Off road running alone

I moved to a new town a few months ago, just before I started running.

 

I've since discovered I live so close to some stunning countryside with plenty of off road tracks. Awesome!

We sometimes do off road runs with the running club but I'd like to go alone at weekend, so I can go at my own pace, stop to enjoy the scenes and take photos (which I enjoy doing).

So does anybody run off road alone? Do you feel safe? I'm a lady so there's always that irrational fear I'm going to get kidnapped by some dodgey weirdo.

The routes are reasonably busy, there are plenty of dog walkers and cyclists about and I don't plan to go miles and miles out.

I love being out in the countryside so I'd hate to let the fear of going alone put me off.

Just wonder if anybody else runs in the countryside alone?

Comments

  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭

    I do, and yes, I feel safe, and if I were a dodgy weirdo I wouldn't bother lurking around isolated countryside routes on the off-chance that a lone lady runner might happen to come past (very unlikely). I'd probably be hanging around deserted city streets at 5am waiting to kidnap nurses on their way to the early shift or something.

  • Thanks. Just what I wanted to hear image

    Chances are, nothing bad will happen. I'll go for it.

  • NorthEnderNorthEnder ✭✭✭

    I hope runner5107 isn't a nurse.

     

  • image NorthEnder

    Literatin said what I was going to say... the countryside is far less dangerous than a city/big town.

    The biggest danger would be that you fall and break a leg or something and not be found as there's so few people about (kidnappers, or otherwise) to stumble across you... so take a phone and make sure someone knows roughly where you are going and what time to expect you back - you'll be fine!

  • Q W233Q W233 ✭✭✭
    I'm a fully grown guy but quite some time ago I discovered a great place to run in a forest/farmland kind of place. 95% of it is just fields and hedges with nothing around but there is also a large farm that looks very derelict and kinda haunted. Used to be fairly cautious when running past it... turns out the people who live there are lovely and now offer me a drink whenever they see me going past.



    Completely irrelevant but my suggestion is not to worry but always have a phone with you just in case.
  • Thanks all. I always take my phone when I run just in case.

    Thinking about it rationally it's no more or less safe than running anywhere else.

  • literatinliteratin ✭✭✭
    NorthEnder wrote (see)

    I hope runner5107 isn't a nurse.

     

    Oops! Though that was actually a real-life example from where I used to live that struck me because I was doing some trail running in the evenings (and would get the usual 'ooh, are you sure that's safe?' stuff). But there was an attack on a nurse (in this real-life example) going out to her early shift and in the papers where it was reported they noted that statistically the early hours of the morning are more dangerous for those sorts of attacks than the evenings. And also that it's more likely to be in towns and where it's an identifiable part of your routine. So when running through the spooky woods by myself in the dark (headtorch blocking out everything not directly in front of me) I would remind myself that the statistical probability of nutters lying in wait was pretty low. Now I don't worry about it.

  • MuttleyMuttley ✭✭✭

    I guess that going along trails is one thing (they're trails because they're well-trodden so someone will be along at some point) and going across wild deserted moorland is another.

    I should take my phone but usually don't. I do wear a wristband with essential info such as name and blood group etc, just in case.

    The latest Garmin watches let you be tracked/stalked in real time via an app, if you're really worried. You need to have a) a smartphone and b) someone who cares where you are. I don't use this feature because I have neither *sniff*.

     

  • Perceived risk vs actual risk is a tricky thing. For example, if you are in a US household your children are exposed to about 1000 x more risk from dying in a private swimming pool than a handgun incident. So spend money on handrails and lifebuoys if you are worried about risk. Likewise for running. Think about where there is a high frequency of women, predators, and availability of opportunity for the predator. A lonely trail in the woods doesn't meet these.

  • NessieNessie ✭✭✭

    Awww, Muttley.  We care. image

    What Little Nell said - especially once the weather turns colder (if it ever gets warm in the first place) - if you have run a few miles and are all nice and sweaty, then turn your ankle, you can get cold pretty quickly.  It's worth investing in a lightweight packable jacket to keep out the windchill if you have to limp a couple of miles home on a twisted ankle.

     

     

  • I've run off road on my own. I take a phone with me, tell someone where I'm going and approximately when I'll be back. If I don't come back my partner knows my apple ID so should be able to find me on find my iphone (never had to try this out!).

    I don't tend to worry about random weirdos, I'm more concerned about running through fields of cows! (they do look menacing!) 

     

  • ZouseZouse ✭✭✭

    Independent-in-Crap-Journalism-Shocker! From that story, Happychap, 18 members of the public have been killed by cows in the past 15 years - the rest of the deaths were farmworkers. Meanwhile, 17 unlucky folks have been killed by dogs in the past 8 years.

    Approach moocows with caution, especially if they have babies. I talk to them in a gentle voice, and never position yourself between a calf & their Mum. They're also far more likely to be defensive if you have a dog with you.

    Llamas on the other hand, are never to be trusted....

    I feel safe running on my own off road in the hills, although not often in the dark, unless I know the trails well, as that's just ankle-roll-a-rama. Solo road running in the dark in high-vis with a headtorch makes me feel very obvious & vulnerable, so I don't often do it. 

  • Town dangers - cars, bikes and other vehicles, drunk people, drugged people, potholes, dogs, pigeons, kids who think its funny to jump out at you, phone zombies, shopping zombies, students walking four abreast towards you who don't budge an inch forcing you to a) step into oncoming traffic, b) slow to walking pace, or c) shoulder charge them.

    Countryside dangers - cows, dogs.
  • Offroad I feel safe....always carry my ultras vest with full kit and safety blanket etc.bscause irun in minimal clothing but if I was to injure I get very cold very quickly so always have layers and waterproof top and bottom packed....

    At night I do prefer running with someone just because my imagination gets me going..with woods and animals...sheep's eyes everywhere. image

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