Written by Michael Lepore
I’ve had my share of weird things happen while being out running – especially on trail runs. I’ve personally broken my big toe while out in the woods and had to limp my way out. I’ve been out with folks who have severely sprained/fractured their ankle. I’ve both personally and witnessed others badly twisting an ankle.
Because you never know what might happen – and it isn’t always likely that someone is going to walk by you in the woods – I always run with my phone. It’s a bit of insurance that means I can make that phone call to my wife and say “I’m going to be home a bit late – I need to go to the ER to get an XRay”.
But sometimes, I want to ramp up the safety even a bit more. I want someone to be able to see where I am at all times and if I’m late see if I’m still moving.
There are lots of options for handling this – and some of it depends on what you use for a running watch / tracking software. Both my Garmin (when coupled with my phone) – through LiveTrack, Strava – through its Beacon feature, iPhones and Apple Watches through their Find My feature all allow you to make the ability for others to see your location – live – to see where you are.
- Garmin LiveTrack: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=HbqxxbiBGA3mDhlLX4GUw8
- Strava Beacon: https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/224357527-Strava-Beacon
- Apple Watch / iPhone Find My: https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/view-a-friends-location-apd1132106dc/watchos
Garmin devices can auto-alert your contacts if they detect an incident (like a fall or a crash) – originally this was geared toward biking, but now it supports running as well:
- Garmin Incident Detection: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=RfaXahBWkH8Q7pVFLsuUmA
These features only work when you have cell service – but you can make sure that folks know where you were last in range (though if you configure any of these during a race – make sure to turn them off, or your contacts will all get notified when you go for a run the next day too!)
If you’re really hardcore – if you are going way off grid though – maybe you’re going hiking in the Whites, or Northern Maine and you want to make sure you have the ability to contact folks and them to contact you while you’re away from any Cell Towers, you can look into Satellite Messengers. The one I’m most familiar with is the Garmin inReach – they’re a bit pricey at about $300, plus a service plan – but if you are lost in the wilderness and need to get ahold of someone, they can be a life saver.
One new exciting feature that is emerging still – If you have a newer cell phone – either an iPhone 14+ or a Google Pixel 9+ (and a few others) you will actually have the ability to use Satellites for emergency messaging. This feature is still evolving – and plans are all over the place right now. T-Mobile will be launching a $10/month Satellite emergency plan for folks on plans that don’t have the service.
Hopefully these tips will help you stay connected to folks while you’re out on the trail – hopefully you won’t have any mishaps – but in the case an accident happens – being able to contact someone, or at least for folks to know your location can make a big difference!
