Runners

A woman on her “routine” daily jog is attacked on a city street.  This woman had a routine – she ran alone in the early morning.  Apparently someone bad noticed the routine and attacked her one morning.  Thankfully, he attacked in a residential area where people heard her screams and came to her rescue.  Almost all of the news articles that I have collected on crimes against runners are against women running alone.  They are typically sexual assaults, not muggings.  The next two most common factors are time of day and location, but the jogging alone is definitely the number one issue.  If you choose to run alone, you can still protect yourself – let someone know where you will be and when to expect you to return; don’t run a predictable route or time; carry a cell phone and pepper spray or air horn.  

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local-beat/Residents-Hear-Screams-Rescue-Jogger-From-Attacker--99687474.html

Cross walks are painted lines on the road, not force fields.  In these two recent incidents, runners were hit in or near the cross walks:

Tragically, a mother pushing her jogger was killed when an alleged DUI driver ran a stop sign and struck her. http://www.thealmanac.net/ALM/Story/06-30-2010-ML-jogger-hit.

In the second story, a teen runner was seriously injured when she stepped out of the cross walk into the path of an oncoming vehicle. http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jun/29/simi-teen-seriously-injured-after-being-struck/.

Even when in a cross walk, we have to take safety into our own hands because the vehicles ALWAYS win.  Check both directions, like your mother taught you, and keep paying attention, until your are safely on the other side.

Drivers go to jail for reckless driving and hitting runners.  However, runners go to the hospital or even worse.  Make your personal safety a priority – even when running on a sidewalk.  These two drivers will be facing jail time for the crimes that they committed, but that is no consolation for the runners or their families.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/05/21/14032136.html

http://www.oregonlive.com/beaverton/index.ssf/2010/05/hillsboro_man_gets_nearly_2_years_in_hit-and-run_with_jogger_in_beaverton_area.html

Check out what happened to four runners caught in a hail storm.  Check your local weather alerts BEFORE heading out for a run.  Most severe lightning, hail and wind producing storms are identified by meteorologists before they hit the area.

http://www.kcci.com/weather/23077072/detail.html