Tips for Running Smart

The Road Runners Club of America offers these tips for running safely:

• Carry change for a phone call.
• Run with a partner or a dog.
• Write down or leave word of the direction of your run. Tell friends and family of your favorite running routes.
• Run in familiar areas. In unfamiliar areas, contact a local RRCA chapter or running store. Know where telephones are, or open businesses or stores. But vary your route pattern.
• Stay alert. The more aware you are, the less vulnerable you are.
• Avoid unpopulated areas, deserted streets and overgrown trails.
• Avoid unlighted areas at night.
• Run clear of parked cars or bushes.
• Carry ID or write your name, phone number and blood type on the inside sole of one running shoe. Include any medical information.
• Don't wear jewelry.
• Don't wear headsets. Use your ears to be aware of your surroundings.
• Ignore verbal harassment. Use discretion in acknowledging strangers. Look directly at others and be observant, but keep your distance and keep moving.
• Run facing traffic so you can observe approaching automobiles.
• Wear reflective material if you must run before dawn or after dark.
• Use your intuition about a person or area.
• Practice memorizing license tags or identifying characteristics of strangers.
• Carry a noisemaker and/or OC (pepper) spray. Get training in self-defense and the use of pepper spray.

For more information, call the Runners Club at 703-836-0558, or go to www.rrca.org.