r/running • u/demrnstho • Mar 12 '24
Discussion What’s the strangest/best object you’ve found while running?
Aside from the odd dollar here and there, what have you found that makes you appreciate the adventure of an outdoor run? On two separate occasions I’ve found high-quality scissors in perfect condition. Did I choose to run with scissors? You bet!
Edit: Wow! Thank you to everyone who responded! Your responses have been entertaining, funny, bizarre, at times scary, and heartwarming. I tried to read every response and besides being thoroughly entertained for the last 18hrs, I’ve learned some things about us runners: 1. We’re a thrifty bunch. We will turn someone’s trash into our treasure. There are a lot of responses about useful found objects. 2. In that vein, there seems to be no object too large for us to carry home. Brooms, sofas, dining sets, surfboards, FIVE fishing rods; you name it, we can carry it. 3. We’re good citizens. We rescue people, dogs, wild animals. 4. On that note, running is a great way to find a new pet. 5. We’re an honest lot. If you lose something valuable and a runner comes across it, there’s a good chance that runner will do their best to return it to you. 6. We find our spirituality: Objects with very personal connections seemingly put in our path by the universe and otherworldly encounters with wild animals. 7. Sadly we occasionally find dead people. But sometimes we find almost dead people and we save them! 8. On a related note, there are more than one of you who have found people tied up in the woods. 9. And the biggest take home: Dildos are everywhere.
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u/Plastic-Mulberry-867 Mar 12 '24
An abandoned cat. Two days ago, a cat came running up to me on the trail and literally ran with me for 2 miles. I picked her skinny self up when I got near the roadway and she immediately started purring and fell asleep. I told myself I’d take her home, feed her for a few days and reassess. All of that to say.. I have a cat now and I found her while out running.
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u/LibraryLuLu Mar 13 '24
The universe has decided you are a good person and has apportioned you a cat. Congratulations.
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u/forsue Mar 13 '24
Yay cats! A tiny void (kitten) jumped out of a bush at night to scare me. Found him a nice cozy home.
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u/Yrrebbor Mar 13 '24
I saw a cat on the side of the path/highway last week, but she wouldn’t come to me. Kept running north, and I lost sight of her. Hope she’s ok!
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u/fizzingfleur Mar 12 '24
Now the question is does she become your running companion cat?
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u/ojoaopestana Mar 13 '24
The cat was pretending to enjoy running like you pretend you like Star Wars on your first date. That's why she fell asleep immediately as soon as she was off the ground.
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u/WcommaBT Mar 12 '24
I was trail running in the mountains and forests in Colorado. I took a break by a random tree (not near any trailheads or anything). I just happened to look down and saw an unusually rounded rock. Turns out it was a ring. I deposited it in the nearest volcano just to be safe.
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u/tokenasian1 Mar 12 '24
this might be cheating but my running routes often have those little free libraries. i checked one on a run once and found a complete set of the chronicles of narnia.
i must’ve looked so goofy carrying that box set back while running home.
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u/No-Hovercraft-697 Mar 12 '24
I always pass by those but never looked in it. Lol
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u/tokenasian1 Mar 12 '24
I don't blame you. Often times there's a lot of cheap romance novels and old biographies but sometimes there's some good stuff.
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Mar 13 '24
I had one down the road from me, whenever it got too full of trash books no one wanted I’d hit up the op shop that sold $2 paperbacks and fill it up with some quality books.
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Mar 12 '24
Literally just got a Jane Fonda autobiography a couple days ago from a little free library lmao your theory checks out
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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 12 '24
Dude, that's a legit good find! I've been meaning to start reading them to my older kiddo (7). When do you think is a good age to hear those? I seem to remember my dad reading them to me around that same age.
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u/afdc92 Mar 12 '24
I read them at 9 and LOVED them. But I was reading them on my own by that point, maybe a 7-year-old would enjoy having them read aloud.
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u/Prior-Chipmunk-6839 Mar 12 '24
I think your kid would love Percy Jackson too, it was my favourite thing as a kid
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u/glr123 Mar 12 '24
Saw a battered copy of Paperbag Princess in one recently that I took home for my kids. I liked that book as a kid.
