Runners? Safety?

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  • Loralrose
    Loralrose Posts: 203
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    Pepper spray is not very useful in practice. Most people can't spray it quick or accurately enough to hit the eyes, and even if you do it may just make the person angry.

    If you're concerned, go with a buddy (safety in numbers!) and consider taking a self defense class.

    Agreed, pepper spray isn't very useful in practice. Very similar in effectiveness as the average self defense class.

    Yeah, self defense classes vary in quality. And if it's one of those one-day ones you might as well save your money... no one can perform under pressure after one day of practice. But I have been to some that were actually useful.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
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    I tend to like to live life somewhere between blissful ignorance of my surroundings and locked and loaded paranoia. I'm pretty sure that there's a sweet spot somewhere between those two points. Somewhere.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    Pepper spray.

    But seriously, can you reconsider taking your kids on bikes to go through the cemetery? Not trying to pass judgment or be rude but I'd be pretty upset if I saw this near where any of my loved ones were buried.

    Would it upset you enough to say....call security...and ask that they observe, approach, and talk to the exercisers about their habits?
  • gingc
    gingc Posts: 2
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    I started running again recently in a park with some lovely but secluded paths. Every single time I pass a male who isn't wearing appropriate exercise garb or bird watching gear I get concerned. I know it's mostly paranoia and I get it over it. But it also made me think, my phone is usually running two programs and the screen may also be locked so if I were to get attacked there'd be no stopping it. Someone shared with me an app called Yank - if your earbuds get yanked out of your phone it will send an alert to your selected friends or emergency personel with your GPS location. There are some safe guards in there to cancel the alert before it goes out . . .

    I have not even downloaded it yet, but I think it may be my next step.

    Of course this app thing won't fight off an attacker - I'd have to do that on my own.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    I started running again recently in a park with some lovely but secluded paths. Every single time I pass a male who isn't wearing appropriate exercise garb or bird watching gear I get concerned. I know it's mostly paranoia and I get it over it. But it also made me think, my phone is usually running two programs and the screen may also be locked so if I were to get attacked there'd be no stopping it. Someone shared with me an app called Yank - if your earbuds get yanked out of your phone it will send an alert to your selected friends or emergency personel with your GPS location. There are some safe guards in there to cancel the alert before it goes out . . .

    I have not even downloaded it yet, but I think it may be my next step.

    Of course this app thing won't fight off an attacker - I'd have to do that on my own.

    But if your phones apps were working....THAT would stop it?
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
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    I started running again recently in a park with some lovely but secluded paths. Every single time I pass a male who isn't wearing appropriate exercise garb or bird watching gear I get concerned. I know it's mostly paranoia and I get it over it. But it also made me think, my phone is usually running two programs and the screen may also be locked so if I were to get attacked there'd be no stopping it. Someone shared with me an app called Yank - if your earbuds get yanked out of your phone it will send an alert to your selected friends or emergency personel with your GPS location. There are some safe guards in there to cancel the alert before it goes out . . .

    I have not even downloaded it yet, but I think it may be my next step.

    Of course this app thing won't fight off an attacker - I'd have to do that on my own.

    But if your phones apps were working....THAT would stop it?

    Always watch out for men in suits. They'll get you unless you have the right app.
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,292 Member
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    I started running again recently in a park with some lovely but secluded paths. Every single time I pass a male who isn't wearing appropriate exercise garb or bird watching gear I get concerned. I know it's mostly paranoia and I get it over it. But it also made me think, my phone is usually running two programs and the screen may also be locked so if I were to get attacked there'd be no stopping it. Someone shared with me an app called Yank - if your earbuds get yanked out of your phone it will send an alert to your selected friends or emergency personel with your GPS location. There are some safe guards in there to cancel the alert before it goes out . . .

    I have not even downloaded it yet, but I think it may be my next step.

    Of course this app thing won't fight off an attacker - I'd have to do that on my own.

    But if your phones apps were working....THAT would stop it?

    Her point was that by the time you get your phone out of your pocket/armband, unlocked and ready to dial 911, someone's probably already hit you over the head with it...
    As for the earbud yanking / panic signal - ha, I'd alert people five times per run, accidentally....

    #1 self defence technique I was taught: distraction and run. Always worries me at the end of a long run though, no way I could out sprint even a snail a that point....
  • VoodooSyxx
    VoodooSyxx Posts: 297
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    Yeah, I'm gonna go with, keep your family running day out of the cemetery. Regardless of the guys' intentions that's just uncool on many levels.
  • Blue801
    Blue801 Posts: 442
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    I used to run with my kitty, but I have since moved out of the pizza delivery red zone AKA the too-dangerous-to-deliver zone. Now I live in a happy place.
    BC101.jpg
  • susielou22
    susielou22 Posts: 6 Member
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    I always carry my phone with GPS turned on, so if something does happen, the authorities have a better chance seeing what happened. Or at least that's my thinking. I live on the outskirts of town, so it can go from dense residential area to not a single person around very quickly, which can be a bit scary when you're running at dawn/ dusk. I've never had anything very bad happen, mostly honks and catcalls, but as a young woman, that's unfortunately a fact of life wherever you are. The scariest thing that has ever happened to me was when I had taken a long track and gotten exhausted, resulting in me being on a rural road later than I would have liked. A Ute came along side me with 5 drunk males on the back who began yelling at me. I was terrified. Luckily, even though patrol cars are a rarity in my area, one came along at that moment and the Ute sped off. After that incident I took some self defense lessons and ran more in the mornings than in the evenings. I'd never thought of pepper spray but maybe that would be a good idea.
  • UrbanRunner81
    UrbanRunner81 Posts: 1,207 Member
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    I used to run through a cemetery. It isn't as uncommon as one might think. Actually I've seen quite of few people do that. Anyway I don't anymore because it is too isolated.
    Go somewhere more public to run. Always trust your gut. I've changed my running routes because I've gotten uneasy feeling from people around me. Like once smelling cigarette smoke without seeing somebody while running near a park (near a wooded area). Yep I turned right around.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    OMG I give up.
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
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    Did they have a bicycle and/or a golf club?
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    Did they have a bicycle and/or a golf club?

