[legion]

My current gym has 20 treadmills. 12 of them have televisions in front of them. Of the 12, 7 do not work at all. Of the remaining 5, 2 have no sound and 2 will not allow you to change the channel. That leaves one treadmill that has a working television where you can both change the channel and get sound. I've complained multiple times, and that generally leads to a few televisions getting fixed, only to break again over the next week or two.

People bird-dog the treadmill with the one working television. I tend to get to the gym before the evening rush and often (but not always) secure that treadmill. I spend about an hour on the treadmill. There are no posted time limits, and I have never seen more than half of the treadmills in use. Often I am the only person using a treadmill, or there is 1 or 2 other people.

Once or twice during my hour, I hop off the treadmill to refill my water bottle. Because of the low water pressure at the drinking foundation I can only get my water bottle 1/2 to 2/3 full. (I have to tip the bottle at a pretty severe angle to get water into it.) I usually keep the treadmill running so as not to lose my stats. My towel, headphones, and (sometimes) cell phone stay on the treadmill. The treadmill times out after 45 seconds without someone on it, and I get back to it with about 15 seconds to spare.

Yesterday, I hopped off the treadmill to refill my water. As I get to the end of the row (maybe 5 seconds, max), I hear a loud thump. I turn around and see a stunned lady sitting on the floor behind my treadmill, mumbling: "It shouldn't be on! It's the only one with a TV!"

Turns out, as soon as I hopped off the treadmill, she tried to poach it. She didn't seem to notice that it was running or that my stuff was still there. In her rush to claim the prized treadmill, she took a step on, and got thrown into the row of ellipticals behind it. She seemed dazed, and said that she hit her head and both of her legs. I got a hold of the gym staff and let them take care of her.

Later, I talked to the gym staff and told them what happened. They simply thanked me for getting them. The lady decided to drive herself to prompt care to get checked out.