Tips for Running and Jogging at Night

Running, walking or jogging at night to exercise, sometimes requires placing yourself out there all alone with just your fragile little flesh and bones right alongside potentially dangerous rolling metal boxes. To add to this dangerous situation, the rolling metal boxes (motor vehicles) are likely under the control of unpredictable drivers prone to voluntary (cell phones/texting) or involuntary distraction, unsafe speeds, and just plain absent-mindedness. Unfortunately, this situation is a growing reality that can mean serious consequences for everyone “not” in a metal box with rubber tires; namely those who are now running, walking, jogging and bicycling. 

This situation is compounded by those who choose to go out in the evening and into the night. The threat of physical harm or even death (by vehicle) can be a real cause for concern to many well meaning, yet vulnerable people when the sun goes down. Because of this growing trend, certain cautionary measures need to be considered (or at least mentioned) if you decide to run, walk, or ride a bike after hours.

Common sense should tell you that if one is going to go out at night for any of the above reasons, then your clothes, your movements (including any sudden changes in direction), or shoes need to symbolically “scream out” (to drivers), “Hey look over here; here I am!” For example, if you suddenly want to change your course or direction in relation to where you are (running) at any given time, then try to telegraph your intentions to drivers well in advance of executing the change. Think of it in the same context as that of a driver using a turn signal indicator to let other drivers know their intention to turn well before actually making the turn, in order to avoid any confusion as to your next move.

Applying this same principle to runners, means they should avoid surprises and irrational movements such as dodging in and out between parked cars. These are the kinds of abrupt actions tend to confuse drivers who have little time to react when they are given no warning. So if you do need to change your direction or pattern of running, make sure the driver notices you by your cautiously taking the time to first get their attention and then making sure they know your intention well in advance.

 Since running and other activities performed at night present these increased visual challenges (to runners and drivers), certain wardrobe changes may also be in order as well. Here are some suggestions that just make good sense. For starters, always wear bright, white, or luminous clothing capable of reflecting light back at drivers so they will see you easily and clearly. You need to be obvious to them even if it means wearing one of those bright orange or yellow glow-in-the dark vests that city street workers wear. On several different occasions, I have seen runners with the “glow” built right into their sneakers and running attire making it really easy to see them at night. They are the smart ones.

In addition to making sure that WE are visible and predictable to drivers at night, we should also make sure that drivers and “their” vehicles are visible to “us” as well. Because of our inherent visual limitations at night, we need to rely heavily on our other senses to adequately know what is going on around us in our figurative “blind-spot.” Think about some of the scary surprises you have experienced in the past that happened because of a blind spot in the rear side sections of your car. Runners, pedestrians, and bicyclists too can create a “blind-spot” when they are overly eager, too focused, and enthusiastically “high” as they move on down the road. Due to the limitations of this so-called “blind-spot,” it is very easy to temporarily lose our awareness of immediate surroundings unless we actively remind ourselves to monitor them continually. Since we do not have eyes in the back of our heads to see the whole picture continuously, we can compensate for this by keeping our ears opened. This means removing I-PODS, cell phones, headsets, or any other impediment to our “hearing” that blind zone behind us. With this extra set of “eyes” on the sides our head (called ears), we can increase awareness of our surroundings without eyes in the back of our head. Our sense of hearing can actually give us an audible “rough estimate” of things going on behind us when our vision is temporarily occupied in front of us. You should be aware by now, that by having headphones covering your ears when running, you lose this advantage and put yourself at increased risk of harm by passing vehicles. So by all means make the effort to reach your goals, but be mindful of the primary objective to come home healthier, happier, and most of all alive. Be predictable, obvious, and aware of your surroundings (especially at night), and you will be safe and secure to do it all again, the next time.

Carry and Use Pepper Spray

As a side point, it would be wise to carry some kind of personal defense product such as a pepper spray, stun gun, or a stun gun flashlight combo to defend yourself against stray dogs, and criminals that may be intent on assaulting, robbing and creating mayhem for people that are outside at night and all alone. Women become the prime target for sexual assault and kidnapping, so ladies be prepared to fight back since you only get one chance to fight before you are under their control. Pepper Spray them in their eyes or stun them in their torso and they will drop you like a hot potato. It is far better to have a self-defense weapon and not need one, than to need one and not have one.