running safety – ultrarunningmom

Run Safe

November 1, 2016October 31, 2016Nicole Lowe McBride1 Comment

I think it’s important to address runner safety periodically, just to remind us all to consider it, at least on occasion. Runners should be mindful of their surroundings day or night, road or trail. Bad and unexpected things can happen to anyone, anywhere. The number one threat, in my book, to runners is other people.

I know out on the trail there is the possibility of getting lost, falling and having a serious injury, or animal attacks, however, these are less frequent than attacks by other people.

It’s also my opinion that road runners are at higher risk, just because there are more people around them. The approaching winter always makes me think about these things because I’ll be on the roads almost exclusively since the mountains are covered with snow and ice to the point where both running and driving in the canyons become an issue, unless you snowshoe or ski/snow board, which I don’t.

Here are my tips for staying safe out there:

Run with a friend
Make sure people know where you’re going and when you expect to be back
Carry your phone
Run against traffic
Wear lights (red flashing rear/front and a headlamp) and reflective gear
Wear bright colors
Carry runners mace: buy here
SING: solar plexis, instep, nose, and groin. These are the places to hit in order to disable your attacker quickly and effectively.
Change your routes and/or time of day that you run.
Keep at least one earbud out at all times
Have identification on your person. Road ID is great for this, you can find it here.
Pretend you’re invisible, in other words assume drivers and others don’t see you and act accordingly. If a driver doesn’t make eye contact and waive you through, stop and wait for them to go.
Be cautions around blind turns and hills.
Use extra caution during the early morning at dusk. Lighting is strange and the sun can be directly in the face of drivers.
Make eye contact with other people as you pass them.
Call out when you approach others from behind (you don’t want to scare the shit out of them).

There are safety apps out there for both the iphone and android. Not only can you use them for running but put them on your kids phones and tell other people about them.

Bsafe has an alarm you can sound with a touch on your phone. It activates your camera and starts recording a video, and broadcasting your location to your friends. The video, voice, location and time are stored on bsafe servers. You can set up a timer that will alert friends/family if you don’t check in by that time (you can update this as you move). Best of all this app is free! Android and apple.
Glympse allows others to track you while you run. They don’t have to have the app on their phone to do it. Android and apple.
RunSafe allows you to track your activites like any running app. It has a panic button feature which alerts your contacts and sounds an alarm, activates your flashlight and records sounds. This is free and has upgrade options for a $4.99 monthly subscription. Android and Apple
RoadID has an app as well. It lets your friends and family actively follow your digital trail, sends an SOS message with your location if you stop moving for five minutes and don’t respond to the app’s alert within 60 seconds. This is free. Only for apple.
Reactmobile alerts 911 or sends your GPS coordinates to your emergency contacts with a touch of a button. It’s similar to bsafe. Friends and family can also track you real time. Free. Android and apple.
Kitestring is an app you activate when you enter a potentially unsafe situation. It checks up on you after a period of time and if you don’t respond or post pone the check in, it sends a customized emergency message to your pre-selected contacts. It’s free.

Be Safe out there and if you have other ideas please share them, we have to stick together.

The Dreaded Red Light

August 5, 2015July 22, 2015Nicole Lowe McBrideLeave a comment

When you’re running on the roads, do you stop at all the red lights? And if you do, are you running in place waiting for the light to change?

I’m not advocating crossing the road on a red light of course because you could get hit or get a ticket from a well-meaning police officer concerned about your safety and ability to run the next day.

However, I’m also a realist and know that many runners and cyclists blow through red lights. If you are going to run through a red light, check to make sure the intersection is clear. Don’t rely on someone ahead of you to check the intersection. Ever. Check for yourself and make sure you have enough time to make the crossing or that there is no car in sight. Remember to check for those who are making a right turn on red as well.

Runners who run through reds should be well lighted and easy to see regardless of the amount of light out. Wear a reflective vest, day and night. More importantly, wear both a head light and tail light from dusk until dawn. The early morning hours when light is creeping across the sky and the early evening when the sun is going down are the times when the light makes it the most difficult to see as a driver.

Alright, so if you do stop on every single red light, should you stand still or run in place so your heartrate does not drop?

