When jog strollers threaten a run

by Jacki Donaldson (Subscribe to Jacki Donaldson's posts)
May 31st 2008 7:30AM

Categories: Fitness

I packed my 38-pound five-year-old into a jog stroller this morning and pushed him up and down six hills in my neighborhood. It felt good -- the early-morning workout, the time with Danny, the extra effort it took to heave him up incline after incline. It was peaceful too. We were the only ones braving the hills at the time so no one was in our way. We didn't bother anyone either. Jog strollers can be problematic, though. There's a certain etiquette, actually, for these exercise contraptions.

As long as you're walking, jogging, or strolling through parks and on sidewalks, you have nothing to worry about. But head into a race event with your jog stroller and beware. You may be shunned as you crowd out fellow participants and shout "on your left" declarations as you pass your opponents by. Runners just don't want to be beaten by strollers and worse yet, tripped by them. USA Track & Field race directors don't even allow them.

The message here is this: Think before you stroll. Make sure your kid and your apparatus are appropriate for the setting you seek. And before you register for your next race event, check to make sure it's a stroller-friendly event.

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Comments (2)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Adam 5-31-2008 @ 8:33AM

I'm sorry, but why would you even bring and even use a running stroller during the actual event?

K Ebert 6-09-2008 @ 8:10AM

Glad to see your post about using a stroller in a race. I have the perspective of someone that has run over 10 5k races using either a double or single stroller. Just ran this morning on a rather hilly course - finished in a respectable 24:29. This was with a double stroller with my 3 and 4 year olds (waving and encouraging everyone they could see). All told we are about 350 lbs of roaring encouragement on the course.

We always pick rather family friendly events, and have never been the only stroller in the race (except for one that was basically rained out and only 8 people showed up.).

So -what is my point? When we go for a run, we run hard. We may take up a little more room than those without a stroller, but we follow the same rules and I have never her a single negative word about taking my kids out on this type of event. People pass us, we pass other people. Everyone gets a wave and a good luck shout from all three of us. My little cart gets more smiles on the course than anyone out there.

On the other side of the coin. Respect people, with or without a stroller that intend to run hard. We do our best to let people know what our expected pace is (about an 8 minute mile). Most ignore it, and get passed immediately out of the gate by a guy yelling, excuse me, on your left, excuse me. When this happens - they might not like getting passed, but more often than not the lined up too close to the start based on their own abilities. This would happen with our without a stroller.

So, the next time you line up for a race and you ask the guy with the stroller how fast can you push that thing? "I expect to run the race in under 25 minutes", if you can't run that fast, line up behind him.