Torchbearer and Olympic gold medal winner Mo Huilan waves to people while running during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games torch relay in Nanning， southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， June 7， 2008. （Photo credit： Xinhua）
As I make my way around the world, exploring my surroundings using my favourite past time of running, I’ve discovered an interesting way of interacting with the local residents. Like many things human, we all long for a connection with our surroundings and the other people in it. Running is no exception with the simple act of exchanging a wave being very revealing of the local culture. The range of responses is always dependent on the individual, the weather and location but there’s always room for generalizations. This is a summary of my experiences to date:
- Vancouver, Canada: Not the warmest, friendliest responses to waves in my list but a general receptiveness to making eye contact in a positive manor was encountered. Being a long time resident, I found the other runners a little too serious about their running efforts to make time for silly things like waving. The level of participation in running is exceptional, Vancouver’s citizens take their general fitness enthusiastically to the point of it often being a defining element in their self identity.
- Calgary, Canada: Not a lot of runners on the running trails but those that are there are certainly willing to exchange waves. Perhaps the small running community relative to the cities population makes them want to reach out more?
- Eagle Hill, Canada: I was the freak on the side of the Alberta road getting in the way of the farm equipment and Dually Trucks going twice the speed limit. The general response was indifference or head shaking. Surprisingly I also received one of my most enthusiastic responses with a big “thumbs up” like I was partaking in some kind of exceptional activity. This is where my running career started after needing to run several kilometers with my sister to meeting a closing time of a store after running out of gas.
Note: I’ll write in detail of my motivations for starting to run in a future post. - Toronto, Canada: Really, really serious people in general and certainly in their running as well. Never have a been surrounded by so many runners that were incapable of eye contact never mind any kind of exchange involving a wave. This is yet another example of Toronto’s reputation of being a “cold city”.
- London, England: Nothing special, nothing exceptional. Most runners were doing their own thing with the odd positive response to my waves but in general indifference seemed to be the main theme. I suppose this is to be expected in a city of this size. As always there’s always an exception with only older fellow practically jumping with joy when I waved to him.
- Nairobi, Kenya:Never have I been stared at more with even more staring when I waved. On further reflection, I’m sure I’d wonder too “what the hell the white guy was doing running” along the side of the road for fun when most people were busy simply trying to deal with their concerns of survival.
- Osaka, Japan: Very few runners, of those encountered were very serious about their efforts with little interest in exchanging waves. I’m not sure if my experience was more dependent on a Japanese reaction in general or more to do with Osaka being a relatively working class city with running not being a common pass time. I have been told that marathons events in Japan are very serious events with none of the fanfare and silliness that has become a part of the North American events.
- Miyako-jima and Irabu-jima, Japan: Not one other runner encountered but I suspect this has more to do with the remoteness of the location than with attitudes of the local residences. I did encounter posters of local running events so I suspect the island is more of a running destination rather than a place to train. This is understandable considering the beauty of the region, it was simply breath taking and easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in the world.
- New Orleans, United States: Very few fellow runners encountered but I might have been running in the “wrong part of town”. New Orleans continues to struggle with the process of rebuilding after the devastation of hurricane Katrina, August 29, 2005. While running to the city park from the French Quarter I encountered some very poor neighbourhoods which were not receptive to a “white guy” doing his “rich man past time”. I’m always thankful for the reminder that I live a life of relative luxury where one of top pursuits in life is running, I’m a lucky soul.
Note: This is also where I broke several fingers running, details will be in a future post – Full Contact Running. - Taipei, Taiwan: A small but very enthusiastic running community. Most are very excited to exchange waves with some proudly saying “hello” in, I assume, an effort to display their knowledge of English. One surprising observation was the general absence of female runners as well as the huge popularity in cycling. Never have a seen so many expensive road bikes with clearly recreational riders “stuffed” into their very stylish cycling outfits. I think there’s a clear effort to demonstrate that the riders are on their bikes for leisure rather than due to a lack of a automobile.
- Brno, Czech Republic (Added: 31 May, 2010): It’s not uncommon to encounter fellow runners but rare that they make eye contact let alone exchange waves or a smile. Initially small children and dogs were my only source of greetings but now that I’ve learned a few words in Czech things are looking up. The concept of waving still seems to be lost but “Dobrý den” (Hello) results in at least a general acknowledgement. More details on this experience can be found here: Silva Nortica Run
Running is a pass-time that has a very wide range of reasons for pursuing. I hope that I never offend those who I wave to but also hope that those who do choose to respond are as thankful as I am in the little connection we shared in the moment.
