this is a residential neighborhood. And again, according to the reports “no drugs or alcohol” were involved in the incident. This was just a random freak accident. Again…. Wow!

I have just recently started running down this road. It’s a road I often ride my bike on, but usually coming the opposite direction. On a bike it is a little sketchy, but most of the cars driving east to west are going pretty slow due to the street starting at a 3 way stop/T-intersection and a very steep hill. It’s one of those hills where you can almost ride faster than the cars, and although the cars are close, they are pretty aware of you. But for about half a block there are no sidewalks at all. Not good for pedestrians. (Although it doesn’t sounds like this portion of the road is where the fatal accident occurred.)

I had decided to start running on this route because I had become bored with my standard running route on the Burke Gilman Trail. The first time I ran this route, when I got to this stretch of road, I thought, “hmm… isn’t this where I witnessed that van run a red light and get t-boned by another car and end up running into that person’s yard and hitting their house… uh, yeah… their rain gutter downspout is still all smashed up… I guess I should be careful…” Now, I’m thinking I don’t want to run along there any more.

As I tried to get back on my route to finish my run, I cut down a block and then over toward 24th. There was a police car blocking 24th for car traffic, but it wasn’t clear if pedestrians were allowed on the sidewalks. I decided to ask the police officer. As he rolled down his window to talk to me, I could see he had one of those “What do you want?!” looks on his face. (Hmmm… to protect and serve?)

Me, “Is it ok if I run along here (pointing to the side walk away from the scene)?”

Police Officer (look of disgust) “I guess so… but be careful…” (then a sigh, like I’m an idiot to be doing something as obviously dangerous as running on a sidewalk)

Me, “yeah, I heard what happened, so sad… I’ll be careful… thanks”.

See, I try… now that I am more fit, I am much happier, I let stuff like condescending comments from narrow minded cops roll of my back… not like I used to when I was a punk.

For the rest of my run, I was very particular about where I ran… taking special care to run on quality side walks, with as much room between me and the cars as possible. (Does that really matter? After all, wasn’t the dead runner also running on a sidewalk?!) One bright side, is that I discovered a new route that is honestly much better and safer and includes a stretch of well groomed trail with compact gravel. This is a significant upgrade from a safety perspective, and a running surface perspective.

Now I’m 5 miles into my 18.4 mile run. I’m not turning back, so I might as well focus on running… and the other thing I do while I’m running… thinking about my life, my family, my work, the world. The good news is that it was a gorgeous day in Seattle. And after getting over the shock of a dead runner in my path, I was able to think about the blessings I’ve received in my life.

I could have chosen to turn back, I could have “run” from life, but instead, I choose to embrace the life I have. I think the lesson here is that life is short, life is delicate, you have to love the life you got.

In the words of Sublime, “What I Got”…

Life is too short so love the one you got
Cause you might get run over or you might get shot.
…
Take a small example, a tip from me…
…
Lovin’s what i got, it’s within my reach
..
Lovin’, is what i got, i said remember that.
Lovin’, is what i got, i said remember that.

Entry Filed under: Living Seattle, Fitness, Triathlon, Ironman, Running, Marathons, exercise, traffic accident