    I want to know this.
  • Blue801
    Blue801 Posts: 442
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    Did they have a bicycle and/or a golf club?

    Do you have guys riding around on bikes holding golf clubs where you live too?! The first time I saw it I thought it was odd. Now I just see them everywhere around here. What a strange thing to be catching on.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Did they have a bicycle and/or a golf club?

    Do you have guys riding around on bikes holding golf clubs where you live too?! The first time I saw it I thought it was odd. Now I just see them everywhere around here. What a strange thing to be catching on.

    Apparently golf clubs are the hot accessory item in all the popular Assault Magazine spring collections this season.
  • gracielynn1011
    gracielynn1011 Posts: 726 Member
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    I honestly didn't realize that this would be such a controversial topic! This is the norm where I live. We do not have public tracks for walking, the only one is at the local high school, and you have to be a student or faculty to access it. We have rural roads with no side walks and there are a lot of hills and curves. It is not safe to just bike, or walk, on the roads. We don't even have side walks for pedestrians. We do have some picnic trails and hiking trails around the local lake, but they are not suitable for beginning runners, or for children, as they are usually along cliffs and ridgelines.

    After an incident were a runner was hit by a car (drunk driver - broad daylight) while on the side of the road, there were announcements made on the news channel and in the papers, that it was not safe for foot traffic to be on the roads. Thankfully, the man lived, and recovered to full physical health. The local police even requested that recreational walkers, runners, and bikers use other locations for their sport, such as.... a local cemetery with paved roads. They even gave a list of the ones that gave permission, the one we use being one of them.

    As to respecting people visiting their loved ones graves, we keep our distance. My kids are never far enough away from me that I have to call them back. They are not loud or unruly, we stay off the grass, and away from every ones flowers and decorations. When someone comes in, I just change my route to give them their privacy and space. If we were to come at a time when a funeral is in progress, or even finished but still had the canopies and seats out for the family, we leave. Simple as that. Where we live, this isn't disrespectful. But I've never been any where else, so I don't know how it is in other places.

    But- I will say that this is the only time that I have ever been made to feel uncomfortable or "threatened" by any one. At this location, or in any other place around our town, good or bad. And foolish of me or not, I did feel threatened by these two particular people, I was shaken up a bit by it, because it caught me off guard. Hence the question as to what others do for safety. Thank you to those of you who answered me with real suggestions and advice.
  • scraver2003
    scraver2003 Posts: 528 Member
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    I have heard of people running in cemeteries. It never occurred to me that it would be "disrespectful". What do I care if someone is running where one of my loved ones is burried? But I think everyone is so hung up on WHERE the OP was running, the point of the post is getting missed. WHAT should runners do to feel safe??? I run on my lunch break and I run down a little side street that isn't quite a street. It is along some business buildings. I have had two people stop and ask me directions. (This is road mainly for people to get to their parking lots for the business buildings - not really a "road"). One was a FedEx guy (shouldn't he have GPS??) and the other was a couple looking for one of the buisiness buildings around the corner. The couple didn't make me nervous... but the big guy in the FedEx van - he didn't do or say anything sketchy, it just made me wonder about my safety.
  • kristinegift
    kristinegift Posts: 2,406 Member
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    The running-in-cemeteries thing is pretty normal here, as well. Where there are paved roads, there are runners. We don't run over graves or anything, but through the pathways, making sure to stay away from anyone mourning loved ones. A lot of people here use cemeteries to walk their dogs, go for a jog, etc.

    As far as the creepy men in the car go: They could very well have been maintenance, blocking off part of the road for something happening later. However, given that you were alone there and your kids were also in the cemetery, I think you have every right to be suspicious. But these creepy, paranoia-inducing things are normally one-off happenings, so hopefully they just don't show up again!

    Edit: And as far as safety/protection goes, I run trails and through all kinds of neighborhoods in my town, and I've never carried anything more than a phone. Besides the occasional leer-er or cat-caller, I've never had to deal with any mid-run problems. I feel safe enough knowing I can call someone. And besides, with ladies' workout clothes being so tight-fitting and pocket-free, where am I going to store some pepper spray anyhow?!
  • sarafischbach9
    sarafischbach9 Posts: 466 Member
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    Wow. Yes. I am pretty sure they were stalking you. Especially since they seem to be hanging out together and not leaving. I run a running club in Central Ohio and we have people out on public trails some doing runs up to 22 miles. We always send out in pairs and at least one phone. Pepper spray would probably be a good start, and your phone. We run on crowded trails and have never had issues other than we had a few ladies on our team get flashed by a pervert once. If your spidey sense goes off then that is a good sign something is up. I tell the ladies in my club that if you aren't sure of someone, just turn around before you get to them and run back. Do you have opportunities to run in a subdivision somewhere where you can run on a street, but not one with a lot of traffic. That way you have houses around for help, etc.

    Good advice! Thanks!

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