Last Sunday, I was supposed to run 13 miles for my marathon training. I left early in the morning (6:30) while it was still dark so I could still make it to church. I had a long day planned: Run 13 miles, church, work, and then small group that night. At about mile 1, I heard a familiar bark. There is a house at this point with a couple of pitbulls that always bark at me from behind a chain link fence. So, I assumed he was behind a fence. He wasn’t. I looked down to my left to see a pitbull chasing me, snarling and growling. He chomped into the back of my leg, and I spun around and fell down on my back in the middle of the road. The dog ran away before I could kick him. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I got up and started running again. After the adrenaline wore off, my leg started to hurt, and I cut my run short at 8.5 miles.
I went to the doctor (got a tetanus shot), they called animal control, and I found out that the same dog had bitten two other people that morning. The dog’s now in quarantine to make sure he doesn’t have rabies (he probably doesn’t). I took a couple of days off from running, and I’m still a little sore today, but I will be doing my 20 mile run this Sunday.
Honestly, I didn’t think much of it. Dog’s bite sometimes, but pitbulls are actually pretty dangerous. In 2010, there were 33 fatal dog attacks, and even though only 5% of dogs in the US are pitbulls, 67% of these deaths were caused by pitbulls. Of course, that doesn’t include other maulings, bites, and attacks.
Andrew Thomasson 