I see runners do both. I don’t run in place waiting for the light. You’re not standing there long enough for your heartrate to drop by more than a beat or two a minute. You’re body temperature won’t drop that much either for those runners who are worried about getting cold in the winter months.

The only time I consider running in place is when it hurts to start back up. As an ultrarunner sometimes it is just hard to get back going. At those times, I will be the one on the corner running in place.

I don’t stop my garmin either. One of my training partners stops his garmin every time we stop running and he forgets to restart it about half the time. It’s silly to stop it to use the bathroom or wait for a light. These things happen during runs and races, so get over it.

And He Is Safe

July 15, 2015July 15, 2015Nicole Lowe McBrideLeave a comment

Safety is something that I cannot stress enough especially as a woman who runs alone 95% of the time. Joining a running group is one way to increase your safety while running but there are many others ways as well. Make sure that other people know where you are going, what time you are leaving, and what time you expect to be back. Take your phone. It’s not that heavy and may save your life or someone else’s. Pepper spray is inexpensive and fairly light, but you have to put it in a place that is easy and quick to get at in the event that you need it.

At times, I run on the rail trail near my home. Most of the time I go south on the rail trail because there are more trees and I know that when I get to the Harmon’s grocery store it is about seven and a half miles. I can use the bathroom and then turn around. One morning I decided to go north. It was four in the morning and pitch black. The stars were out and I was just trucking along the trail, looking around this way and that because I’d never been this direction. There were warehouses and factories along one side of the trail. And trees and farm fields on the other. I turned my head to the right and was startled to see two people sitting on a wooden bench. They were about two feet from me. I didn’t notice them before because I was looking toward the fields. They were dressed in black hoodies and black sweatpants. My mouth fell open as I stared at them while I ran past. They stared back at me. I was very unnerved by this encounter. I continued running, heart racing, and thought maybe they work at the warehouse and are on break. Okay, why did they have all black on and their hoods pulled up? I don’t know. Maybe they were sweethearts out for a little early morning walk and snuggle on the bench? At four in the morning, seriously? I continued in this vein until I hit my turn around point.

After I passed them, I made a mental note to remember where they were exactly so that I could watch for them on my return trip. I kept running. It was a nice night out. I was in shorts and a t-shirt. It was late spring. I started getting to the section where they were. I slowed down. I was looking and looking for them. I knew the place where they were was close. I couldn’t see them. I slowed to a walk and then I saw them. One was thin and about my height and the other was larger and taller than I was. They still had their hoods up. I was about 200 meters from them. The smaller one got up from the bench and walked to the opposite side of the trail and down into the bushes. The larger one stood up and faced me. I turn around running in the opposite direction pulling out my pepper spray. My heart was pounding in my chest and I kept going. Once I was at the intersection of the trail and a road I rounded the corner and ran toward Main Street. I knew it was only a few blocks away and well lit. I turned to look back after getting onto the road and didn’t see anyone behind me. I held my pace until I reached Main and turned south again. I finished my run in a completely different location of the city. I have not run north on the trail since then and probably never will. Safety cannot be overlooked; it could cost you your life.

Runnersworld sent out an article on some safety apps, which prompted this blog and I think they are invaluable not only as a runner, but as a parent. Think about your children out on dates, or out with friends, youngsters who walk home alone from school or after school activities. The first one is called Kitestring. You can activate it when you think you could be in an unsafe situation, like going out for a nighttime run. The app checks up on you after a period of time and if you don’t respond or postpone the check-in, it sends a customized emergency message to the contacts you chose beforehand. This is a web based program so you don’t need an smartphone it can go on any device with internet it’s found at http://www.kitestring.io.

The second one is from RoadID. This one allows friends and family to check in on your route. If you stop moving for five minutes and don’t respond to an alert within sixty seconds, it sends out a message to your contact. This is run through iOS and can be found in the app store. These two are programs are triggered by inactivity which is useful if you cannot get your phone out or if you are unconscious.

