OP here. So basically don't do it or risk being on the evening news. I guess that's what my gut was saying as well. I'm fairly new to this neighborhood, and in my old neighborhood (Logan Circle) I had a gym 2 blocks away where I could run safely during the winter. I can stick w 16th Street and a headlamp.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, as a female I don't get the phone thing.

Why would you be more concerned with your crappy phone than your own physical safety?

When I run in the dark (with a partner) I'm sure as hell not thinking about my phone's safety.

It's not about losing the phone, it's about making yourself a target of an attack. People have gotten injured or killed over things as stupid as a phone.

Anonymous wrote:Run w a partner or group. Jeez. Just ask the police, and listen to what they say. They're the ones who have deal with the results of urban innocence.

+1

OP, tell us your 1st name so we can look out on the news.

I'd be too nervous, but I'm a fraidy cat. I get that it's not always so easy to find a group or run later, but I would be extra cautious about running in Rock Creek in the dark. I don't even love it in the daylight!

Yeah, as a female I don't get the phone thing.

Why would you be more concerned with your crappy phone than your own physical safety?

When I run in the dark (with a partner) I'm sure as hell not thinking about my phone's safety.

I'm the Rock Creek running guy pp. I do see police pretty often when running. Usually they are parked in the parking lot just north of Blagden the once by Pierce Mill, or the one north of Tilden/Park. Usually I worry that they're going to tell me not to run because technically the park is closed at dark. Once DW and I stopped to talk in one of the above parking lots and within 5 minutes there was a police officer telling us to clear out.

Anonymous wrote:I don't live in DC and so can't comment on running through Rock Creek Park during early weekday mornings, but if you are worried about visibility and phone snatching, I have a better idea. Stash your phone in a pocket somewhere in case you need it for an emergency, and try wearing a headlamp. Yes it looks a bit dorky, but believe me you get over that since very few people see you, and after a while you forget you are even wearing it. They are comfortable and really help with visibility. The last time I ran without one in the AM dark, I tripped over a sidewalk lip, skinned both knees, and had little rocks splinters in my palms.

Fenty and his crew all wore headlamps when they ran. I used to see them out running and it was a little disconcerting to see this gang of bouncing dots approaching from the distance.

Chandra Levy.

Anonymous wrote:uhhh, I wouldn't be worried about an errant phone snatcher. Who doesn't have a phone these days? And whoever doesn't-do they hang out in a forest waiting for the opportunity to get one?

People aren't snatching phones because they NEED them, goofball. They steal them to wipe and sell on the black market. It's called crime. Do you read the newspaper or watch the news ever?

Run w a partner or group. Jeez. Just ask the police, and listen to what they say. They're the ones who have deal with the results of urban innocence.

Get a head light.

I wouldn't do it, and I'm a regular female runner in Rock Creek along Beach Drive. In the street. In broad daylight. Running in the opposite direction of traffic head on.

I am not discounting what the guy PP said; but I will point out that the "bad guy" crimes in that part of Rock Creek in the past 10 years +/- have all been assaults on women -- of varying severity. Not phone or wallet snatches.

Chandra Levy is the one we all think about, but there have been several others periodically that evidently unfolded the same way: young male in the bushes or in a parking lot or sort of on a bike, female runner either doesn't see him at all before she's assaulted OR vaguely remembers passing him as he's sitting there on his bike back there .... you can Google and dig deep through the ($) WashPost archives for details.

I am not going to derail this thread with incendiary ethnic stereotyping, but I did want to say there is a segment of the DC area population that "hangs out" in the early morning hours in parks and is not unknown in Rock Creek Park AND various members of this group were responsible for many of the crimes I reference above. I bring this up just to get you to stop thinking, "well gee, I don't rest in bushes in national parks at 5 a.m., so no one probably does. Guess I'm safe then!"

I just wouldn't feel comfortable at that time of morning, by myself in dimly lite areas. Regardless of the time of day I don't wear head phones- its so easy not to hear a bike, a car another runner or something worse. I like to be aware of my surrounds. I do carry my phone and an ID with me when I run. When its dark I just modify when I run.

Run with a partner or group. Or run indoors on a treadmill.