Self-Described ‘Elon Musk-Style Libertarian’ Says He Doesn’t Like Running With Others, Anyway

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DEPOSITPHOTOS.COM

A local man who describes himself as an “Elon Musk-style libertarian” said today that he’s not a very social person in general, so it’s fine that he’s unable to find a running group or partner to run with.

“Running alone is perfectly fine by me,” said Ignatius Reilly, 45, a general contractor and longtime runner who believes that taxation is theft and that the only role of federal government should be protecting the nation’s borders and who shares these and other views, strenuously, with whoever is within earshot. “In fact, I prefer it.”

Reilly has joined at least four local running groups over the past several years, according to several sources, who requested anonymity. On each occasion, they said, he stopped joining group workouts, long runs, and other gatherings after being “extremely avoided” by his fellow runners.

“(Ignatius) showed up for a Sunday long run once, about a year ago,” said one source. “Everything started fine, he seemed perfectly normal, until around two miles in.”

At that point, the source recalled, Reilly overheard another runner discussing her daughter’s elementary school field trip and interjected.

“Dude was, like, ‘Public schools should be abolished,’” the source said. “And everyone just went silent.”

“It got worse from there.”

After that, the source said, Reilly continued offering his opinions on everything from “so-called hate speech” to cryptocurrency, and group members made various excuses to cut their run short or otherwise distance themselves from him.

Two runners, a couple, both feigned injuries, the source said, urging Reilly to go on without them.

After several similar experiences, the source said, Reilly stopped attending group runs. Similarly, he left a Facebook group for local runners, after finding no takers on repeated requests for company on weekday runs.

Reached for comment, Reilly told Dumb Runner he’s happy running solo.

”I’ve always been a bit of a loner,” he said. “Geniuses often are.”