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Seth Meyers slams runners

Late night TV host Seth Meyers took shot after shot at runners who don't follow social distancing rules

Late night TV host Seth Meyers has had it with runners who refuse to follow social distancing guidelines. In a recent show, Meyers bashes runners (he says “joggers,” but we’ll let it slide) who run up behind other pedestrians and seemingly don’t know what six feet looks like. Your first instinct might be to get defensive when you see Meyers attacking the running community, but he’s a runner himself (he ran a 4:01 at the Helsinki Marathon in 2007), and he’s right—there are still way too many people not following the rules. If you’re one of these people, please watch this video and let Meyers talk some sense into you.

Give a wide berth

By now you’ve definitely been told to give space to everyone you pass on the street. We know this might mean you have to slow down or even stop running altogether as you wait for a clear and safe lane, but social distancing is way more important than that Strava course record you’re trying to win. Slow down, stop and give people a wide berth. You might think you don’t have COVID-19, but as Meyers points out, you can’t know for sure.

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“Think about it,” he says. “The symptoms [of COVID-19] are a sore throat, difficulty breathing and a higher body temperature, and last I checked, those are also the symptoms of jogging.”

Learn how far a six-foot gap actually is

This goes along with giving a wide berth. Health officials recommend we stay at least six feet apart when in public, but if you don’t know what six feet looks like, you should figure it out now. In his video, Meyers asks how it’s possible “that you know your exact body mass index and you know your average heart rate and you know your VO2 max, but you still don’t know what six feet is?” Fair question, so it’s time to learn.

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Maybe someone in your house is six feet tall, or maybe you have a pair of kids who are three feet tall each. In either case, get them to lie down on the floor between you and someone else. You’re not always going to have a six-foot human or two three-foot kids around to lie down between you and people in public, so try and remember what that gap looks like and stay that far away from anyone you pass on your runs.

Meyers is a runner

“This isn’t easy for me to say, because I’m also a runner,” Meyers says, only to have his wife interrupt him off camera and yell, “No one cares!” It’s a tough blow, but pretty funny. Let’s be honest, as much as we want to talk about the training session we did yesterday or how our race went last week, unless we’re speaking to a fellow runner, the person probably really doesn’t care.

RELATED: A guide to socially responsible running during COVID-19

This has nothing to do with COVID-19, but it’s just a heads-up for when the pandemic is over and you get back to work. Meyers’ own wife doesn’t want to hear him brag about a marathon he ran in 2007, so your co-worker probably just wants to talk about the weather and move on.

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