Runner Safety Awareness Week 2020: PPTC + The Run Collective Citizen Run
PPTC and The Run Collective, gathering for this year’s “Be A Good Run Citizen” run on Friday, 1/24 / Photo credit: John Honerkamp
Our club is recognized for a bunch of different things. Chief among them: our color - red, our enthusiastic cheering, and our community spirit. You’d have seen all three at work had you been passing Grand Army Plaza around 6:10am Friday, January 24, where more than 30 of us gathered in a circle before our Citizen Run with The Run Collective, one of the events scheduled for Runner Safety Awareness Week 2020.
John Honerkamp of The Run Collective, wearing one of their “Be A Good Run Citizen” shirts, kicked us off with some information about Runner Safety Awareness Week and the activities scheduled in the five boroughs, Chicago, Boston, and New Jersey. He emphasized the importance of being a safe and conscientious runner who looks out for others, as well as the simple, important steps we can all take to create better safety conditions for ourselves and everyone with whom we share the streets and trails. Here are a few:
Wear a light and reflective clothing when running in the dark.
Run in pairs or groups.
Don’t use headphones. If you must, keep the volume LOW to increase your peripheral awareness.
Stay in your lane.
Know your route beforehand.
Help people in distress.
Many of us also use Road ID bracelets or other methods of identification.
Elizabeth Plosser, Editor-in-Chief of Women’s Health, also spoke about the Runners Alliance and its focus on improving safety for women runners. PPTC Team Captains Missy Burgin and Adam Devine addressed our club’s commitment to improving safety for all runners.
Runners lit up the park with a red glow, thanks to ankle safety lights provided by Runners Alliance / Photo credit: John Honerkamp
Standing with our heads bowed in silent tribute to runners lost, we lit up the ground beneath us with a red glow thanks to the ankle safety lights provided by Runners Alliance. And when we took off for a loop around the park, everyone we passed gave us a nod.
As is usual for PPTC group runs, great conversations were shared along the way to our destination, Jack Rabbit, where we enjoyed coffee, doughnuts, munchkins, and impossibly warm, completely delicious scones made by Remi Chian (brother & brother-in-law of PPTC members Peter Chian and Kelly Chian, respectively). Thank you, Remi!
PPTC will continue to work with The Run Collective as they make the world a safer place through awareness, education, and activism, Let’s all be sure to always run safely while we’re running strong.
Text by Donna Newton
Edited by Anna Gold
Produced by Alison Kotch