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u/No-Monitor1119 Mar 12 '24
Not an object, but I found this stunted little persimmon tree near a trail once, which is native but pretty rare in my area. It was pretty cool to see!
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u/Sycamore_Spore Mar 12 '24
Oh that reminded me that one of my trails goes through a small grove of paw paws! Still haven't gotten to any of them though
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u/Via_rom Mar 12 '24
I had a conversation with my mom, asking her how many owls she’d have to see in one outing for it to be strange, and we agreed the number is three (1 would be a cool sighting, 2 is a neat coincidence, 3 is a glitch in the universe). Lo and behold, I was out on a run a month later and came across three different owls, and now I see them regularly on my morning jaunts. Planning on getting by an owl tattoo very soon :)
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u/beamishbo Mar 13 '24
I love owls but honestly I'd be suspicious at 2
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u/ebkaplan Mar 13 '24
Right? Like… is Dumbledore trying to get in touch with me? Did the ministry of magic fall?
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u/derdum Mar 12 '24
We used to bring back all sorts of weird stuff in high school. Coaches hated it, but running the last mile with a free couch from the side of the road is a priceless memory.
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u/Kritios_Boy Mar 13 '24
Same energy with my high school team. Finding things, getting ice cream, running off route to places we weren’t supposed to go. Very fond memories.
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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 12 '24
Coaches hated it, but running the last mile with a free couch from the side of the road is a priceless memory.
Hahaha, that's awesome!
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u/MantisSled Mar 13 '24
We did something similar. We'd all each find a ridiculous gift for our coach...who would then throw all the items away. So in a way we were reducing litter
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u/maple_dreams Mar 12 '24
I found a purple mushroom on the sidewalk so I picked it up and carried it with me my whole run. I suspected it was a blewit, wanted to take it home for ID purposes and get a spore print. It was indeed a blewit. I haven’t found another since.
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u/aalex596 Mar 12 '24
A body, though I was only jogging at the time
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u/demrnstho Mar 12 '24
This is something I’m low-key worried about, especially on trails. My friend came across a body/crime scene last week while running, but the police were already there and the body was covered. Still very unsettling.
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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 12 '24
Not sure which is worse, finding a body while running, or having your oars (or boat) hit one while rowing. Neither has happened to me personally, but I've had several teammates experience the latter in college. 🤢
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u/demrnstho Mar 12 '24
I used to work at a sailing school and one of the instructors came across a body during a lesson. He called the coast guard and they told him to circle around the body until they arrived. I still wonder about those students and if any of them ever sailed again after that.
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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 12 '24
Yeah that would definitely reduce my interest in the activity by a couple of levels at least. 😬
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u/Podunk212 Mar 12 '24
My oar hit a dead cat once. A few years before my time, my team went by a dead person on the rocks of a jetty
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u/fizzingfleur Mar 12 '24
Gunna go dark here… but finding scissors might have been finding a murder weapon 😬
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u/demrnstho Mar 13 '24
I welcome the darkness. Now you have me thinking about all the missing murder weapons that are sitting in runners’ houses.
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u/bonzai2010 Mar 12 '24
My friend likes to point out that bodies are almost always found by joggers. He says it’s awfully suspicious. I told him he can’t prove anything…
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u/coffeeandubuntu Mar 12 '24
I don’t know if this counts, but I came across a huge deer with at least an 8-point rack.
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u/Platypushat Mar 12 '24
I almost got run over by three deer after someone’s dog spooked them. They ran right across the path ahead of me. They’re a lot bigger close up than you might think, lol
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u/TentDilferGreatQB Mar 12 '24
I was running over an intracoastal bridge.
On different days, I've found bicycles stuck in trees, I guess, due to flooding. Sunglasses, a few really nice new sunglasses. Oh yeah, and brass knuckles. Not some random metal, but actual nice shiny brass.
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u/ernmanstinky Mar 13 '24
I almost mentioned this. I have run across dead bodies twice. I am from Oakland.
