The past few weeks, my town has experienced a number of serious crimes, from murders to rape, to burglary and yesterday this all culminated in the shooting of two police officers — the first two ever lost in the line of duty in Santa Cruz. I don’t know if this is the end of a set of tragic crimes, or just the beginning. But I’d like to ask everyone — far and near — to take a moment of silence today for the families, friends and community of these officers.
To say this has hit home, is an understatement. Many of these crimes have happened within just a few miles of my home — and the rape happened very close to where I spend most of my time on campus. I run through the locations of crime on a weekly basis, and its terrifying to think that it could have been me or one of my running friends. Its been a reminder that although I live in ‘paradise,’ I need to remember to be safe when I’m out and about — especially while running.
Fellow SFM Ambassador Meg, who is one of my favorite running buddies and lives just a few miles away from me, also had these crimes hit home. And she just wrote her latest blog post on Running Safe for the SF Marathon. I recommend checking it out for some ideas of things you can do to ensure your own safety while doing what you love. And I’d love to hear some of your tips:
What do you do to ensure that you run or train safely?
I never run without Matt after dark. And I just ordered a pepper spray that has elastic and is meant for running…ordered it right after the rape. So, so sad to not feel safe in our little beach town anymore.
Yes, I am with you…although apparently the rape story was fabricated, which disgusts me. Though, I hope the woman gets help with whatever it is that caused her to make such a horrible falsified claim: http://news.ucsc.edu/2013/02/assault-update-release.html
OMG that’s so crazy and weird!!!
I heard the story on NPR this morning when I was heading to SC. So tragic…
It was so sad. Its been so hard on the community as a whole, and as I have friends who live across the street from where it happened, its really hit home.
Crime throughout our state is getting out of hand! At the college I coach at there is constant violence. We typically go through each practice with at least one set of police sirens zooming by our field.