A Safe Place to Run?

Tragedy touched our small community...



Yesterday we got a disturbing call. One of the local firefighters called after a local runner was hit by a car and killed near our friends house, we held our breaths and waited to see if it was her or not. My heart immediately sank. My stomach turned in those moments until we found out it was wasn't her. But truth be told she could have very well been a member of one of our training groups through Fleet Feet. She probably was a customer of theirs. She was a mother, a grandmother and a teacher to 5th graders in a local community. She wasn't wearing any ID at the time of the accident which is why they thought it might be my friend. I might not have known her personally but we have this amazing running community in common. She might as well have been running beside me or past me on the trails to Durham and back.

This is a reminder to my running and cycling friends to please take your ID with you. Had things been different and she just been injured they wouldn't have her name, or what allergies she had or what meds she might be allergic too. Had she been just knocked unconscious they might need to know if she was diabetic or had a heart condition. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the impact took her life instantaneously.

From what the paper described and the bits and pieces from various other sources it sounds like she was wearing earphones listening to music and running with traffic. All things that are not necessarily safe. We encourage our runners to run against traffic, off the road if possible and with only one earphone in if using music at all. That keeps us all accountable for ourselves and helps us keep an eye on each other.

I recently purchased a "Road ID" w/ my name, hubby's name and phone number and my moms too. It's pink (shocker, I know you are all surprised) and wraps around my ankle so it doesn't get tangled up in all my other running paraphernalia like my watch and my iPod. I love it, I wear it, it works. For an amazingly small amount of cash you and those at home waiting for you to come home from your run, can have some peace of mind.

I just hope that this serves as a reminder to please be aware of your surroundings and to wear sufficient ID on us when running as a group or alone. This is the second incident of a runner in trouble in our community  this summer. Thankfully the first one turned out to be OK. He is actually on his way to a full recovery thanks to a few fellow runners who knew just what to do.

How do you carry a form of ID when running or cycling? Do you just carry your Drivers License or use some other form such as a Road ID?