The Police Stopped Me!

A few weeks ago I was running down in town, when less than half a mile into my run (I was running in the dirt on the side of the road) a police cruiser pulls up behind me and two scary-looking cops get out. After they had determined I was not dead, dying, or being chased by some crazy rapist, the passenger-cop got back in the car and cop-of-higher-importance took down all my information.
steve.png
I was actually trying not to laugh the whole time. I mean, how ridiculous IS that!? It's SO weird not to be wearing shoes, right.

So while this guy took 10 minutes writing down my info and radio-ing his fellow cops, I stood there freezing wishing I was moving. Not to mention I did NOT like getting the weird stares from every single car that drove by us. :-| E-M-B-A-R-A-S-S-I-N-G. But at the same time, I was almost kind of happy. Not only did it give me a good story for my blog, but now I feel like a "real" barefoot runner! LOL.
tounge_smile.gif


The aforementioned policeman asked a bunch of questions about barefoot running and seemed genuinely interested in why the heck I was doing it.

Later on in my run (on a very secluded road) a sheriffs vehicle drove up behind me with the driver doing the drive-really-slow-and-turn-your-head-to-stare-at-this-crazy-person-running-with-no-shoes thing.
omg_smile.gif
Lucky for me he didn't stop and I'm thinking he had been radioed by the first car and was checking up on me. Or maybe just wanted to catch a glimpse of the spectacle for himself.



:puzzled:

Comments

That's awesome! I've been followed around my neighborhood by the security patrol at night. They would drive by once, then twice, then maybe one more time before determining I wasn't a threat. Now when they see me they just drive on by! I've been waiting to be pulled over by the cops (only seen one once)!
 
This was great and made me smile! In my town the Chief of police is a runner and part of my running group of friends so he knows I'm the crazy barefoot runner. But I do get lots of people staring, especially in the colder months. Thank you so much for sharing this was fun.
 
Did you ask why you were being detained? What did they say was the reason? -TJ
 
I kind of asked why he was taking my information down and he said "I just like to keep track of everybody I speak to."

He said he was just "making sure I was okay" but I don't think he even needed to get out of the car to do that!
 
From my notes about a year ago...

On 4/4/10 at about 5:30pm I got stopped by Officer Davis of the La Quinta police. Funny thing I wasn't in a car...I was returning from a 4 mile out and back barefoot run while enjoying a vacation in the Palm Springs area.



I was a few blocks from my hotel when Iwent by a shopping center on Calle Tampico and Washington. I noticed a policecruiser quickly pull in the driveway up the street and make a u-turn. It stopped and I thought it was watching for speeders on the street. When I got closer, the cop got out of the car, stood with his hand back by his gun or taser and yelled:"Hey Buddy, just a minute!"I stopped at the sidewalk but didn't go over. He asked if everything was alright. Isaid: "Sure!" (I thought later that I should have responded: "Hey, did you catch me on radar?") He then asked what I was doing. I said just out for a barefoot run. He said he never heard of or saw such a thing. Said that since I had no shirt or shoes andwas only wearingshorts and sun glasses, he thought something waswrong. He then asked how long I was barefooting and howfar I ran.Iquickly explainedhow it wasbetter than running in shoes. I thanked him for his concern and interest andran off.
 

Blog entry information

Author
smileyfootjamie
Views
71
Comments
7
Last update

More entries in Community Blogs

More entries from smileyfootjamie

  • RnR Las Vegas Half Marathon
    I successfully completed my first half marathon last night with a time of 2:00:38!!! I had a...
  • Six more days!!!
    SIX more days untin RnR Vegas. My first half! I am SOOOO excited and slightly terrified. I'm not...
  • So Hot
    My feet definitely need some work when it comes to hot pavement. I can tolerate the heat (we...
  • hardly running
    I have hardly ran or hiked at all since my 8k. I miss it and feel like I should have made it a...
  • My first 8k
    I ran my first 8k this morning and it was SO much fun! Wrote about it and pictures...