I’ve done a lot of stupid things on my run that I never think twice about – taking random turns, exploring a new trail, and full on zoning out and letting my legs take me where they may. Most of the time, I don’t think about “staying safe running” or the consequences of my thoughtless running – running is running, it lets me feel free so I never thought about it until I mention it to a friend later and they ask “Is that safe?”
I love to explore the trails and being a small female usually running solo, I guess the answer is no. There has been a many times where I had to turn around because my gut was telling me to but I’ve never thought about how I was “putting myself in danger.” I’m very grateful that the area I live in is very safe and that the crime rate is low but I know not everyone has the luxury of that. So after a quick chat with my old self-defense instructor and a helpful neighborhood police officer, I have some tips for everyone to stay safe on their runs 🙂
- Vary your routine.
- I know not everyone is able to change up their running time but every so often if possible, change up your routes and run times. Over the summer, I ran almost at the same time very Sunday and I’d keep bumping into the same runners and the same friendly old ladies sitting at the park which is fine and dandy until you realize if those were predators instead of friendly old ladies feeding the squirrels, you’d be an easy target.
- Carry your phone with you/have a RoadID tracking/live tracking
- I know a lot of people don’t like to carry their phones with them on their runs but I’ve have had my butt saved so many times with it. A few wrong turns and I ended up at a dead end and if it wasn’t for my phone, I would not have figured out how to get back home. Alternatively, live tracking is good if you have someone at home to keep an eye out for you. Plus if *knock on wood* you were hit by a bike or a car, your RoadID will have your contact info on it.
- Reflective gear!
- At night, don’t forget to bring a headlamp or a light of some sort. It’s been getting dark around 4-5pm now for me so sometimes a lit run turns dark real quick within an hour or less. A reflective vest can go a long way too especially if you tend to gravitate towards dark coloured running gear.
- Have “safe places”
- If you cannot vary your route/time and you don’t want to carry your phone with you, have safe places on your run. On my regular route, I run by 2 fire stations, 5 Starbucks, 1 police station, and a ton of 24 hour food places/grocery stores. Safe places are anywhere that you know there will be foot traffic/people so if anything happens you can make a beeline for it. Avoid making a beeline straight home because if someone is following you or you’re in danger, you’re leading them straight to where you live.
- If push comes to shove… fight dirty
- I’ve trained in Krav Maga and Muay Thai because as much as it sucks to say, I’m female so there is a sense of how I have to be responsible in being proactive in keeping myself safe. In a regular fight, fighting dirty is an easy way to be disqualified but if you’re on the streets on a run and push comes to shove… don’t hold back ladies (and gents). You’re literally fighting for your life here so bite, scream, scratch, kick, pull. Knee to the groin, palm of your hand up towards their nose, elbow to their Adam’s apple, forehead to their nose, bite their hands if they’re holding you.
- If you’ve been grabbed from behind, stomp on their feet then smack your head backwards towards them.
- If you’ve managed to hurt them enough that they’re on the ground, my instructor has taught me to hit hard a few more times just in case. If you’ve taken Krav Maga then you know the move where you pretty much stomp on their groin three times. I was always taught to do things in multiples of three because the first two may not do enough damage.
- Remember their most vulnerable parts are their eyes, nose, jugular, knee caps, feet, and groin. Remember that.
So do you have any safety tips to share? I would have included carrying mace/pepper spray but unfortunately it’s illegal to carry/have in Canada so I have no experience handling it. Stay safe running!
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Always carry a phone, and if it looks like someone is near, turn that thing on and make it known that it is on. But also be visible–unsafe running can be as much by accident as well as on purpose.
Keep the music low and always tell someone where you’re going (<—that's my mother talking, haha). Thanks for sharing these great tips!
I practice safe running too. I am more worried about getting smacked by a car than mugged or anything. Drivers can suck 🙂 I, too, trained in martial arts (2nd degree blackbelt TKD) so I am not too concerned on that front. You offered some great pointers that we all needed to be reminded about now and then because stuff can happen.
I like the fighting tips! I don’t see those often. I hope they never come in handy, but I definitely learned some things about fighting off an attacker from this post.
I always have my phone since I use my nike app to track my run, I vary my route, and I always run mid morning when families and tons of people are out and about!
I just have to think of Miss Congeniatlity and SING “solar plexus, instep, nose, groin”
but these are great tips, thanks.
Great tip to run my safe places – I didn’t think of that!
I had a creeper follow me while out on a run in November. It was on my “safe route.” As soon as I realized it wasn’t just a normal car, I turned around pulled out my phone and booked it to the police department (which was only about 1/2 mile away). Ever since then I haven’t run in the early morning by myself. I’m so pissed that someone made me feel like that. Great tips!
That sounds so freaking terrifying!
Great tips!!! I always carry my phone…I would feel vulnerable without it!
I’m a runner who lives in a area where you can’t add much variety to the routes unless you want to drive to a starting point – which I often do. Fortunately I can usually get a family member to run with me 🙂
My husband built a safety app specific for runners. It’s called RunSafe. You might want to check it out. There is a free and premium version. http://RunSafe.me/download
I saved myself by fighting dirty once. I was attacked when I was running very early in the morning in the dark. Fortunately he wasn’t armed, so my wrestling, hair pulling and kicking allowed me to get away. Thanks for sharing the word about running safely. As a result of my experience, I get so worried for other women who don’t seem to give it a thought. I know what can happen.
Oh my goodness! I’m so so so sorry you had to go through an attack. I’m glad you are okay Debbie!
Thanks Carmy. It was a long time ago, though it took a while to feel comfortable running alone again, even in the daylight.
I cannot even start to imagine how that feels. I’m so very glad you’re comfortable running alone again. Take care Debbie!
SING I always think of that while running. My husband also picked me up a tiger claw. His in the palm acts like a set of claws that come out of your knuckles while running. And I always carry my phone with me.
Whoa – I gotta google tiger claw!