Runners - where do you draw the line for safety?

I'm putting this in the cafe since the headlamp is only one part of the equation here.

With all the recent snow, the roads I usually run on outside my neighborhood are getting narrow. The shoulder is basically gone due to the growing mound of plowed snow. I also run at night most of the time in the winter, so I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. Even with my headlamp and reflective clothing, a good deal of drivers are not even trying to get over or slow down.

So, where do you draw the line? Do you look for alternate locations when you feel it's possibly becoming to risky? Honestly, I'm not afraid of getting hit, it just seems like too much effort to watch for cars and a "way out" instead of concentrating on running and where I'm placing my feet.

I can check out some nearby trails, but even most of those are pure ice/packed snow right now. There's a nice park in town that is probably cleared, but driving 30 minutes round trip is going to kill my motivation vs. the ease of just running out the front door.

I don't think it's as simple as "go to the park or get hit by a car" either.

No real specific question here. Just looking for thoughts from outdoor runners...

Guessing you probably don't want to do this but you could get like a week or two membership at a local gym if you have one nearby until the snow clears and you can go back to running outside. You could do something like cycling or lifting in your gym time instead of running since it won't be the same and maybe get you re energized for running.

I have some weights in the basement so I started lifting a little more than usual. Good enough for now. I did get out last night and it seems they re-plowed to clean things up during the sunny and relatively warm 20° days!

Back in the days when I ran, it was usually in the evening or at night, and either on a fairly deserted road or on sidewalks. Nowadays, I mostly ride bikes, and that has some pretty standard solutions to being visible. In the lousier weather, I walk on the nearby roads and sidewalks. When it is dark, I bring a flashlight (a perfect link to CPF) to see the road/sidewalk surface and to make myself seen by oncoming traffic.

The weather for a few weeks has permitted cross-country skiing, so I've been doing that. No worries about traffic, but I do use a little Princeton Tec EOS headlamp to see with (and maybe scare off the coyotes).

Over the years of driving and bike riding at night, I've come across some people walking along the roads that did nothing to make themselves visible. With just a modest bike headlight, I was on top of them before I could see them... scared both of us. Never did figure out why they didn't get out of my way.. must have assumed that I could see them. I'd recommend using at least some reflective material to improve visibility. The running shops must sell the stuff. If not, bike shops have reflective velcro straps to be used (usually) at the ankle, but could probably be used on the wrists too. The reflective stuff shows up quite well in a car's headlight beam. There's also the issue of cross traffic, where you aren't in the headlight beam of traffic yet. This is where lights are very effective.

I assume you don't have sidewalks in your area? That's really the long term answer. As a cyclist, I'm facing the same set of problems as you. The far right where I usually ride has piles of snow. If I try to take the lane I'll be run off the road here in NYC. Taking the lane may work elsewhere but if you try it in NYC you're gambling with your life. We have the worst drivers in the country here. That leaves me with only two alternatives-ride on the sidewalks (illegal here and the sidewalks aren't reliably cleared) or use the Schwinn 240 in the basement. The latter is my best bet. Not as fun as riding for real, but at least I don't have to deal with freezing, wet roads or crazy drivers.

jtr1962 said:

I assume you don't have sidewalks in your area?

Click to expand...

My city has a good amount of them, but nothing in the area that I can run to. I thought about driving to a nearby paved "trail", but even that's all ice from people walking and packing down the snow.

I actually just decided to run down to the end of my neighborhood and back (1mi round trip) then out onto the road just for <100 yards, then down another neighborhood (another 1mi). So I can get a good 2 miles on those streets with hardly any cars. Still packed down snow, but no ice and good pretty traction.

Look like we'll start to melt down next week anyway!