Another late evening run. After increasing my mileage last week by so much and a little soreness in the knees after Saturday's run, I was going to go do 3-4mi with some decent hills. I headed over to the Riverview Park where they have the upcoming Riverview 5k that I ran a couple of years ago. It's a loop through the park and is basically a mile downhill, then a mile back up the other side. For the race, they add a mile before the loop.
Anyways, as I was turning into the park entrance which is a street with some very nice, older homes. As I drove past a group of kids near the corner, I heard a huge bang on the car. I knew I'd been hit by a rock so I quickly turned around and the group of kids were still walking along acting like nothing happened. I figured they would have taken off in all different directions. Oldest looked about 14, the others between 8-12. I parked on the opposite side of the road and yelled at them come over here. An older couple, probably in their 60s sitting on their stoop told them to keep walking because they didn't know me. I explained they threw a rock at my car and the man came over and apologized and said it's been happening a lot around there. He's called the cops on boys - not sure if they were the same ones - for throwing rocks at the busses. I thanked him, left and found the boys again - they split off in two groups, but I found the kid I wanted to talk to.
I think I scared them with my skull & crossbones doorag or something because when I was talking...actually lecturing...the one kid, the others took off then came walking back with "something behind their backs." The kid I was talking to said, "now you're gonna get it, they've got knives." I could tell by the way they were smiling that they were acting, so when the other boys got close enough so I knew they'd hear me, I repeated myself again that I wasn't planning to call the cops but doing something stupid like pulling a weapon on me would escalate this way beyond where any of them wanted it to go. Again, I said all I wanted an apology from the one that actually threw it. This whole time, I'm giving the kids a lecture on setting an example to the younger boys, that not "giving up his homie" that did it doesn't help him or the actual vandal, that they need to be responsible for their actions regardless of the consequences, etc.
Long story short, while everyone else was gone the one I was talking to finally owned up to throwing a rock up in the air but that it was another kid (younger) that hit my car. When he realized that I wasn't leaving and the others were coming back, he changed his story and said that he was the one that hit it. I'm quite certain he was covering. I didn't apologize when I asked the two youngest looking kids, "you two must be what...8 or 9?" They were obviously offended and said, "No, we're 11!" LOL
I told them I run down here often and if I ever see them throwing rocks or doing anything they shouldn't or suspicious I'm going to...and before I could finish my sentence, the oldest says "kick our a**es?" I looked at them shocked and confused and said "um...no, I'll call the cops. Do you really think I'm going to beat you up and go to jail? Of course not, I'm not going to jail for you or anybody." Yes, I had to quote Wayne's World even though I knew they wouldn't get it. LOL
After that exchange and them knowing where I was headed for my run, I was reconsidering my route that night since it was getting darker now. I didn't feel like coming back to my van after running and having the tires slashed or something. Just so happened there was a city cop stopped on the street right near that older couple's house - not sure if they called him or not, but as I slowly passed him, I told him about the boys throwing rocks and where they were and he took off after them.
For the entire run, I kept thinking how it's really sad that there are kids out roaming the streets doing things that their friends might think is "cool" but will just land them in jail one of these days if/when it escalates. I treated them with the respect that I would hope that someone else would show my kids if they were ever in a situation where they or their friend did something dumb. Watching them, I think I actually got through to one of them, but that lifestyle isn't an easy to break away from.
For my run, I decided to head to my familiar running route that's fairly flat, run 1.25mi out where there's a hill the last 1/4mi, then do a couple reps up and down it before heading back. Felt pretty good, no knee or lower leg soreness like on Saturday's run. Not real fast, but I got a couple of good sub-8:00 "sprints" in there too. For the next week or two, I'm going to skip days between runs so I don't over do it and sideline myself. I'll focus on doing some core work on the "off" days. | 