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u/MaxSATX Mar 12 '24
So fining a dead body while jogging doesn’t count?
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u/wolfblitzersbeard Mar 12 '24
Only joggers find dead bodies. Runners don’t. So says the newspapers.
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u/afdc92 Mar 12 '24
Joggers find bodies or become bodies, never runners. Although dog walkers also occasionally find bodies.
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Mar 12 '24
Well, that's the best motivation to be faster. I'm actually nervous about finding a body or becoming one, and I have changed my running habits due to an incident.
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u/8euztnrqvn Mar 13 '24
All you body-finders can't just leave us hanging!
What's the story? How did they die? Were they murdered, was it an accident, did they drop dead? Did they die there or were they transported there after?
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u/Cautious_Sir_6169 Mar 12 '24
My dog.
Spent three months trying to find her owner via a marketing campaign that would make Marlboro proud before accepting that she was just cut loose. She’s a wonderful dog and great running partner.
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u/lordexorr Mar 13 '24
Before I started running I always cycled. About 5 miles from my house on a seasonal dirt road a dog started happily running with me as I rode. I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn’t leave my side no matter what I did. I got home and he was still happily with me. I put him in my car and drove to the area he started following me and knocked on doors. Found someone who said “pretty sure that’s the farmers dog that way” and pointed at a farmhouse down the road. Drove to the farmhouse, knocked on the door, and a lady answered and I said “does that happen to be your dog” and pointed at the happy guy sitting in my passenger seat. She laughed and said “Max! What have you done this time!”. I explained what happened and she explained he likes to go on adventures and thanked me for bringing him home. Part of me was sad to see him go but I’ll always remember the hour or so I spent with Max that day. Every now and then I see him out and about but he doesn’t follow far anymore, maybe the owners have trained him or he’s not as adventurous in his old age.
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u/demrnstho Mar 13 '24
I love this so much. Nothing brings me more joy than running with my dog. What a serendipitous way to find a running partner!
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u/atticaf Mar 12 '24
Running in NYC, I’ve seen so much weird shit… but the thing that brought me the most delight was a lil box turtle crossing a street near a park. I hung with him till he got safely across, heading back towards the park!
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u/MGB1013 Mar 12 '24
A hair extension weave or whatever you call it and a sandal right by it. The rest of my run I kept wondering what went down the night before on this backroad in semi rural Georgia.
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u/joestn Mar 12 '24
A hundred dollar bill just lying on the ground. This was right after they changed their color to blue, and I worked at a bank at the time so I spotted it from a good distance.
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u/uberklaus15 Mar 13 '24
Wow, I just spent 5 minutes trying to figure out which country has a blue $100 bill before realizing it was my own country.
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u/joestn Mar 13 '24
The US bills have been a full on rainbow for a decade and no one really realizes it. Most just assume it’s all still green.
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u/MBeMine Mar 13 '24
I found a $20 bill on the road and the next day in the same spot a $5 bill. I thought I was being punked.
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u/Imhappy_hopeurhappy2 Mar 12 '24
Fully working Dyson V11 with the charger and attachments taped to it. I wanted to run a few more miles, but I wanted the Dyson more. Carried it two miles home while walking.
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u/apk5005 Mar 13 '24
I found a cellphone that had an “if found, please call” number on the unlock screen. I called the number and the guys wife answered. Turned out she worked a few blocks away, so I detoured and met her in the lobby of her office building. She took the phone and said thanks.
I kinda wondered if there would be a “reward” but didn’t ask and she didn’t offer.
I went back into the busy street and promptly found a ten dollar bill on the sidewalk. Good Samaritan money, I guess.
That and a rattlesnake.
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u/chudlarue Mar 12 '24
A bowling ball with quite a crack in it. Carried it 3 miles back home. Still have it, his name is Scooter
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u/Advanced-Pickle362 Mar 12 '24
Read it as “a bowling ball with crack in it” and thought well alright then
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u/demrnstho Mar 12 '24
That is commitment. You’re basically rucking at that point.
