Running away from random encounters isn't ever going to work in RPG Maker 1, regardless of the game. It seems to be about a 1 in 8 chance of working at any given time. That's just how it is. It MIGHT be somehow tied to agility and luck, but changing those values any higher would affect the turn and hit rate in battle... which I wouldn't want to do anyways. It's just a flaw of RPG Maker 1.

Speaking of that, I found yet another glitch in RPG Maker 1. That or I have somehow royally screwed something up. The petrify status effect can be cured by both "Cure Petrify" as well as "Cure Paralyze" outside of battle. Cure Paralyze will cure Petrify AND Paralysis, but the Cure Petrify items CAN NOT cure Petrify outside of battle at all.

During battle, the items work as intended, curing only the status ailment they were intended to. I honestly believe the guys programming RPG Maker 1 just simply weren't trying.

This is interesting, because in the PC Rpg Makers, it's very easy to make running absolutly garanteed