Most workaday runners go about their mileage quietly, unknown to the wider world, leaving the role of viral sensation to elite athletes performing extraordinary feats or running world personalities making us laugh and learn from their antics and/or expertise. But every now and then, something absurd happens and an amateur gets their 15 minutes of fame.
That’s what happened to 26-year-old Alyssa Konkel recently. The Chicagoland runner experienced an admittedly scary incident on a recent morning treadmill run at her crowded local gym. While accelerating to level 10 during an interval workout—30 seconds of running followed by one minute of walking—she lost her footing and fell forward on the machine, losing her pants and exposing her backside in the process. She’d noticed that her shoe was untied, but kept running, and eventually slipped and took her tumble.
As the Yoruba proverb says, “The same rain that fell on the bitter leaf also fell on the sugarcane.” Instead of burning bright with humiliation, Konkel decided to turn the snafu into content, à la America’s Funniest Home Videos. She got her hands on the gym’s security footage and uploaded the video to her Instagram page, where she’s gotten more than six million views since she posted it on May 24. She’s since been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, and other stations.
Konkel told Patch, “I feel like it’s just a funny thing, and it’s just a butt. A lot of people haven’t been famous because of their butt, and so I guess I’m the first.”
In the video, she’s seen trying to catch herself before losing her balance, and her pants. According to Konkel, most of the other treadmill runners were facing away from her when the incident took place, and that after she fell, she pulled her pants up as quickly as possible. Looking both ways, she surmised that,“Thankfully, not that many people saw my butt,” she said. However, “Now, everyone has seen my butt.”
Lucky to emerge largely unscathed, save for treadmill burns to her face, knees, and legs, Konkel just wanted to make others laugh. “Everyone’s just so down and people don’t look at the brighter side of things,” she said.
She added: “I was just thinking, a lot of people post funny, stupid videos ... .and so I posted my video and thought, let’s see where this goes and see how far I can take it.”
Races - Places sprinting, so we’re all very relieved that Konkel’s pride is all that was harmed. In Konkel’s case, she’s not planning to run on the treadmill again anytime soon. She told Patch she anticipates sticking to walking on the machine moving forward, out of an abundance of caution.
Abby Carney is a writer and journalist in New York. A former D1 college runner and current amateur track athlete, she's written about culture and characters in running and outdoor sports for Runner's World, Races - Places, The New York Times, and other outlets. She also writes about things that have nothing to do with running, and was previously the editor of a food magazine.
