I love running early in the morning. With the changing of the seasons, it’s getting lighter later and darker earlier which means most of us are running in the dark. It’s a goal of mine to make runners more safe on our nation’s roadways and you’d be surprised how many people I see and pray for their safety. I’m not talking about somebody just out for a leisurely jaunt, I’m talking about serious runners that I see on a consistent basis. From what I’ve seen, I’ve come up with some suggestions:

Against Traffic. Run against traffic when you’re running on the road. Most roads have a shoulder or bike lane and you should stay near the edge (away from traffic) if at all possible. Running against traffic let’s you see oncoming cars and cyclists. Those running with traffic will never know if somebody didn’t see them before it was too late.

Warning Signs. Watch oncoming cars and cyclists. Is there a car coming around a curve wide and fast? Is there a large group of cyclists riding 2-3 wide? Does that car making a left turn see you approaching the intersection? Be aware of your surroundings. Expect the best…prepare for the worst.

Anticipate. When you see the warning signs, anticipate what actions need to be taken. 99% of the time when you take action first, you can avoid many of the dangers. Car’s coming wide and fast? Move off the road or to the extreme side in case they don’t correct their actions. Car doesn’t see you? Make yourself seen or get out of their eventual path.

Reflective Clothing and Lights. If aware started with an R, this would be first. I consider this the most important thing runners can do. Make people see you. While you may wear bright colors, they lose their impact with no light. Find clothing with large areas of reflective print – the tips of your shoelaces don’t count. Use a headlamp or carry a small flashlight. I run with a small flashlight – not to light my way but to make sure cars and cyclists can see me from a distance and know I’m there. Blinking lighting is also another option. Most units are small and unobtrusive.

Enjoy Silence. Music is great but don’t use it in the dark. When one of our senses is dulled, the others take over. You can’t see as much in the dark and using your ears is important. You may hear an obstacle before you see it. Save the tunes for your car or at work. You’ll thank me later.

We’re looking at creating and offering reflective running wear either in partnership with sponsors or on our own (let us know if there’s any interest). As part of the running community, I pray that you all be safe and tear it up on the pavement.

RMFR

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

If you haven’t read the previous post (A.W.A.R.E.) on running in the dark, please do (click here).

While on my run yesterday evening (yes I ran at night instead of the early morning) it dawned on me that there are a couple of things I do that might benefit you when running in the dark.

One of the most dangerous things to watch out for are headlights. If you’re running close to oncoming traffic you can be easily blinded by a cars lights. Highbeams…forget about it!!! To keep your eyes on the road and the car, look at the white line on the road. This way you can keep the car in your peripheral vision and not be blinded by the light. It also allows you to judge how close the car is to the white line and see the terrain in front of you.

After a car passes, close your eyes for a few seconds. I’ve found that this helps bring your sight back to normal and help adjust your eyes back to the low light.

If you’re running hilly routes, watch for lights coming over the hill. Don’t look directly at the headlights when the car crests the hill. Make sure you’re looking off to the side (unless the car is close, then look at the white line) to prevent being temporarily blinded.

We need to see the cars to avoid them and if you protect your eyes from a cars headlights, you’re winning the battle. RUN SAFE!!!

To be brutally honest with you I’ve been scared to run for the last week. The tragic and needless death of Jeremy Kunz in this years Las Vegas Ragnar Relay effected me greatly. Over the past couple of months we here at One Runner’s Brain have tried to advocate runner safety. Whether it’s rules of the road or wearing the correct clothing, there’s a lot we need to do to make sure we can be seen by motorists. I’ve tried to lead by example but I decided the amount of reflective clothing I wore was not enough.

Most of my long runs are on Charleston Blvd./Nevada State Route 159 which treks thru the beautiful Spring Mountains and The Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area (if you’re ever in Las Vegas you have to run out here). This is a popular route (especially for cyclists and more and more runners) because you can take this road to Blue Diamond Road (about 15 miles) and back and not have to worry about one single stop light. What you do have to worry about (especially in the dark, early morning hours) are vehicles seeing you on the shoulder of the road.

This weekend I went out and purchased a Nathan Night Fall Vest and I’m sleeping and running with a much clearer mind. Knowing that I’m going to light up like a Christmas tree to oncoming drivers is much more comforting than wondering if they’re going to see you. I still carry a flashlight and prepare to launch myself into a gully at the first sign of lights heading my way, but I know they can see me.

