When running in farm country in southeast Iowa in the summer, you may have to dodge crop dusters. Crop dusters are the cute little planes that drop poisons on farm fields to kill off weeds or unwanted bugs or both.
I didn't do such a good job dodging them. It's actually hard to do when you are running several miles at a time in farm country. I wasn't running on a high school or college quarter mile track. I was doing about 5-6 miles almost everyday we were there on the country road system that connects farms and small towns near where our RV was parked on my sister's farm. On the two days that I got dusted, once the plane showed up after I was already out running, I didn't have the choice of of just turning around and retreating from the reach of the poisons dropping out. I couldn't run fast enough to do that. Each of those days, unfortunately, I was already halfway through my run and whether I turned around or kept going, my path was within the dusting range.
Each day I varied my path too, and both of those days, the plane varied it's dusting route. No, I know it wasn't trying to to "get me". But the pilot certainly wasn't worried about my health. I guess I was just one more pest in the way of someone wanting to make money. Or maybe the pilot has become immune to the idea that he or she is spraying poisons not meant for humans. I grew up on a farm in Iowa, not far from where I was dusted and I can tell you that we didn't give the pesticides and herbicides the respect that they deserve as the deadly poisons that they are. As kids helping on the farm, we'd handle bags of poisons clearly marked as such, clearly marked suggesting gloves and masks. We didn't use them. I remember doing it on a windy day too. Dumb. But I guess if it doesn't kill you right away, you can rationalize that a little bit here and there won't hurt too much.
On my running days where I was crop dusted, if it matters, I was there first, already out running on both days that the plane showed up. On a couple other days when I heard the plane before I started my run, I didn't run. I'm not as stupid as the pilot is rude, ignorant, or worse.
I didn't do such a good job dodging them. It's actually hard to do when you are running several miles at a time in farm country. I wasn't running on a high school or college quarter mile track. I was doing about 5-6 miles almost everyday we were there on the country road system that connects farms and small towns near where our RV was parked on my sister's farm. On the two days that I got dusted, once the plane showed up after I was already out running, I didn't have the choice of of just turning around and retreating from the reach of the poisons dropping out. I couldn't run fast enough to do that. Each of those days, unfortunately, I was already halfway through my run and whether I turned around or kept going, my path was within the dusting range.
Each day I varied my path too, and both of those days, the plane varied it's dusting route. No, I know it wasn't trying to to "get me". But the pilot certainly wasn't worried about my health. I guess I was just one more pest in the way of someone wanting to make money. Or maybe the pilot has become immune to the idea that he or she is spraying poisons not meant for humans. I grew up on a farm in Iowa, not far from where I was dusted and I can tell you that we didn't give the pesticides and herbicides the respect that they deserve as the deadly poisons that they are. As kids helping on the farm, we'd handle bags of poisons clearly marked as such, clearly marked suggesting gloves and masks. We didn't use them. I remember doing it on a windy day too. Dumb. But I guess if it doesn't kill you right away, you can rationalize that a little bit here and there won't hurt too much.
On my running days where I was crop dusted, if it matters, I was there first, already out running on both days that the plane showed up. On a couple other days when I heard the plane before I started my run, I didn't run. I'm not as stupid as the pilot is rude, ignorant, or worse.
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