Be Nice to Each Other! Outdoor Etiquette for Sportspersons

For almost exactly eight years now, (running) sport has been an integral part of my life. For me, sport means freedom, a holiday from everyday life, switching off. It also means letting your thoughts flow, listening to yourself and feeling the emotions that I have simply pushed aside in the hectic pace of life.

That's why I often run alone, and I love to run long and far. With every step I take I come closer to a state of clarity, emotional and mental order. In the past weeks, when nothing was as usual and as originally intended, running crystallized again as a constant - physically and mentally as absolutely necessary.

Why am I telling you this? Why am I rambling on about sport or running, chatting and writing down what thousands and thousands of people have been part of daily business for a long time?Because our community of athletes has grown many times over since the viral state of emergency, or at least that is how I perceive it. And that is good!

Every person who moves, be it running, hiking, walking, strolling, skating or cycling, does something good for himself and therefore also for his environment. At least one should think so. But that with the environment, that is one of those things. Because some of us sportsmen and women, more precisely those who even before the pandemic preferred to put on running shoes every day, give the impression that they had a privilege on paths, meadows and in forests.

"It's so crowded!"
"Where were all these people before the pandemic?"
"Human slalom is my current athletic training"

Dear "old-established", is it really the image we want to convey to the outside world? The "Grumpy Old Runners/Walkers Club", not open for new things, for changes, for "newcomers"?

This is how ISPO blogger Sandra Mastropietro experiences the Corona crisis. You can read her thoughts always connected with workout tips here:

I tell you quite honestly: I am happy about every single person out there who moves, no matter in which form! Because he or she is "tidy", symbolically and literally. He or she is not brooding over conspiracy theories and is not spreading bad humour anywhere. No, he or she who moves feels better afterwards, releases endorphins and is somehow at peace with himself or herself. And that's exactly what we need, what everyone needs!

There are few problems that cannot be at least partially relativized by a nose full of fresh air, a few steps in the green and a few minutes of rest.

And so here once again, for some as a reminder, for others as a greeting and a warm welcome:

1. Currently very important: Keep to the current minimum distance and group size regulations in your (federal) state
2. Runs, rides, skates etc., especially past older people, with sufficient distance
3. Greet oncoming joggers/walkers/hikers/cyclists etc. - if you don't greet back, you are surely deep in thought
4. If you notice that someone wants to overtake you: Let him pass, especially on narrow paths
5. Cyclists: When overtaking groups of people/children/people with dogs: Slow down
6. Running friendships: Please not in a group of three or four, talking so loudly that you don't notice what's going on in front or behind you
7. Actually a matter of course, but still: even used handkerchiefs etc. belong in the garbage and not on the roadside
8. Stay on the path if possible - for the sake of our nature
9. Never use headphones so loud that you can't hear what's happening around you
10. Be careful in everything you do. And be thankful - thankful that you are healthy, can go out into nature at any time and can do sports as you please

Last but not least, once again the "cliche" that we are all a team. We are athletes, no matter in which discipline, no matter how far, how fast, how often, how long we move.We move because it does us good, because it helps us to move forward - because there is security, trust in ourselves, in our bodies.

Be considerate of each other, whether beginner or professional, whether in cotton or hi-tech fibre. "Sport Stays", and that's how we do it! With consideration, decency and above all great pleasure!

Have fun out there, in nature!In being, in moving, in creating clarity.
Your Sandra

P.S.: Still too much going on outside? Or the weather too bad? Maybe my "Feel Good" workout is an alternative!