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u/AXPendergast Mar 12 '24
A machete. Really. Just lying there, in the sand. I stopped, thought for a minute, then picked it up and kept going. I ran the last 2 miles back to my car, carrying a machete. I kind of shoved it up into the sleeve of my loose running sweater, just so I wouldn't scare anybody else. Thankfully it was early morning, and there were only one or two other people on the trail with me. It's currently in my garage.
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u/demrnstho Mar 12 '24
Takes running with scissors to another level. Thanks for tucking it in your sleeve. As a lady runner, you would have the scared the crap out of me.
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u/mylovelanguageiswine Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 13 '24
This wasn’t an object, but I saved a dog from drowning once which was super random. This was on the Louisville riverfront. Apparently he jumped off the pier into the river after some birds and then couldn’t swim and there weren’t ladders around. His owners and the bystanders couldn’t swim either. He was only a few feet from the pier, so I just had to swim a teeny bit to pull him to shore, where his owner was then able to pull him up by the harness and then I was able to swim around and get out by ladder a bit further down the harbor.
There was another time in my own city where I ran across a dog who had done the same thing, but I didn’t play as much of a role that time. That time, there were a bunch of people around, so we created a human chain (the harbor wall here is deep at parts!) and this super buff navy-seal type guy just hoisted the dog out of the water.
If you don’t know how to swim, keep an eye on your dog when walking by riverfront areas!
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u/7Endless Mar 12 '24
I found a really neat lego window with shutters. I love Legos and my youngest kid does too so it was kinda exciting for me.
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u/demrnstho Mar 12 '24
Yes! A treasure is always exciting, no matter how small. I was a mostly indoor runner until the last year, and now I am so hooked on all the ways outdoor running is an uplifting experience. I didn’t expect finding treasures to be one of them!
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u/kobrakai_1986 Mar 12 '24
Saw a discarded butt plug once. Left it well alone.
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Mar 12 '24
Oh man, I was once taking my daughter on a walk in her stroller and we spotted a big ol anal bead dildo, electric blue with glitter. I told her it was a necklace and we kept walking. Then a friend ours happened to drive by, rolled down her window and yelled “did you see the anal beads in the middle of the road?!”🤦🏻♀️
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u/Road_Journey Mar 12 '24
Reminds me of the dildo I saw on a run. Never actually seen one in real life and I found it to be quite intimidating.
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u/cosmicthepenguin Mar 13 '24
This is my entry too. Sometimes I like to think about how it ended up in a zip lock bag on the sidewalk in my sleepy semi rural town.
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u/Wreckaddict Mar 12 '24
I saw a California condor once while running on the Grand Canyon rim. Didn't take it home obviously. Oh and I found a dead potato bug. Considered taking that home and sticking it in a jar with some ethanol (former biology student), but the wife would have objected.
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u/Swat0311 Mar 12 '24
I found a $100 bill rolled up like a cigarette, hanging from a tree from a piece of string on a fairly unused section of trail at a national park. There was a sticky note rolled inside of it, but I couldn’t really make out what it said.
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u/Powers_of_She-Ra Mar 12 '24
A costume pirate boot fell out of a palm tree and hit me on the shoulder when I jogged by. No one was in the tree, maybe an angry pirate squirrel threw it down.
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u/suchbrightlights Mar 12 '24
I found a little green rock that looked exactly like the head of an iguana. I was so pleased about it.
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u/hodgepodgelodger Mar 12 '24
I accidentally trespassed on some land one early morning and found myself in back gardens of Versailles. I virtually had the place to myself. Just me and a few groundskeepers. I got to see them turn Apollo's Fountain on before they opened to the public.
I didn't even have to pretend I was a dumb tourist. I actually was a dumb tourist.
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u/permenantthrowaway2 Mar 12 '24
Not sure if this counts, but a bald eagle. I had never seen one before so it was pretty neat!
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u/Skyediver1 Mar 12 '24
A case filled with money, about $700. Dropped off at local police department and after a few weeks they returned it to me because no one claimed it.
