Had a highly suspect encounter on a running path today, and since I’m normally pretty vocal about not liking to carry when exercising I thought I should share. It made me change my tune.Had to pick up my car from the mechanic and was too cheap to pay $40 to uber. Checked the metro map and found out a station was 2 miles from the mechanic so I decided to take the train and the run the 2 miles. Normally I wouldn’t take a gun with me if I’m going to be running, but when I was at the mechanic dropping the car off another customer and the mechanic were talking about how many times they’d been robbed. So I put my 5.11 nylon belt on under my running shorts and took the Browning HiPower with a ventcore holster. The G35 would have been better but I’ve been shooting reloads with it and it needs serious cleaning. Also grabbed my Sabre pepper spray and cellphone with wallet case. Tested to make sure I could run with the setup and all was good so long as the phone was in hand and the belt was really tight. Everything went sideways pretty fast. First issue was I didn’t realize there were two train stops in Anaheim and they are on separate lines. I got on the one that went to Honda Center where the Ducks (NHL) play. This was the wrong line/stop. Instead of 2 miles I’m now up to 5 miles and it’s 96 degrees. My cell phone has been flaky all day giving me a “no sim” error intermittently (can’t make/receive calls or texts, sometimes I get calls but can’t hear the other person) and now the battery starts to drain like crazy. Already down to 50% and I need this thing to nav me on the run since I’ve never run this path. The path is the Santa Anna River trail that used to be a major homeless encampment. The police ran them off a year or so ago but as a consequence most of the gates on the trail in this section are locked. If you get on, you are stuck until you get to a cross street that’s not locked. I even had to climb over some rocks to get around a locked gate to get on the trail. Not great judgement, but the mechanic closes in 90 minutes so I don’t have a ton of time to screw around, and since I didn’t bring water I knew this was likely I’d do some walking. The whole trail seemed deserted, clean and almost peaceful. Things were looking up. The gun shifted to a more sob position with the grip digging into my spine as I ran. I hated it, but considering the situation I was delighted it was there. As I ran past the first side street, a guy is loitering around and starts looking me over. I just keep running but make a mental note to watch my back. Ran about a minute and then look over my shoulder. Dude is now on a bike. I’m running 9 min miles, so a bike should overtake me pretty quick. I keep looking back every minute or so, he is just hanging back slowly following me maybe 50 yards back. Ahead the trail is empty. To the left is a rocky descent to the riverbed and to the right is chainlink fence with an occasional locked gate. I keep running, but pull out the pepper spray from my left pocket...just in case. I don’t know how fast he could close on me before I hear. Thankfully some cyclists appear going in the opposite direction. The guy behind me appears to fall back. I’m more like 75 yards up now. Starting to feel more relieved. Also started to feel the heat and decided to walk a spell. The belt was tight and my heart rate was 10bpm above normal for a run. The walk was short lived, he’s started closing the distance pretty fast and I was of a mind to find a cross street to exit in before he caught up to me. About a mile further with no unlocked gates I see a shady path going off to the right. I thought about taking it but since I didn’t know where it went, and it was hidden by bushes and trees I thought better if it. If something goes down I don’t want the aggressor to have the luxury of concealment. The trail is nearly deserted but there are some occasional police helicopters flying around the area. The guy is now gaining on me pretty good and I can see that other trail is parallel to the path. I decide to cut over to it and let him pass. He has already passed the entrance to it, and it will be obvious he is up to no good if he tries to cut across like I did because it’s not good terrain for a bike. I turn so I can face him as he passes pepper spray concealed in my off hand, so I could draw with my right if needed. The guy now has a hoodie covering his head and mouth, with a baseball cap and sunglasses. The hoodie wasn’t on when I passed him initially. He stares at me and slows as if he’s contemplating stopping. I stared at him directly making it clear he was going to have my undivided attention and if he was looking for trouble I’d be ready to give him some back. Even after he’d passed my position by a good 10 yards he’s still looking at me. I give him a minute to move along and continue my run. There were no unlocked gates for quite a distance but I never saw him again. He left at a hell of a lot faster speed than he approached which in my mind is more confirmation he was stalking me. In retrospect, his face was so covered I’m a little worried the pepper spray wouldn’t have done much. Large sunglasses over his eyes, hoodie covering mouth and nose, and a ball cap that had a bill that could block a lot if he ducked his head. I was counting on being able to use the spray to have time to grab my gun if needed, it had shifted from the normal 4 to more of a 5:30. If we were in close proximity when he passed I would have been vulnerable. Being able to get on that other trail bought me some time and distance and took initiative away from him. If he was coming for me he had to broadcast his intent first. Had I not been armed I probably would have looked less confident and that could have invited an attack. Given how covered his face was in 96 degree heat I’m pretty certain he was up to no good.What I learned: I don’t feel confident in pepper spray when a potential attacker has nearly full covering of their face and eyes. I hate running with a gun, but am far more likely to carry one on a run now especially in areas that are less safe than my normal highly trafficked routes. I need to get a real pocket gun for exercise. I am thankful for everyone who encourages situational awareness. I think today it saved me from some unpleasantness.Lastly, if your cell phone is acting up it’s a critical failure. I had no dependable way to dial 911, I could have lost navigation and become stranded. It’s as important as any tool you have, don’t tolerate unreliability.About the gear: running with a holster under your shorts is highly concealable but at least with my gear the waistband got under my holster when I first stood up from the train. Unexpected. Glad I had a long shirt. The ventcore was really comfortable but the belt had to be uncomfortably tight. The one issue with the holster is it slid in towards sob while running and the cant changed. I would change the clips from standard polymer to something better to use this method with a heavy gun. I’d also recommend a smaller gun. The grip of my Browning did dig into my back on the run. A lighter gun might also allow you to run with a looser belt. I unlocked the “ran with a full sized steel gun” achievement. via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/2SDb1rQ
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