Yesterday morning I was on my easy 3-mile run before work. My run was going really well and because it was so early (not that bad really, just 6:15 a.m.) there was hardly anyone on the road. I took this as an opportunity to really focus and get into my run. It was very peaceful and I just felt good. As I came up a hill I saw another runner heading towards me on the opposite side of the road. She looked like she was about in her 30s, she had headphones on and was going at a kind of slow pace.

I’m a rather peppy person in the morning and I always say “hello” or “good morning” to people I see on the road during my early runs. I do this even if I’m killing myself going up a hill or nearing the end of a 12-mile run. I think it’s a common courtesy.

As the other runner came closer to me I smiled at her to acknowledge her presence and then waved and said “Good morning!” What followed after took me off guard. She gave me a death stare. She didn’t smile, didn’t even utter a word. She just kept running.

I always thought it was respectful to acknowledge other runners on the road. We’re not racing each other (yet) and we’re all working towards a common goal. Maybe this woman wasn’t a morning person or maybe she was stressed about something else but I couldn’t believe she didn’t even acknowledge me and worse made me feel like I had done something wrong. I think it should be a rule to at least acknowledge other runners on the road. One of the best things I’ve learned since becoming a runner is how supportive other runners and the running community can be and I think it is absolutely vital that we all stay supportive of one another. After all, shouldn’t we all run happy?

So today I took to twitter to ask some fellow runners their opinion on running etiquette.