Light My Way

U2 (Achtung Baby) - Ultra Violet

(Now I've got that U2 song "Ultraviolet" stuck in my head!)

Once again Haven and I took to the streets of Lowell in the pre-dawn darkness for a 3-mile run.  I run in the streets instead of on sidewalks because the latter can be very uneven, booby-trapped with low-hanging tree branches, or might not even exist in front of the older houses.  The streets here are safer, day and night, but in darkness I want to be sure I'm visible.

Passive visibility - the type provided by reflective items - is certainly valuable but it requires someone else to shine a light on me.  A car might not see me approaching on a perpendicular path, or another unlighted jogger or cyclist (I've seen both) could be a risk as well.

Active visibility - the type that provides its own light source - is what I recommend for running in the dark.  Let me tell you about the three lights that Haven and I use when we're out before sunrise; below is how we look to the early morning world:

In the Dark

Next you'll see the same subjects, same location, but with the lights turned on so you can see what you're missing:

In the Light

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Haven is wearing a blue-and-white Bling Bling Blinker, which I wrote about recently.  It's a small but quite bright clip-on light that strobes between a blue and a white LED very rapidly.  For good measure Haven also has a generic orange reflective sporting dog collar.  Keeping us together is a Just-a-Cinch leash, which was designed with built-in reflective piping and I reviewed it here. 

On my head is a Princeton Tec EOS headlamp that I originally purchased for adventure racing.  It runs on three AAA batteries for about 1-2 hours on maximum brightness, which will give you good visibility 100 feet ahead of you and will illuminate reflective items (e.g. street signs) about 150 yards away.  It has three brightness settings; in the photo you're seeing the dimmest setting so that I don't blow out the camera.  It can last for many, many hours on the dim setting, but I always use the brightest and use rechargeable batteries.  This headlamp is simple and comfortable and even waterproof!  I can attest to that after falling overboard during a 4:00am canoe leg down an obstacle-ridden river!  What a way to start a 15-hour race!

The red light you see on the back of my head is a simple Fun Source Safety Light clipped to the headband of my headlamp.  This serves as my "tail light" for anyone approaching from behind.  I don't think it's waterproof but it survived my dunking that I described above!  I've used it for two years and haven't had to change the batteries yet.

Some of these items are cheap.  The Bling Bling Blinker and the Fun Source Safety Light were $5 each.  The Just-a-Cinch leash retails for $20 but I bought that more for utility than visibility.  The Princeton Tec EOS headlamp set me back $40 (plus another $25 for batteries and a charger) but it's well worth it - the headlamp is the most important item to have when running in darkness.  Why?  Because it'll show me the cracks I'm about to trip over, the ice I'm about to slip on, and the people walking nearby that otherwise look like shadows.  Plus it grabs the attention of motorists when you point the beam right into their windshield.

In fact, the first time I ran with Haven in the dark I had nothing special except the headlamp.  When cars approached, I would face the beam towards the car, then point it down at Haven so they were aware I had a dog with me.  Now that she's illuminated, I don't have to do that but having a powerful, directable beam is quite useful.

Ideally I'd like to have some reflective clothing - most of my running garments are the cheap kind, but the good ones usually have some reflective elements built right in. 

Come to think of it, running in the dark can be just as safe as running in the daylight.  First of all, there's less traffic in the wee hours.  More importantly, an actively illuminated runner is very eye-catching at night - think of how often you notice the guy wearing blinking lights in the dark as you drive to work versus the average daytime runner.  So yes, it can be very safe in the dark if you choose it to be.  Best of all, you get to enjoy the stillness and solitude of running without the sun!