Macintyre’s video resonated with millions on TikTok, too, garnering over six million views and 9,000 comments. — Photo by Andres Siimon on Unsplash
Samantha Macintyre was five miles into her run on a rural Idaho road when, she said, she noticed an old red car cruise past her. A few minutes later, it drove by again.
An uneasy feeling started to sink into her stomach.
“Every time he’s driven by me he has his arm out the window and he’s looking behind when he’s driving by,” Macintyre said to the camera as she recorded her workout for a TikTok. “It’s making me really nervous.”
Further into her run, Macintyre becomes more concerned and continues to document her run, her fear peaking when she notices the same red car parked directly along her route up ahead.
“I do not feel good about this. I have to run by this car to get back to my car,” she said, stopping in the road. “It’s just one of those things where you don’t think it’s going to happen to you until it happens to you. I don’t want to risk anything.”
Macintyre’s scare came on the heels of the kidnapping and death of 38-year-old runner Eliza Fletcher in Tennessee, a case that rattled the country and especially female runners.
“Eliza was just going for a run in Memphis too. Always trust your gut,” another person told Macintyre.
Macintyre’s video resonated with millions on TikTok, too, garnering over six million views and 9,000 comments.
“This makes me cry. I have felt your fear. I’m glad you’re safe,” one woman said, a comment that got 38,000 likes.
After noticing the car up the road in her video, Macintyre decides to call her parents to pick her up and, choked up, asks a nearby homeowner if she can stand in their yard until her mom arrives. Later on, she speaks to the police about the red car.
“Please be aware of your surroundings when you are going on runs,” Macintyre said. “If you have a gut feeling that something doesn’t feel right, please go with that gut feeling. Just be safe. You’d rather be safe than sorry.” – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
