Discussion: Thank you

Ian, I want to thank you again (and in a more public forum) for helping to defuse this situation. Very few of us in the heat of competition would have seen the bigger picture as you did. I suspect that your action saved many others from having their races interrupted and I'm sure you kept this incident from escalating (although I want to believe that he wouldn't have actually carried through with his threats). Again, thank you.

As an aside, there may be some irony in this whole situation. There is a newly erected deer stand on the property which we had permission to use, located fairly close to the house of the irate, self-appointed enforcer. The actual owner of the property is too sick to be deer hunting, so someone may just be trying to keep others from discovering his possible transgression. ;-)

Hi, Glen - you're quite welcome. I should clarify that all the anger I feel in hindsight is directed at this guy, whose reaction was vastly disproportionate to any possible slight. There's no way you could have anticipated some from one of the neighboring homes would lose all perspective. Odd that his first conclusion at seeing not one but five people run by wearing bibs was that we were unsanctioned trespassers, and that he should stop one of us. Stopping someone who is running and wearing a bib is definitely my first reflex.

If I had realized that our sole offense was pissing off his dogs and we were risking this guy murdering someone, I would have yelled at him that I was in a race and directed him to our event headquarters at the ski area. He did look at my map, perhaps searching for contraband or some illicit activity.

I don't suppose the mystery enforcer was at all contrite for being a nudnik?

Wow, dude. You totally did the right thing, but that royally sucks.

Oh man. I am so glad this was you and not me. There is no way I would have handled this situation as maturely and calmly as you did.

I can imagine Boris seducing the dogs and they all setting on the owner together. And worse. Good Ian.