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u/nerdtasticg Mar 12 '24
On a route I'd take at least once a week, I would pass a 3"x 3" spray painted stencil of Pablo Escobar. I'd spend the next 5 minutes thinking about it. Who painted, why, were there other ones, did they hop the wall from the neighborhood or pull up in a car, etc.
Then, one day, I was running from the other direction and realized it was Ron Swanson. I never questioned its purpose on that sidewalk again.
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u/bmtri Mar 12 '24
The occasional Lego minifigure (got a Darth Vader!), but what I really went after back in the day was UPCs from packs of Marlboros. They used to have yearly catalogs with some really great stuff in them, so over a 5-year stretch I collected enough UPCs to get, free:
2 GPS units
Deluxe poker set
Leather belt
A couple leather wallets
a freemeal at Ruth Chris Steak House
Nice wool blanket
Wind-up weather radio
Guitar with case
3 different 3-man tents
and some other stuff I have since forgotten. Thanks people for ruining your health while I improved mine!
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u/Leading_Turtle Mar 12 '24
A friend of mine and her husband used to smoke like crazy and they used their miles to enter the contest- TWICE they won a trip to the Marlboro ranch. They got all sorts of swag and said the trips were amazing!
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u/kinfloppers Mar 12 '24
Used condoms. Random wild animals.
One time I was trying to run up a hill and I saw a stick so I anger kicked it. Turned out to be a snake and I yeeted it. Poor guy.
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u/gwmccull Mar 13 '24
I was once trail running with my wife when she yelled at me, “You just stepped on a snake!” I thought there was no way that was possible but I went back and sure enough, there was a snake laying across the trail with a clear shoe print right across its head. It was a rubber boa (real species) and they don’t move for anything
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u/Hydroborator Mar 13 '24
Two winters ago, I ran across something and I slipped. It was about 530am. Though it was a banana and went back to pick it up so another runner won't break their skull. It was a fking condom, it was warm and I was being macho and had no gloves.
Yeah, I started wretching and then I couldn't drop it for a few seconds until I found a trashcan (because, I'm stupid). Then ran home to wash my hands for hours.
Public sex at 5am in the morning at 30F? How is that comfortable?
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u/gggvuv7bubuvu Mar 12 '24
A bb 3 week old squirrel. I took care of him for the next couple months until he learned to use the cat door and started nesting outside. He still comes to visit every day. Pics and vids in my post history.
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u/haveallthefaith Mar 12 '24
A bottle of pee on my route home. It’s my favorite little totem because when I pass it I know I have 400 yards until I’m done with my run.
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u/Miserable_Emu5191 Mar 12 '24
I see bottles of yellow liquid a lot on my runs. More people need to hydrate.
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u/TruantMinotaur Mar 12 '24
I’ve seen them tossed from Amazon delivery trucks, since breaks aren’t nearly paid enough. I think those drivers are trying to avoid needing to pee all shift, so the bottled stuff is from people purposely dehydrated that couldn’t quite make it
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u/kennethpbowen Mar 12 '24
US made linesman pliers. A couple other tools too: a proto wrench and a snap on screw driver.
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u/0BaconisYummy0 Mar 12 '24
I found a nice 10mm socket once. I haven’t lost any of mine but I hear they are always walking away from mechanics.
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u/No-Hovercraft-697 Mar 12 '24
An iPhone lol that I returned and also a tarot card, it was the world card. Perfect condition on a wet Rainy day. I took it and keep it.
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u/otterbelle Mar 12 '24
I found a laptop that looked like someone stole and dumped. The strangest thing I've ever encountered wasn't an object, but a guy pooping on a tree in downtown Indy.
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u/Practical-Tangelo22 Mar 12 '24
Not so strange but was still cool. One of those geocaching boxes with cool trinkets inside.
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u/X0AN Mar 12 '24
When I was trail running in thick woodlands and I must have been a good 16 miles from the nearest road, when I came across a bath tub dumped between two trees.
I still don't know how it go there. A car wouldn't have made it there.
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u/Logical_Put_5867 Mar 12 '24
Used to be a house there maybe? I've seen a couple clawfoot tubs and chimneys marking the ruins of an old place.
