Forums >General Running>Running Safety
If I am staying in a hotel in an unknown area, I sometimes ask at the front desk if they can recommend any running routes. If it is a decent hotel, they will often have some suggestions.
Dave
As far as getting a dog to run with for safety, it may be more of an attraction than a deterrent. There was a TV news program about a serial killer who got close to his victims by pretending to be interested in their dog.
Feeling the growl again
A real dog. Not a drop-kick froofy dog.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
One day at a time
I did that in San Antonio, and the clerk looked at me like I had two heads. "But it's RAINING outside..." I pointed to a group of five or six guys who happened to be running past at that very moment, and didn't say a word. It was one of my best runs ever!
Per the suggestion above, I did search "runner attacked," and most of the first two pages of results appeared to be animal attacks or sexual assaults, which is about what I expected. I am male, and while sexual assaults on men are not unheard of, statistically I bet they are pretty rare, particularly when you are talking about attacks by strangers. At home there are trails I will regularly run alone that my wife won't. I tend to believe what has been stated above, that male runners are about as likely to be the victims of random crime or violence as anyone else other male. Maybe it is just that in New Orleans, the chances that "anyone else" will be the victim of random violence is higher than elsewhere.
Fixed that for you.
SillySassafrass
I've been running with my dog now for about 7 years, less now that she has slowed down. I have never had a grown man try to come up and get close to her when I was running. If he did, she wouldn't be a fan. (Not necessarily saying she would freak out, but she is focused when she is running and would be annoyed if nothing else.) But she is also 70 pounds and can be bitchy when she wants to be, so she wouldn't be the best dogs to try to become a randomn friend with. One serial killer using dogs as an attractant in my mind does not make up the thousands of other situations that are deterred by running with a big dog. Thankfully I live in a very safe area now and don't need to worry about that, especially now that many of my training runs are too long/too fast for my older dog.
PR: 5k 22:51 4/12/14; 10k 50:24 7/16/14; 8K 39:10 11/8/2014; HM 1:48:34 7/26/14
I also don't know many runners who are willing to stop their run to let some stranger pet their dog. Casual neighborhood walkers, perhaps.
she is also 70 pounds and can be bitchy when she wants to be,
Perfect.