by Kevin Osheer

Created on: January 03, 2009   Last Updated: February 26, 2010

Running and Walking are two of the healthiest activities one can become involved in. But the benefits of running and walking also come with dangers. To avoid these dangers there are steps one should take every day when going on their walk or run.

1. Always notify family of friends of the route you will be running and when you should be back. To run or walk alone with no one aware of where you are is very dangerous. If some kind of accident happened no one would have any way of knowing where you were. It could take hours for someone to find you and administer the help you would need.

2. Exercise in the morning. Running/walking in the morning has several benefits to safety. If you live in a hotter climate running in the middle of the day could end up giving you heat exhaustion. This could be remedied by running/walking during the night; however, to run or walk during the night has its drawbacks as well. It is difficult for people to see you when you're out during the night, especially if you live in a remote area. People on bikes could hit you as well as cars. Running during the night is also dangerous in bigger cities where darkness is less of a problem. The night is crime's most active time so being out by yourself during the night is a bad idea. This brings me to my next point.

3. Do not run or walk alone. Find a partner to go with you. This can not only provide safety if anything were to go wrong. But this improves your workout because you are given a sense of accountability to not only go out every morning, but to really give it your all. Working with a partner has saved many lives over the years. Accidents do happen.

4. Don't over-exert your body. This is more of a tip to the runners. It is great to get in shape and get out there every morning, but only if you're getting proper rest. It's okay to take a day off every now and then to get healthy. Taking an easy run is okay every now and then to get all the kinks out. Injuring yourself due to running will not only put you of the workout you love for anywhere from a few weeks to years, it will make all the above dangers much more likely.

I would advise anyone to run or walk. They are great ways to relieve stress and get your body in better shape. These perks are useless when you are in an accident that could possibly have you injured for years. To avoid this tragedy, you must take precautions. Enjoy your workout, but be safe

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