This is my first post so apologies if its in the wrong place.

I was attempting to mine an Iron Ore Vein and kept getting the message "Cannot use this whilst in combat". I did a 360 and spotted a faint red marker on my compass and assumed that must be the enemy I was unknowingly engaged with. It turns out he was a looooong way off, literally on the edge of my compass range and cowering behind a rock. When I approached the bandit he ran away...being as I am level 5 and I'm still exploring the area around Riverwood, it seems odd that I should not only be recognised by said bandit, but feared...is this also a bug? Or are there just cowardly bandits in skyrim?
Having chased him half way back to Helgen and slaughtered him I ran back to the vein and was able to mine without problems.

Is this a bug? It seems odd that a "hostile" so far away could count as being "in combat".

Sometimes they cower briefly then turn around and attack once their health regenerates enough. Bandits are the kind that will fight you to death, he probably was not far away enough to be considered out-of-combat.

I hadn't been in combat with him, hadn't even seen him. He was 'just' close enough to enter my compass range. That was my point, how far away do you need to be from an enemy you have yet to engage to count as not in combat??