If you’re not wearing reflective gear, please go out get some. There are many inexpensive items from reflective tape, wrist bands and vests. Don’t leave it up to chance. We can’t stop drunk or reckless drivers but there are steps we can take to make running a whole lot safer!!!

I love running early in the morning. With the changing of the seasons, it’s getting lighter later and darker earlier which means most of us are running in the dark. It’s a goal of mine to make runners more safe on our nation’s roadways and you’d be surprised how many people I see and pray for their safety. I’m not talking about somebody just out for a leisurely jaunt, I’m talking about serious runners that I see on a consistent basis. From what I’ve seen, I’ve come up with some suggestions:

Against Traffic. Run against traffic when you’re running on the road. Most roads have a shoulder or bike lane and you should stay near the edge (away from traffic) if at all possible. Running against traffic let’s you see oncoming cars and cyclists. Those running with traffic will never know if somebody didn’t see them before it was too late.

Warning Signs. Watch oncoming cars and cyclists. Is there a car coming around a curve wide and fast? Is there a large group of cyclists riding 2-3 wide? Does that car making left turn see you approaching the intersection? Be aware of your surroundings. Expect the best…prepare for the worst.

Anticipate. When you see the warning signs, anticipate what actions need to be taken. 99% of the time when you take action first, you can avoid many of the dangers. Car’s coming wide and fast? Move off the road or to the extreme side in case they don’t correct their actions. Car doesn’t see you? Make yourself seen or get out of their eventual path.

Reflective Clothing and Lights. If aware started with an R, this would be first. I consider this the most important thing runners can do. Make people see you. While you may wear bright colors, they lose their impact with no light. Find clothing with large areas of reflective print – the tips of your shoelaces don’t count. Use a headlamp or carry a small flashlight. I run with a small flashlight – not to light my way but to make sure cars and cyclists can see me from a distance and know I’m there. Blinking lighting is also another option. Most units are small and unobtrusive.

Enjoy Silence. Music is great but don’t use it in the dark. When one of our senses is dulled, the others take over. You can’t see as much in the dark and using your ears is important. You may hear an obstacle before you see it. Save the tunes for your car or at work. You’ll thank me later.

We’re looking at creating and offering reflective running wear either in partnership with sponsors or on our own (let us know if there’s any interest). As part of the running community, I pray that you all be safe and tear it up on the pavement.

It happens to every runner training for a race. Usually towards the end of your training there’s that one long run that falls in the middle of the week. I’ve been planning today for the last 3 weeks. Whether you run in the morning or evening, chances are you’re running in the dark.

For me, 4:30 AM came fast and as luck would have it, there was no moon. For my long runs, I’ve been running a stretch of road that leads out into the Nevada desert. That means I have street lights for the first 1 1/2 miles – after that, it’s pitch black. I don’t have a headlamp and instead use one of my sons small flashlights. It’s lightweight, shines bright and has been very reliable…except for this morning.

I don’t have many reflective surfaces on my running gear (shame on me and we’ll get into this later) and was depending on my trust flashlight to get me to daybreak. I’m running in a bike lane on a paved road so the flashlight isn’t necessarily to ensure sound footing. My biggest concern are motorists speeding into Las Vegas to work the early shift. Most have coffee in one hand and are rubbing their eyes with the other. The flashlight serves as a warning beacon to those oncoming death darts of destruction.

After 2 1/2 miles (1 1/2 of those were lit) my flashlight started to dim. At this point I’m thinking about my son staying up all night playing with a beam of light on the ceiling. A slight panic started to set in. Sunrise wasn’t for another 40 minutes and I was only a quarter of the way thru my run. So I did what seems to be popular these days – I went into conservation mode. My plan was to run without the flashlight until I saw headlights. At that time I turned it on, and because it was dimming, I would half shine it directly at the car to let them know I was there.

The moral of the story is this – as runner’s, we need to advocate and practice runner safety. Over the past couple of weeks, Troy and I have become aware that runner safety is being overlooked – and with grave consequences. We both promise to take up this cause and we ask you to help promote runner safety among your running peers. We will post safety tips/articles and we’ll do our best to try and partner up with companies offering safety products for runners.

It only takes a pebble to start a wave.