Believe it or not, ORB is officially 1 year old. Time has gone by so fast that it’s actually 1 week and 1 year!!! Who would have thought that 1) I would have found time to keep providing content to this website (181 posts) and 2) have enough things to write about!!!

What originally started as a place to write down the many random thoughts that passed thru my brain while running has now taken on many forms:

• Spirituality – After reading “Running the Spiritual Path” by Roger D. Joslin, I committed my time running to giving that time back to God. What better way to spend hours of solitude than sharing that time praying and meditating?
• Runner Safety – Finding myself running early in the mornings, I saw many runner’s in danger on our roadways. It has been a goal of mine to share what I’ve learned and read so that many more runner’s will be more visible while running. It went so far as Troy’s post on “Dexting” getting him interviewed in Runner’s World for Liz Robbins’ article Collision Course.
• Encouraging Others towards Fitness – With the creation of the Fargo Fitness Challenge, I’ve now embarked on another passion, encouraging others to take up running. I know what running has done for my health and if I can get one person off the coach and back into fitness, I’ll consider this one a success.

I would personally like to thank the nearly 3,500 people who have come to this site from over 50 countries and every U.S. state. To the many friends that I have met here, I’m glad that this site has been a conduit for some really great stories and friendships that span the globe.

Who knows what the future holds but if it’s anything like the last year, it’s anybody’s guess!!!

RMFR (also another thing that came about over the last year and my proudest accomplishment)

Like most of you, I tear thru my Runner’s World magazine the second I pull it from the mailbox. In the January 2010 issue was a article on runner safety that you just have to read. Runner safety is one of the things we try to stress here at One Runner’s Brain and if we can influence just one runner to be safer on nations roadways, we’ll consider it a success.

In fact, our own Troy Schrenk was quoted in the article (p. 87) and you can read the post that got him quoted by clicking here.

Collision Course by Liz Robbins paints a picture of what we face as runners and many ways to Be A.W.A.R.E. of our surroundings and stay safe while running. You can read the whole article online but I wanted to stress some of the “Rules of the Road” mentioned in the article.

Rules of the Road

• Don’t assume a driver sees you. In fact, imagine that a driver can’t see you.
• Run against traffic so as to view (and react to) any mistake an advancing motorist may make.
• At a stop sign or light, wait for the driver to wave you through – then acknowledge with your own wave.
• Allow at least three feet between you and a passing vehicle.
• Be prepared to jump onto the sidewalk or shoulder of the road.
• During group runs, go single file when cars need to pass.
• Use hand signals to show which way you plan to run.
• Respect drivers’ right to the road.
• Run with proper I.D., and carry a cell phone with emergency contacts taped to the back.
• Check with the police for local traffic rules.

RMFR