HIT AND RUNNING

When I was nine (or was it eight?) I had this unfortunate encounter with a pick-up truck. You see, I had the stop sign but the breaks on my bike decided not to work on the rainy day. Needless to say the truck moving at 35 mph "won" the encounter that summer morning.

Clearly, I survived and until this past Saturday I have never had another incident where person meets vehicle.

I was at my third mile in a 14 mile run when "it" happened. I was running down the sidewalk getting ready to cross the fourway intersection with a red light. I had the little white guy on the light post telling me I was ok to cross the street. However, the minivan decided to do a rolling stop at 5-7 mph and hit my right knee.

Instead of stopping after hitting a human being, the minivan kept nudging forward. I mean are you serious? Do you not see the person directly in front of you that you are hitting? Did you not hear the person pounding his fist onto the hood of your car or screaming "WHAT ARE YOU DOING" so you stop? Would one not stop at this point?

Certainly the drivers slow speed did not hurt me in any manner but rather stun me quite a bit. The driver didn't pull over and stop. Oh no, they just kept right on driving down the road. I finished my run quite well but for a very brief moment I saw my life sliding underneath of the tires of this minivan.

Just for the record, that's two hit by vehicle incidents in my life. And two "wins" for the human body. Maybe a little broken and a little stun but a win none the less.