"Emergency Stop" isn't
OKay, finally catching up again. So, last Wednesday (no, not the 4th, I'm talking about March), I was running at the Y near my in-laws, when I had a conversation with the lady two treadmills over. (This will lead eventually into a rant about BQ times, I promise - but not in this post.) She and I talked marathons and running for a while, maybe 10 minutes, and at a volume that wasn't disturbing anyone. So, curteous souls that we both are, when a gentleman stepped up the the hamster pad between us, I wished her good luck and we stopped talking by mutual agreement.
Fast forward a few minutes. I have my headphones on again, volume at a level where I can hear the song above the increasing whine of the dreadmill's motor (I'm starting into my final couple of miles, and speeding up a bit), when the gentleman slips. And falls.
Now the treadmill is still moving. He wasn't running fast, not much more than a brisk walk, but it's still a painful fall, and then he's being abraded by the belt as he's trying to get up. His glasses are off, he can't see, and I reach over and smack the big red "STOP" button that is oh so conveniently situated on the handrail on this model. And, lo and behold, the treadmill starts to stop; which is to say that is slows down a tad. Meanwhile, my earlier conversation companion is telling me "Hit the stop button," and I am telling her "I did. I did," while mashing at it again. (She and I are actually still running during this - I was pleasantly surprised aferwards that neither of us fell too!) Eventually, the program decides that "STOP" really means "STOP," and not just "Hey, could ya slow it down a notch?" and the belt grinds to a halt.
The guy is scraped up, but says that he is okay in response to our questions. He leaves after a couple minutes, and I hope that he was really okay. Scary stuff - you think that hitting that button really will stop you in an emergency, and it turns out that all it does on that model is dump you into cool-down mode. Kind of makes me wonder what the emergency stop on my home model would do. . . and I think that I probably ought to check it out sometime.
Fast forward a few minutes. I have my headphones on again, volume at a level where I can hear the song above the increasing whine of the dreadmill's motor (I'm starting into my final couple of miles, and speeding up a bit), when the gentleman slips. And falls.
Now the treadmill is still moving. He wasn't running fast, not much more than a brisk walk, but it's still a painful fall, and then he's being abraded by the belt as he's trying to get up. His glasses are off, he can't see, and I reach over and smack the big red "STOP" button that is oh so conveniently situated on the handrail on this model. And, lo and behold, the treadmill starts to stop; which is to say that is slows down a tad. Meanwhile, my earlier conversation companion is telling me "Hit the stop button," and I am telling her "I did. I did," while mashing at it again. (She and I are actually still running during this - I was pleasantly surprised aferwards that neither of us fell too!) Eventually, the program decides that "STOP" really means "STOP," and not just "Hey, could ya slow it down a notch?" and the belt grinds to a halt.
The guy is scraped up, but says that he is okay in response to our questions. He leaves after a couple minutes, and I hope that he was really okay. Scary stuff - you think that hitting that button really will stop you in an emergency, and it turns out that all it does on that model is dump you into cool-down mode. Kind of makes me wonder what the emergency stop on my home model would do. . . and I think that I probably ought to check it out sometime.
Labels: Emergency Stop, fall, treadmill
posted by Garou at 11:50 PM
3 comments
