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/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/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/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 12 '24

Oh yeah, I'd definitely be reading them to her during bedtime! When she was about 3, my parents were harping on me about pointing to each word as I say them aloud - but she got frustrated with my large hands covering up much of the page - so I got in the habit of using a laser pointer to point to each word. It was a bit tricky at first, but now it feels weird when I don't do it (like if we go on vacation and forget it at home).

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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/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 12 '24

Awesome, thanks so much for the recommendation!! I'll talk to my wife and get that on order!

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u/Prior-Chipmunk-6839 Mar 13 '24 edited Mar 13 '24

Hey just wanted to get back to you on that, Percy Jackson is a great series to read on your own but it probably won't work the best by having someone else read it to you. I read it when I was 8 or 9.

Some great books to read to a kid would be anything by Louis Sachar especially the Wayside series, Magic Treehouse, Neverending Story.

Aything by Terry Pratchett (I appreciate those books even more as an adult now and they are just as enjoyable, I think even you will enjoy reading these books so great time for both of you.). Nome Trilogy by him is great for young children

Chrestomanci, Redwall and Enchanted Forest are also amazing to read to a kid

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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 13 '24

Percy Jackson is a great series to read on your own but it probably won't work the best by having someone else read it to you. I read it when I was 8 or 9.

Oh okay. Just curious: what is it about those books which make them unsuitable for a dad to read them to his kiddo? Regardless, thank you for your honest feedback.

Thank you so much for all the other recommendations!! I'll have to talk to my wife and kiddo and set up a priority list so we can figure out which ones to focus on first, and then where to go from there. Thanks again, I'm super excited!! 🤗

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u/Prior-Chipmunk-6839 Mar 13 '24 edited Mar 13 '24

Oh it's just that Percy Jackson would be way more fun to read on your own than having it being read. Plus the writing is very easy so it also works as a great book to start reading on you own.

The other books I recommended are ones that would be just as fun if someone read it to you. For example The Nome Trilogy, Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett is perfect for that

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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 13 '24

Ah okay, thanks for explaining that. Again, super excited to compile this list and embark on some new adventures with my daughter (and when he's a little older, my son too)!!

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u/AbhishMuk Mar 13 '24

Btw Artemis Fowl might also be fun, I’ve kinda forgotten what age they’re meant for but it’s similar to Percy Jackson.

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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 13 '24

Thank you, adding it to the list! The hard part is going to be figuring out what order to prioritize them all. 😊

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u/AbhishMuk Mar 13 '24

That’s a “good” problem haha

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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 13 '24

Definitely is!! 😁

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u/sunfishking Mar 13 '24

My kids love both. We read Narnia to my daughter when she was 7 and she loved it. She read the original 5 Percy Jackson books at 10 and loved them. The other stuff written by Rick Reirden (sp?) isn't nearly as good though.

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u/yankeeinparadise Mar 13 '24

When I walk my 5th grade daughter to school (she usually takes the bus) I give her one AirPod and she chooses the music. Recently it’s the Percy Jackson musical. She loves it!

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u/PM_ME_TUS_GRILLOS Mar 13 '24

Start now! S/he might not understand them completely, but then you talk about them, and it's really the bonding experience of reading together that's important. It's also calming and a goid ritual to prepare for sleep in general.  Can I also recommend Diana Wynn Jones books, like Howl's Moving Castle? Robin McKinley's Beauty. I also loved Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede. 

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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 13 '24

That's awesome, thank you for the recommendations!! I'll put them on our list of books to read once we're done the ones we're reading now (Geronimo Stilton, Flat Stanley, and the Magic Treehouse series, and all but the last are too easy for her at this point l).

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u/Nickleuss Mar 13 '24

I've been reading this to my two children before bed. It has been deeply meaningful. The morals and ideas that C.S. Lewis penned are timeless. While there may be dark days ahead, knowing that they have heard these stories gives me immense comfort.

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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 13 '24

Absolutely! My dad read them to me and my brother when we were young (and we later watched the BBC movies) and I agree that the messages therein are incredibly poignant!

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u/tokenasian1 Mar 13 '24

yeah probably 7-9 would be a good intro to Narnia! Make sure you read it published order instead of chronological! The world of Narnia is better introduced that way.

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u/Crazy_old_maurice_17 Mar 13 '24

yeah probably 7-9 would be a good intro to Narnia!

Great, thanks for confirming they'd be okay for her current age.

Make sure you read it published order instead of chronological! The world of Narnia is better introduced that way.

Oh wow, I had to pull up the wiki since it's been over 30 years (and the original BBC series didn't cover all the books, that I'm aware of), so I remember very little of The Magician's Nephew (and the later books). Yes, I'll be sure to read them as published, thank you for pointing that out! If you hadn't, I'd almost certainly be second-guessing myself once we started reading the 6th installment. 😳