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The other day I was about a mile from home on my run when another runner turned the corner and started running the same route as me.

Being the competitive person I am, I decided I would use this guy as my motivation to kick it into high gear for the last mile and finish my run strong.

He was moving at a good clip, but I was slowly able to reign him in thanks in part to some nice downhills and a few traffic lights that worked in my favor.

At one light, we did that awkward half smile runners do to acknowledge each other, and then I took off when the light turned green.

We eventually fell into the same pace and were running side by side not talking to each other. I had my headphones in, but it got to a point where I couldn't really take the awkwardness of running right next to a stranger without at least saying hi.

So, I pulled out my headphones, extended my hand and said, "Hi, I'm Jess."

The other runner smiled, introduced himself and we realized we were finishing our runs at pretty much the same spot.

We stopped to chat about running and racing and decided it'd be fun to go running together sometime. And just like that, I'd made a new running friend who can help me push my pace a little bit.

So my question is this:

What's the proper etiquette for introducing yourself to another runner?

• Should you wait until you're at a stop light? (I didn't)
• Should you wait until the end of a run? (What if you one of changes paths?)
• Should you just throw your hand out there and say, "Hi" and hope for the best?
• Am I the only person crazy enough to even be thinking about this?

Have you ever introduced yourself to another runner while running?

(And don't worry Mom, I promise if/when I go running with this guy, I will bring my pepper spray and cell phone and let about five million people know where I'm going and the route we plan to run in case he ends up being a creeper.)

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