William, a 75-year-old man from Hackney who wished for his surname to remain undisclosed, said he was assaulted on Regent’s Canal towpath in Mile End on March 9.
He said a runner lunged at him with his elbow and struck him in the chest, knocking him into the water.
“I was totally shocked and as I looked up, the guy had carried on running and hadn’t even looked back,” he told this paper.
He was left with a large bruise and police confirmed they are making enquiries into the incident.
William said he usually cycles along the canal towpath but decided to go on a longer route on the day he was attacked.
Recalling what happened, he said: “I was cycling along the towpath probably around 20 to 30 yards away from Mile End Road Bridge and coming from under the bridge towards me was a runner.
“He was very noticeable – he wasn’t your average runner.
“This guy was huge, he was like something out of Gladiators on TV – he had incredibly wide shoulders, massive chest muscles and huge legs – a very well developed guy.”
William has cycled along the towpath many times but said he has never heard of anything like this happening before (Image: William) William said the runner had a “very characteristic way of running” with “elbows placed out to the sides and at the height of his shoulders like wings”.
He estimated the man to be between six foot and six foot two inches tall.
“I thought to myself, this guy looks big so I’m going to give him a lot of space.
“I pulled over to the left and carried on cycling with no idea of what was going to happen.
“As he passed me – he didn’t continue his running direction – he lunged towards me and his elbow hit me in the chest.
“At this point I fell off my bike, onto the edge of the canal and then into the canal with my bike falling on top of me.
Multiple passers-by stopped and helped him up and another cyclist claimed that the jogger had “almost done exactly the same thing” to him, William said.
“My mind was clear then that the runner had done it on purpose.
“I got home and sure enough my left leg was in a bad way – I had two days where I could hardly straighten it.
“Where the runner had hit me in the chest with his elbow, there was a bruise around nine inches long so he must have hit me with quite an impact.
“I think this guy is seriously dangerous and he is still out there.”
The police attended the scene but were not initially aware of William’s injuries.
He has since sent them the picture of his bruising.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “We are investigating an alleged assault without injury which is said to have occurred in Regent’s Canal towpath at around 11am on Sunday, March 9.
“The victim was reportedly elbowed by a passing runner and fell off a bicycle and into the water due to the proximity of the canal.
“Enquires are ongoing. If you have any information please do contact us on 101, quoting: 01/7253773/25.”