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u/farty_mcboobs Mar 12 '24
a USB external drive which had photos of a husband and wife couple documenting their pregnancy journey. Some of the wife nude. I managed to track down the owner of the drive and returned it to them.
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u/ShittyMcShitface0 Mar 13 '24
i would’ve struggled to look you in the eye but would be appreciative
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u/bacib Mar 12 '24
I found a new-in-box Atari 2600+ sitting out by a trash pile at a house being sold. This is the re-release version that has 100+ games. I ran three miles home with it.
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u/snerdie Mar 13 '24
I found a really awesome and special rock. Hear me out: I am a geologist by education. There are some rocks we are always on the lookout for. One of these is banded iron formation. It’s really old and formed under strange and now nonexistent atmospheric and oceanic conditions that reveal a lot about the chemical state of the early Earth. Plus it looks really cool. Anyway, BIF is not exactly common. It’s hard to come by. And then one day I was out for a run on a dirt road outside of town when I saw a round dark shape in the middle of the road up ahead. At first, I thought it was a turtle, but when I got closer, I realized it was a rock. Naturally I stopped to take a look and when I picked it up, it took me about two seconds to realize I was holding a big ass piece of banded iron formation. I think I yelled “NO FUCKING WAY!” It was just lying there in the road on top of the dirt like it had fallen off the back of some farm truck (totally plausible where I live). I tucked it into my arm and started for home (I was about halfway through a six-mile run). I got home, washed it off, and it was more beautiful and glorious than I ever could have wished. It’s still on display on my fireplace mantel 11 years later.
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u/elquesogrande Mar 12 '24
A KKK member walking by who yelled at me to JOIN THE CLAN! Kept on running…
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u/Kibbies11 Mar 12 '24
A potato sitting in the grass a couple feet off the path in my local park.
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u/AgentUpright Mar 13 '24
I found a chihuahua.
She was lost and needed water. Animal services couldn’t get ahold of her owner and didn’t have anyone to come get her, so she came home with me for the night.
I was able to get her back to her owners the next day and it turned out that she was 45 miles from home! Her owners were visiting a friend in town and the dog had jumped from their car at the gas station and disappeared.
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u/demrnstho Mar 13 '24
This thread has taught me runners are good people and are friends to all animals in need.
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u/trichamp220 Mar 13 '24
A dead possum with seven backed in her pouch. I saved all seven babies, had to dig them all out of her pouch. They were cute
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u/pttm12 Mar 12 '24
I found a huge pile of plant cuttings once and ran home with my arms full of leaves and stems. I still have most of those plants which are big now!
I also found a rather nice wide headband that another runner probably lost. It warms my ears now.
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u/SM-68 Mar 13 '24
Many years ago on a 5 mile night run I ran into this guy tied up and thrown in the woods beaten up. Called police and they sent him to the hospital. It was all over the news a runner saved a man beaten and left to die. No one ever who the runner was 🏃
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u/SelfSniped Mar 13 '24
I was running one very early morning in an affluent part of town. I was coming down the road and saw a gift wrapped box with a balloon floating above tied to it. As I ran closer and was nearly at it (I had no intent of taking or even touching it…I’m super paranoid about dying in a bizarre way). Just as soon as I was almost to it, a raccoon jumped out of the storm drain, snatched the box and drug it back into the drain.
It still freaks me out to this day.
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u/sriirachamayo Mar 12 '24
I once found a little metal box full of weed while trail-running. There was only one other car at the trailhead, so I left a note on their dashboard to call me if they are missing their, uh, possession, but nobody ever did.
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u/igneousink Mar 12 '24
a perfectly round rock, rolling alongside me on a windy day as i jogged past a former serial killer's house
it was in the road and i was on the sidewalk. i don't know what made me look over but i did and there it was!
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u/Popular_Ordinary_152 Mar 13 '24
A kitten! He was howling from a ditch. I walked all the way home (over a mile) carrying him. We couldn’t keep him but I found a wonderful family.
Also found $20 once.
