Man Who Routinely Runs Distances Up to 20 Miles Spends 4 Minutes in Parking Lot Trying to Find Spot Closest to Store Entrance
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A local runner yesterday spent several minutes driving slowly around the parking lot of a big box store, Dumb Runner has learned, searching for a parking spot as close as possible to the store’s entrance.
Gary Numan, 36, a highly trained endurance athlete, sat behind the wheel of his vehicle for at least four minutes, according to a source, as he circled the sprawling lot at speeds of just a few miles per hour. The five-time marathoner has been a runner for about eight years, the source said, and runs “several miles at a time” at least three times a week and, when training for a marathon, runs of 20 miles or more.
Numan passed no fewer than 15 empty parking spots during his minutes-long quest for a “better” one, the source reported, adding that even the most remote spot in the parking lot in question would mean walking one or two minutes to the entrance.
“Ooh, here’s one opening up,” Numan said at one point, eyeing a woman pushing a full shopping cart toward an SUV parked near some handicap spaces.
Stopped in his idling car, Numan watched the woman walk past the SUV, to a vehicle parked several spots away.
“Damn,” said Numan.
After another two minutes of driving and searching, Numan found a parking spot 30 feet or so from the store entrance.
“Sweet!” Numan said.
Reached for comment, Numan told Dumb Runner he’d visited the store to “pick up just a few things.”
“Toilet paper, shampoo, that sort of stuff,” he said.
“Plus some Gatorade,” he added. “I have a long run coming up this weekend.”
