strange running encounter

[Anonymous]

This happened to me yesterday and seemed quite odd. Anyone have any ideas about what was going on?

About 2pm on Sunday running on the W&OD in Falls Church just north of Route 7 and within sight of several crossings. Sunny day and there were plenty of people around. A guy jogging the other way flagged me down so I pulled out my headphones, stopped my watch, all that. Like I said, people around so I felt safe. He was not really dressed to run (in my opinion) and had a phone in one hand. He asked me how far it was to Arlington (I said it depends which part), he said he was interested to go just to see something interesting (I said he wouldn't see anything interesting until he hit DC but Falls Church is pretty and half a mile away). Then he asked if my tights were CW-X (I said yes and I like them very much). I turned to go and he asked again to confirm which way to Arlington. (Yes, that way). Then he asked again about the tights and asked if they had a logo. (This seemed really weird to me and I said, I guess). Then he said he thought the tights looked really cool and could he take a picture of them, at which point I thought this was all really odd and just said that he should just look them up online and took off jogging on my way again. I didn't really feel unsafe at this point but the *weird weird* alarms were going off in my head.

What was going on here? Who asks to take a picture of someone's tights?

[Anonymous]

Probably sizing you up. Predators pick out their victims. You should report this suspicious activity, maybe to the police, non-emergency number.

[Anonymous]

If a guy can name brand name of your tights, stop talking and move along. I would change your running route and times you run.

[Anonymous]

definitely odd.

I would stop running with headphones, especially on the WO&D trail. There are too many parts that are isolated and quiet even on busy weekends.

[Anonymous]

Honestly I think you had too much conversation with him and he was trying to feel you out. Much like with little kids- answer the basic question he asked and move on.

[Anonymous]

If your gut was telling you something was off, then something was probably off. While it's great to be polite to people, remember you don't have to engage. You can walk away and go about your business.

And please, stop running with headphones. If you must, then use just one earbud and on low volume.

[Anonymous]

Honestly I think you had too much conversation with him and he was trying to feel you out. Much like with little kids- answer the basic question he asked and move on.

I agree with this - I don't think you should stop running with earphones, just keep the volume low when you are out, especially in less well-traveled areas. Don't feel obligated to engage with people who want to engage with you. Not necessary to be polite all the time, especially when your gut is telling you to run.

[Anonymous]

oh, and he wanted to take a picture of your a$$. creep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably sizing you up. Predators pick out their victims. You should report this suspicious activity, maybe to the police, non-emergency number.

I agree completely with this. Call the non-emergency number. Police do make notes of suspicious things. My neighbor is a police officer and has said "if something doesn't feel right, you're probably right... You have to let the police know. We don't have ESP."

[Anonymous]

He probably has some sick ass running tights fettish.

[Anonymous]

Ok. Thanks. I did call and report it. To be clear, this brand of tights is pretty distinctive so if you are familiar with them you could recognize them by sight, so that didn't seem that weird. Also, I don't have a regular running route or time so I don't think it was anything personal to me. But I reported it. Thanks for advice.

[Anonymous]

I was approached on the CCT. Any man who would approach a woman on a trail (in my case it was an isolated section) for anything besides help/single question is a freak. It is rapist behavior.

[Anonymous]

I was approached on the CCT. Any man who would approach a woman on a trail (in my case it was an isolated section) for anything besides help/single question is a freak. It is rapist behavior.

[Anonymous]

Woman attacked on W&OD trailing Reston:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/woman-attacked-on-wandod-trail-in-reston/2013/01/30/a23c9fae-6b1f-11e2-95b3-272d604a10a3_blog.html?hpid=z5

[Anonymous]

^^ Yikes, OP! If the description in the article sounds like your guy you were very lucky!