Of lately, I have enjoyed running more and more along the busy streets of EDSA, C5, Greenhills, Fort Bonifacio and to whatever place my urge and trill for the day dictates me for a LSD run. On most cases, I do my LSD run early in the morning from 4:00am and ending it between 6:30am to 7:00am depending on the distance.
On these occasions, major concern is “SAFETY”. Foreigners have been wondering how drivers in metro Manila are able to weave themselves in the traffic with so many vehicles and to their amazement they notice very little accidents occur on the road. Given the same condition abroad, there would already be a pile up of cars due to changing of lanes. Foreigners have been wondering what are the “rules of the road” do the Filipino follow, so much so that they say if you could drive in metro Manila then you should be able to drive anywhere in the world. This is only to highlight the road condition in metro Manila.
As a runner, particularly on an early morning hours, “SAFETY” is a major concern, more so with Filipino drivers known to be particularly non-pedestrian friendly. Running in the streets needs experience and local knowledge of drivers mentality that I think I have now logged sufficient number of mileage to adjust when to use the roadside curb, when to use the pedestrian sidewalk, when to use the inner road, when to run facing the traffic, and when to run with the flow of the traffic. In all these conditions, you learn to weave yourself amongst cars, jeepneys, buses, tri-cycles and even sidewalk vendors.
A major factor to consider in running the streets is making yourself VISIBLE at all times as a safety measure. With this factor in consideration, I have bought myself via internet a “Firefly Supernova” by RoadID.com with the following packaging description;
Each piece cost $12.99 in which I got myself two pieces that I intend to attach to my hydration belt infront and at the back to insure 360 degrees visibility. The light has a visibility of over 1.5km, lifetime LED bulb (you have a selection of red or white), weights less than 1 ounce, dual mode either “flashing” or “steady”, waterproof up to 300 feet and a battery life of 250 hours in flashing mode which the battery can be replace by any watch type CR2032 batteries 2pcs. A simple twist of the housing operates the on/off of the bulb.
The “firefly supernova” is an added tool for the safety of a runner at night, but, again as in any endeavour running in the streets particularly in metro Manila requires experience and street smart mentality with the added tool, my calculative risk in the road is greatly reduced.
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