Laura Stebbins The endurance community is mourning yet another loss, Alyssa Lokits. Sonic Endurance would like to express sincere condolences to the family and friends impacted by this senseless tragedy.
For most, running is meant to be a place of peace and escape. No one should have to look over their shoulder in fear that they may be attacked simply for being out and enjoying the fresh air. Sadly, more and more we are hearing of attacks happening on runners most of whom are women. In one study, 43% of women reported being harassed while running, compared to 4% of men. Another study found that 92% of women reported feeling concerned for their safety while running, compared to 28% of men.
Everyone deserves to feel safe regardless of gender, race, ethnicity…insert literally anything here.
While we cannot control the actions of others, we can control what we do as runners. It could be really easy to let something like this most recent incident push you indoors and onto the dreadmill. Don’t let the fear win. Here is a list of tips to increase the level of safety the next time you lace up.
- Communicate run plans
- Anything can happen when you are out on a run and it is ALWAYS smart to let others know where you will be, when you will be leaving, and when you should be expected back. This will let others know if there should be any concern if you are not back when you thought you would be. I have been on the waiting end here and having that time made a big difference for me. I ended up getting in the truck and heading out backward on the route I knew my runner was on to find they bonked and were walking. But they were safe!
- Run with your phone
- There are many benefits to having a phone with you on a run. Like the runner I mentioned above could have called and asked for a ride 😊. If you start feeling someone is being suspicious or harassing you, you can call and report it to the police. You can also record the harassment to show to the police. Having a phone also allows for GPS such as “find my phone”.
- Turn on emergency settings on your device
- Whether it’s Garmin, Apple, or what have you, most devices have emergency settings available now. For example, my Garmin Fenix has “incident detection” which is a safety feature that will send an alert to all my emergency contacts if it detects an incident. Check with your device manufacturer to see what is available to you!
- Switch up run routes
- It is easy to become a creature of habit and stick to the same route. This is where we start to become targets. The more predictable you become, the easier it is for someone to spot you and if they want, create a plan to potentially harm you. This is why it is important to put some variability in the course you take. Even if it is something as simple as taking the route backward, if it is something different, it is different! Just don’t make that something different a pattern either. I live in a small neighborhood where you think everyone knows everyone. I found myself going in the same loop every night at the same time, and wearing the same zip-up hoodie. One night, a truck I did not recognize drove by me 4x within 5 minutes, it’s a loop. The next night, same time, same thing, and the last time was slow. That was my ah-ha moment that I needed to switch up my routine. Was this just a coincidence? Maybe. Is that a chance that I am going to take? Absolutely not.
- Run in populated areas or in a group
- Safety in numbers! When there are more people around there is less likelihood of being targeted by attackers. Being in a public setting or running with a group increases the chance that any potential attack would be witnessed and helps to detour unwanted attention. Not to mention that running in groups or pairs is said to decrease stress and improve the overall experience.
- Safety in numbers! When there are more people around there is less likelihood of being targeted by attackers. Being in a public setting or running with a group increases the chance that any potential attack would be witnessed and helps to detour unwanted attention. Not to mention that running in groups or pairs is said to decrease stress and improve the overall experience.
- No in-ear or ear-covering headphones
- This one I hope is pretty obvious. If you can’t hear your attacker coming, you can’t defend yourself to the best of your ability. While these headphones are amazing to drown out the noise at the gym, there is no place for them out in the wild. The safety risks are not limited to this topic, there is traffic, dogs, so much more, but that is not what we are here for… If you must have music for your run, try bone-conduction headphones, like Aeropex. These allow you to listen to music, while still being able to hear the sounds around you. https://shokz.com/
- Take a self-defense course
- When you can escape, escape. The last thing I want to do is throw down mid-long run, but I will fight for my life until I can escape. Taking a self-defense course will teach you basic skills to be able to fight off an attacker. At the very least, learn some basic self-defense moves. No one wants to think about getting into this type of scenario, but worst-case scenarios happen. Your attacker does not care if they hurt you, you need to know all the ways that you can quickly subdue them using everything at your disposal.
- Stay protected
- There is nothing wrong with protecting yourself, but you should be comfortable doing it! If you know how to use it, pepper spray can be a quick and easy way to detour an attacker, but it is not for everyone. There are sirens that runners can carry that once they feel threatened, they pull a rip cord and the device makes a very loud siren noise to call attention. Some items could be worn such as Go Guarded rings which is a ring with a serrated edge to be used as a self-defense tool.
I hate that we need to discuss this but I am grateful for the platform to share this valuable information. Everyone should feel like they can walk out their door to go for a run with no worries, but that is unfortunately not the world we live in. Understanding that not everyone always has the ideal run safety situations, the important thing is to be SMART.
All we can do is be aware, be prepared, and stay alert.
