Today’s post is about a subject that is close to my heart. For the longest time, I have been running without carrying any form of ID (I know, insert lecture here!). I just never gave a thought to plugging in my headphones and heading out the door sans ID. At times I would hear the voice in the back of my head reminding me that I should be safe and carry some form of identification. I am a mother runner, my two children and husband depend on me. What would happen if I passed out on the side of the road and no one knew who I was? How would I get help? The truth is that I should have known better from my own personal experience.

A very close friend of mine has epilepsy. When she was younger, she used to go for runs of varying distance around town. One afternoon, she was out running and suffered a seizure. After a seizure, you are often times unable to talk. You have thoughts running through your head, but no way to verbalize them. