I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend.
I cant wait to recap my weekend for you. It was full of adventure.
First though, I wanted to talk to you guys about a very scary thing that happened to a dear blogger friend of mine. Some of you may know Elizabeth with Running for Bling. She is from my town here in Mobile and was here visiting her parents for Thanksgiving. We ran the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning together where she PR'd with a 22 minute 5k.
She rocked that race.
On Saturday morning, she had a 10 mile run scheduled for training. She went to Cottage Hill Park. It is a VERY runner/walker populated area, with lots of nice neighborhoods surrounding it. Any given day there are hundreds of people out being active. In the years I have been running there by myself, I have never felt uneasy or unsafe. Until now...
At 8 o'clock in the morning at mile 8.2 in broad daylight, Elizabeth was physically and sexually assaulted.
I have such mixed emotions about this incident. My safe place to run no longer feels safe. I have a 5 miler scheduled tomorrow in the same area she was attacked, do I change that? Do I stay in the small circle inside the park from now on? Do I not run the trails in that area anymore?
I have asked myself these question a lot today. My answer...
He won't take running away from me either!
Just like Elizabeth, who stood up and told her story to the public.
I will not let this crazy man make me scared to do what I love in the area I love to do it in.
Will I be more aware of my surrounding? YES
Will I turn my music down if not off now when I run? YES
Will I run with protection? YES
My husband has always been worried about me training alone. I have never been worried or felt unsafe. However you never know what might happen to you. A couple of the safety items that I will now be running with...
I have ordered The Jogger and will let you guys know how it works out.
When you pull the chain it lets out a crazy loud woman's scream. They say that people are more likely to come to a women's scream quicker than an alarm. Makes since to me.
Again I will let you know how it works when I get it.
Some of you guys may think that I am "over reacting" by buying these things. For the low price of $28 if I feel safer and my husband feels better about me being alone running, than so be it!
They did manage to catch the guys picture on video. The neighborhood she was in has neighborhood watch cameras, thank god. It caught the whole thing on camera, so they have a good picture of his face. If any of you are in this area, here is his picture...
If you recognize him, please call the Mobile Police Department at 208-7211, or text to 274637 and include the keyword CRIME 411.
Its becoming a very unsafe world and its not getting any better. I hope that all of you take a little from this story and arm your self with the safety tips from Elizabeth.
And to Elizabeth, love ya girl, and cant wait to some see ya!
HAPPY RUNNING!
QOTD: Have you ever felt unsafe while you ran?
What do you do to protect yourself while you run?
Wow. Ugh. This is scary and unsettling. I was afraid for other reasons this weekend -- apparrently our neighborhood fox is not afriad of my big dog! The scream alarm is a good idea - I think most people would think an alarm is a car alarm going off for no reason.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth's story is so scary but is such a wake up call to us. I take my safety for granted and run whenever and where ever I want. I will try and be more aware of my surroundings from now on because you never know.
ReplyDeleteWow, I went to her blog and read her story too, but I guess I always took for granted safety while running. I only ever run with my phone, but I always run with music, and I'm never really focused on my surroundings (I run in the same place, and it's usually full of other people. I love that attitude, though- not letting someone else's stupidity, and rude nature affect your attitude about what you love to do. It's unfortunate what happened to her, and what happens to other women too, but I'm really glad that you both shared her story. It reminds us all to make a real effort to stay safe.
ReplyDeleteHer story shook me yesterday, I picked up pepper mace GEL! No back spray and sprays farther! Safety for us all!! Xo
ReplyDeleteDogs make good running/walking partners. I always feel safer with him. It stinks that as women we need to be more alert and worry about this while exercising.
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