Gosh. As someone else has said, what a lot of very binary, intolerant views here (although you can pick pretty much any topic on this forum and find the same black/white polarisation when, in fact, if experience has taught me one thing it’s that the world is actually very grey). As someone who has run over 10,000 miles around the banks of the West London Thames over the years here’s my grey take on the matter.Covid is primarily transmitted by airborne person-to-person contact. The only way to be totally risk free is to self-isolate. Which means the moment you step outside your house and walk, run, cycle, skateboard et al you are choosing to subject yourself (and therefore the NHS) to an element of risk. In this regard walkers really have no higher moral ground than runners, who have no higher moral ground than cyclists and so on. In absolute terms, the second any of us head outdoors we are being selfish and putting ourselves and others at risk.However our government (like some others, but not all) has decided that exercise is beneficial during the lockdown and is allowing this within certain parameters. Walking is allowed. Running is allowed. Cycling is allowed. And all of them are allowed at all times of the day. And in the same locations.There are walkers in this thread who have suggested runners should be banned from the towpath and find other locations. Why? Why shouldn’t it be the walkers who find alternative routes? I enjoy the view from the riverside whether I’m walking, running or cycling. I would love to think I ran at such a speed that the scenery was blurred but alas, that’s not the case.There are walkers in this thread who argue they should be allowed to walk side-by-side with their spouse. Why? Where do the regulations say that?The truth of the matter is that there are both considerate and inconsiderate walkers, runners and cyclists and to characterise them all in the same way is, frankly, ludicrous.The towpaths are narrow and busy. If everyone, regardless of what type of exercise they are taking, did it single file, and on the left of the pathway in question, the incidence of close contacts would disappear almost immediately. Fast walkers or joggers approaching a slower group ahead would be able to see if anyone was coming from the opposite direction, slow down as necessary and then overtake on the right staying the recommended distance apart.Sadly that is rarely possible. A lot of walkers are two or more abreast. Some have dogs on those extending leads and allow them to wander across the paths on those long leads. Some walk on the right, in the middle, oblivious to their surroundings.Some joggers are badly behaved too and don’t give the space when they could.My point is this. It’s not a jogging issue. It’s a consideration issue. Your exercise is no more righteous than my exercise. We are both choosing to expose ourselves, others and the NHS to risk. It’s how we minimise that risk that separates us, not the form of exercise we take. Walk/run/cycle in single file on the left, overtake with a lot of space on the right and we can all co-exist nicely.
David Thorpe ● 2111d