Women: How To Stay Safe While Running Alone

When word spread that Vanessa Marcotte, a 27-year old working woman with a great career and life ahead of her, was killed last Sunday while out jogging alone within a half mile of her Mother's Princeton home, it sent a shockwave through women runners who enjoy going out for a run by themselves.

Runners across the state and country are now focusing on the dangerousness of their activity and they're rethinking the passion they have for their sport and their approach.

Becca Pizzi of Belmont knows a thing or two about running. In January, she successfully finished the World Marathon Challenge, which means she ran seven marathons across seven continents in seven days.  It's quite  an accomplishment by any standard, and Pizzi is a 35-year single working mother. 

Following the death of Marcotte, Pizzi says, "I just don't think any runner is safe these days....be very, very careful. No one is safe.This could happen to any one of us."

Pizzi has a running safety protocol. She says,   "I try and run with friends and I use the buddy system, so I'm not running alone. I change my route and the direction that I'm running every day, and I change the time of day I run. I try to switch it up and I'm alert and aware of my surroundings. My guard is up from the time I walk out my front door, until the time I get back in my door and I trust my instincts.

Pizzi says she no longer runs with a headset or headphones and suggests if any one does  run with one to keep the volume very, very low. She also carries mace.

One other newer safety option for runners  is using a phone app such as RunKeeper, which displays the route a runner is running along, and should they get into trouble, all they would have to do it hit a button to call for help and it would send their location.

To listen to Becca Pizzi's interview with WGBH's Morning Edition host Bob Seay click on the audio file above.