Friday, August 29, 2008

Run Safe

Most of us are nervous, if not fearful, to run alone. Thoughts of accidents or abductions might come to mind. So we run or bike in groups to be safe. But sometimes, the group mentality can distract you from your focus or hoodwink you into thinking that your company will keep you safe.

Wait. I don't really know how to get my point across for this post. I'm incapacitated because my running community lost another and I'm no longer living close enough to my friends to cry with them. Carlos was hit by a car...while with a group of 20+, who were actually just one subgroup of over 600 runners in the marathon training program. He was crossing the street in the wee early morning, the last in his group, when a car plowed through. My friend heard the driver say that there were all these people in the road and he didn't know where to go so he had to hit someone. It was the shock talking - perhaps the car rolling three times - but my god, he realized he had to hit someone?

That group OWNS the street on Saturday mornings. Each weekend at 6 am, they are out there, 600 hundred of them, running and talking and socializing. Like a sea of salmon swimming against the flow of traffic, thinking about races and gu and politics and family or about nothing but the steps they are taking. The power of numbers deludes you into believing you are invincible.

But the problem is drivers think they are invincible, too. They are able to text or talk on their phones, they can yell at the talk radio, they can turn right from the left lane, they can roll through stop signs or like witnesses to the crash believe about the driver, they can drive themselves home from the bar.

So be safe out there. Keep your head up and one earbud out. Don't assume they see you or think they can stop in time. Change your mantra to: Run Safe.

4 comments:

Kimberly said...

I think this is a great announcement for everyone! Cars should always have their eyes on the road, but just in case, we have to look too! Whether running or walking, we need to keep a lookout for cars that don't stop...and bikes that barrel down out of nowhere! I've seen many a runner taken off in an ambulance after a bike accident on the trail.

Anonymous said...

This country was built for the automobile. The pedestrian is a non-person and it seriously angers me. We need mass transit, we need sidewalks, we need to cure ourselves of the car.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I really am.

Anonymous said...

Crumbs, would you edit this post and include some labels that might lead Internet surfers to this information?

channelmarker said...

THis physically gave me goosebumps. I can't even imagine.....so sorry for you and all who are affected.