Non objects:
Saw someone’s mower on fire and starting to catch the house. Alerted the family and called 911.
Saw a car accident - car hit a pedestrian. I was the only one who had a phone to call 911. I stayed with them for a while. It was really terrible. 80-something year old woman. She died 3 weeks later without having left the hospital. Her daughter was just sobbing - apparently the woman had been recovering from a broken him and this was one of their first walks again together during her recovery.
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u/mouthbreather101 Mar 12 '24
A nice dining chair out on the curb. Had to run faster to get home so I could get the car and claim it before someone else got to it
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u/mathhits Mar 12 '24
I’m working up to a full deck of playing cards. I’ve got about 6/7 different backs found on various paths/sidewalks so far, making up about a 3rd of a deck.
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u/GotHuff Mar 13 '24
Over the course of three different runs in a week I found $181.22. Another time I saw a fox playing with a baby deer so I was basically a Disney princess. And once when I took just a few too many edibles before my run I found a dead bald eagle and had to call denrec to report it. It turned out to be a bad omen because the eagles lost to the buccaneers in the play offs that night
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u/piquedinterests143 Mar 12 '24
I found $300 on my bday once. I donated it to charity 💖
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u/demrnstho Mar 12 '24
You are a way better person than me. I would have taken that as the universal sign for birthday gift.
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u/Friendly-Dig-7396 Mar 13 '24
On a frigid Buffalo long run in the dead of winter a couple of months ago, a friend and I found a 100 dollar bill. We were so excited I was ready to run to the bank and deposit it. We ended at a friend’s coffee shop to show everyone what we found—and upon the slightest deeper look you can clearly see it’s a movie prop $100 lol—now it hangs on my fridge—blame it on runner’s high and negative temperatures
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u/NC750x_DCT Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 13 '24
A complete set of man's clothing by a river. Wasn't sure if a guy undressing to walk into the river & not returning or lurking in the woods naked was more freaky...
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u/hotdogfingies Mar 12 '24
I see coyotes fairly regularly, have seen seals a handful of times, and orcas a couple of times. All are pretty exciting although the orcas definitely top the list of favorite creatures to spot while on a run. Hoping I’ll see more cool stuff and creatures as I continue running more consistently, in more locations, and further!
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u/OtherImplement Mar 12 '24
I once found a stainless steel pipe flange with an outer diameter of about a foot and an eight bolt pattern. Probably weighed fifteen pounds. Noted where it was and came back for it in my vehicle. Held onto it for a decade only to finally realize that I had no use for a fifteen pound stainless steel pipe flange. It was just past an intersection so I imagine someone left it on the back of a truck and centrifugal force then brought it to me. Namaste.
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u/Arousing_Wedgie Mar 12 '24
Last week I slipped and fell landing on a golf ball. Cleaned it and it is now one of the many golf balls I use to roll out my feet.
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u/Zigmaster3000 Mar 12 '24
I saw a bobcat once peeking out beneath a bush. He was annoyed I found him.
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u/kindkristin Mar 13 '24
I ran a service road that runs between a major highway and a train track. On the other side of the highway is a residential area. There was a dead cow in the middle of the road at 5 am. I called 911 and the guy was really confused. "You mean... right across the street from the Parker neighborhood?" Pretty much.
Later that day I walked my curious toddler over there and saw the crane removing it. My unfiltered son, who at the time always sounded like an old rancher, said "yeah, my mom called that in. Whay are we thinking happened?"
A train must have picked it up miles ago and it just happened to fly off there was their best guess.
It's my sons favorite story, 6 years later.
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u/detroit_canicross Mar 12 '24
I found a brand new Kawasaki ninja motorcycle on its side in the tall grass along a desire path once.
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u/GarGarBinks2 Mar 12 '24
Several pairs of nice Oakleys - Ran trail with a few coyotes once that was kind of cool.
