Make your kids safe run­ners (guest post)

The fol­low­ing is  a guest post from Harold Hunt:

So you’ve turned your kids into ded­i­cated run­ners? Con­grat­u­la­tions! Being a run­ner is not only a great way to stay in shape, but it’s also a state of mind, a sense of respon­si­bil­ity, and an activ­ity that your chil­dren can hope­fully pur­sue for the rest of their lives. Run­ning allows them to have goals, set­backs, and chal­lenges. It is a sport that they can do any­where in the world – and they can prob­a­bly find peo­ple there to join them on their run as well. Run­ning, in short, is an admirable pas­sion. You should be proud that you’ve instilled that pas­sion in your children.

But every time your kid steps out­side to go for a run at night, in the heat, in the cold, or in a new place, you may worry as a par­ent that you’ve given them a pas­sion that some­times ren­ders them unsafe. While there are cer­tainly places in the world where you may want to think twice about let­ting your child run, a run at night or in the cold is not inher­ently a dan­ger­ous propo­si­tion – so long, of course, that your son or daugh­ter is pre­pared. To help insure that they are pre­pared for the ele­ments, here are some ques­tions to ask them before they head out:

Hot Weather

• Have you been hydrat­ing today? What color is your pee?
• Do you have a water bot­tle? If not, please tell me where you can get water along the run, if necessary?
• Can you promise me you’ll stop if your legs get heavy or you start feel­ing a cold sweat?

Cold Weather

• Are your fin­gers cov­ered?
• How about your head?

At Night

• Are you wear­ing reflec­tive cloth­ing, or at least light colors?
• Where are you going? Can you promise to stay away from traf­fic, or in well-​​lit places, or both?

In A New Place

• Can you tell me exactly where you plan to run?
• What is our cur­rent address?
• How can you reach me if there’s a problem?

In a Poten­tially Dan­ger­ous Area

• Will you carry mace? If not, can you pick up your run­ning pace?
• Can you leave any valu­able watches or other equip­ment behind?
• Do you really need to run today?

Even if your child resents it, make a point of ask­ing these kinds of ques­tions before they head out for a run. It will, ulti­mately, make them safer. Fur­ther­more, you can tell them: once you do this with­out prompt­ing, I won’t ask these ques­tions any­more. I’ll know that you’re a safe runner.

Good luck, happy run­ning, and – as always – be safe.

Bio: Harold Hunt is a blog­ger and avid run­ner based out of Pitts­burgh. He also writes for Phone Bul­letin, a site with news about mobile phones and technology.

1 Comment

• 
  Jodi Murphy January 24, 2012 at 11:15 am

  It never hurts to make sure your kids are aware of the risks. Young ath­letes might get over­con­fi­dent in their abil­ity and think they don’t need to worry about dehy­dra­tion or the cold as much as they should. Sooner or later they’ll do the safe thing automatically.

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