Re: Bullied by a 15 Year Old

kevnsan relayed a story all too familiar for those of us who are beginning to feel our age.

I have two recent anecdotes on the same topic to share, both happened while running.

Teenage Girls Orienteering While I Ran Track

The nearest track field is often used as grounds for orienteering by local schools, and there's been a lot more of that going on this year with the pandemic stopping indoor activities. For some reason I've never seen the teen kids actually dressed for sports, or even jogging. They just sort of walk around and hit the checks that are easily available, I guess.

Anyway. I passed two girls, probably 14-15 years old, on my run and just as I'd passed them I heard them starting to laugh behind me. I'm guessing maybe it has something to do with a grown-up man wearing runner tights? I dunno. It felt rude though.

Teenage Boys Orienteering While I Ran on Road

This one was fun. I feel like I came out on top here. It happened a bit more than a month ago, when the weather was warmer and my knee wasn't busted. I was about 4 km into an 11 km run, keeping a pace of 4:10 per km, when I passed this group of boys about the same age as the girls in the previous anecdote. Do they do anything but relaxing walks in gym class this semester?

As I passed them I heard one exclaiming "Damn that's fast!" in surprised astonishment to his friends. A couple of seconds later I heard the heavy footfalls of another one, trying to catch up to me. No doubt to show his friends that he could best this old man. I set off at a sprint, knowing with full certainty that he wouldn't stand a chance. The same voice as before laughed loudly and yelled "DAAAAAAAAMN THAT'S FAAAAAAST!", and the boy trying to catch up lost ground and gave up within 30 meters.

Age vs Youth: 1-1

-- CC0 ew0k, 2021-10-08