The third one is bsafe. You have to access your phone to use this one. One push of a button turns your phone into a siren, alerts authorities, records video, and informs your contacts of your GPS location. This one is iOS and Android and can be found in the app store.The final one is ReactMobile. It is similar to bsafe. It alerts 911 or sends your GPS location to your emergency contacts with the touch of a button. Your loved ones can also track you in real time. This one is also iOS and Android and can be found in the app store.

Running Scared

May 21, 2014Nicole Lowe McBride1 Comment

Many of my girlfriends think I’m crazy for running trails alone, especially in the dark. Problem is, my choices are run alone in the dark, treadmill (and we know how much fun that is), or don’t run. I have never had any problems out on the trails, not once have I been afraid or believed that I was in danger.

On the road is another matter. Humans are the number one predator out there, and they prey on their own kind. Even if you didn’t count the predatory humans, there are cars and dogs who have escaped their yard. Dogs on the trail, even off leash, have never bothered me. They don’t bark or snap. They lick my fingers hello and trot of tail wagging.

I always let family and friends know where I am going and what time I expect to be back. If they don’t hear from me by a certain time, they know to call search and rescue. I take my phone and police issue pepper spray.

I have had only one experience where I believed I was in danger. At times, I run on the rail trail near my home. Most of the time I go south on the rail trail because there are more trees, and I know that the Harmon’s grocery store it is eight miles. I can use the bathroom and then turn around. One morning I decided to go north.

It was three thirty in the morning and pitch black. The stars were out and I was just trucking along the trail, looking around this way and that because I’d never been this direction. There were warehouses and factories along one side of the trail. And trees and farm fields on the other. I turned my head to the right and was startled to see two people sitting on a wooden bench. They were about two feet from me. I didn’t notice them before because I was looking toward the fields. They were dressed in black hoodies and black sweatpants. My mouth fell open, and I stared at them while my legs continued to run. They stared back at me.

I was very unnerved by this encounter. I continued running, heart racing, and thought maybe they work at the warehouse and are on break. Okay, why did they have all black on and their hoods pulled up? I don’t know. Maybe they were sweethearts out for a little early morning walk and snuggle on the bench? At three thirty in the morning, seriously? I continued in this vein until I hit my turnaround point.

After I had passed them, I made a mental note to remember where they were, so that I could watch for them on my return trip. I kept running. It was a nice night out. I was in shorts and a t-shirt. It was late spring. I started getting to the section where they were. I slowed down. I was looking and looking for them. I knew the place where they were was close. I couldn’t see them. I slowed to a walk and then I saw them.

One was thin and about my height, and the other was larger and taller than I was. They still had their hoods up. I was about 200 meters from them. The smaller one got up from the bench and walked to the opposite side of the trail and down into the bushes. The larger one stood up and faced me. Their shoulders and hips told me they were men. I turned around and ran in the opposite direction pulling out my pepper spray. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I kept going. Once I was at the intersection of the trail and a road, I rounded the corner and ran toward Main Street where there were streetlights.

I turned to look back after getting onto the road and didn’t see anyone behind me. I held my pace until I reached Main and turned south again. I finished my run in a completely different location of the city. I have not run north on the trail since then and probably never will.

Maybe I’m paranoid, or maybe they were planning something unthinkable. Thankfully, I will never know. Safety cannot be overlooked. It could cost you your life.

Runnersworld sent out an article on some safety apps, which prompted this blog, and I think they are invaluable not only as a runner, but as a parent. Think about your children out on dates, or out with friends, youngsters who walk home alone from school or after school activities.

The first one is called Kitestring. You can activate it when you think you could be in an unsafe situation, like going out for a nighttime run. The app checks up on you after a period of time, and if you don’t respond or postpone the check-in, it sends a customized emergency message to the contacts you chose beforehand. Kitestring is a web-based program so you don’t need a smartphone it can go on any device with internet. You can find it at http://www.kitestring.io

These two programs are triggered by inactivity, which is useful if you cannot get your phone out or if you are unconscious.

The final one is ReactMobile. It is similar to bsafe. It alerts 911 or sends your GPS location to your emergency contacts with the touch of a button. Your loved ones can also track you in real time. This one is also iOS and Android and can be found in the app store.

All four of these Apps are free, so there is no reason not to get one and use it.