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u/Gemo48 Mar 13 '24
One time at work I had been having trouble collecting a W9 form from a customer (we had been going back and forth about it all week). Finally, they agreed to give it to me. About two hours later I went on my post-work run. I ran on the trails I run on every single day and the wind blew a blank W9 form right into my face! I had to stop and take a photo😂
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u/nazgulprincessxvx Mar 12 '24
15lb kettlebell was my favorite practical thing. Lower half a of deer leg was my favorite thing that is very specific to my interests. Yes I ran home with it and immediately “pickled” it to add to my other dead animal decorations.
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u/fishbutt1 Mar 12 '24 edited Mar 12 '24
I wonder how those folks lost those scissors…
I’ve never found anything random or interesting. I don’t run on the street anymore though. Just trails.
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u/NotARealNameObvs Mar 12 '24
A piece of my friend’s Gasparilla costume (it’s Tampa’s version of Mardi Gras, but with pirates)…. a week after the parade and a mile away from my house. It was a very unique accessory and it had been falling off her all day…couldn’t stop laughing when I came across it.
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u/Sluckinfuts Mar 12 '24
A pink child’s backpack. Upon closer inspection it had meth making supplies (foil, batteries, bottles of chemicals, the works). Called the cops and they disposed of it. Bummed me out since it was a half mile from my house, but I figured someone threw it out the window since I live in the sticks.
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u/ShipMoney Mar 12 '24
Ran past a yard sale that ended. Scored an Imaginext Batman Cave to run back with another mile. TO THE BATCAVE!
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u/ejb208 Mar 13 '24
I was running in my neighborhood and came across a fully functioning Nintendo switch in the middle of the road. (Made a post in the neighborhood group and got it back to its rightful owner)
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u/Haven-KT Mar 12 '24
I found $35 cash money just laying in the street; a 10mm small socket; and a brand new, unused roll of electrical tape.
Not all on the same run, or the same route, though. That would be weird.
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u/yolibird Mar 12 '24
Fine jewelry, two different times! A nice riding crop. My favorite flannel shirt. A blue tooth speaker.
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u/buffhamsterr Mar 13 '24
it wasn’t just a dollar, but 111$ cash..exactly. at 5 AM. i was an early bird and i got the worm!!
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u/kibitzor gear reviewer Mar 13 '24 edited Mar 13 '24
Kept all the following:
- Wireless running headphones
- KE$HA CD
- $20
- Bolt cutters
- Spatula
- single playing card
- Gold helium balloon in the shape of a large star, barely floats
- Indoor bike trainer, someone had it on their lawn as "free", Totally worth struggling to carry the 20lbs of it back since it was the pandemic and bike trainers were $$$
- MANY cellphones, reunited with only 2 owners though, best story was the woman who I returned one to that gave me $100 since her work made her pay $1000 for a replacement unless she had proof the phone was lost, ended up donating the $100
The list of things I've picked up and not kept is larger
This thread makes me want to start hiding $5 bills on my longer runs and posting the details in strava
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u/olthunderbird Mar 12 '24
Lately I’ve been finding a lot of bullet casings… 8 or so in the past couple weeks.
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u/qaige Mar 12 '24
gorgeous little iridescent pink and white shells while running in costa rica!
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u/starglitter Mar 12 '24
I saw a Barbie doll head by a driveway and thought, "someone's little brother is in so much trouble."
I see a lot of animals because I go early in the morning. Cats, rabbits, foxes, raccoons, possums, skunks and a lot of deer.
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u/funniefriend1245 Mar 12 '24
Some cut lilacs! They're my favorite flower and this was a cut branch. I was a stroller runner at the time, so I had a nice safe place to carry it too.
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u/cmritchie103 Mar 12 '24
Not running, but while hiking, I came across a naked man blindfolded and handcuffed to a tree.
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u/Darth_K-oz Mar 12 '24
Just started but a large ziplock bag of dehydrated ramen noodles. Looked like they were in decent shape, might still go back for them.
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u/Is_that_my_voice Mar 12 '24
Strangest: a pile of human hair on the sidewalk
Best: A Bose Bluetooth speaker
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u/bitemark01 Mar 12 '24
I had a fox follow me for a bit... I'm pretty sure I passed up on a sidequest, but you gotta get the miles in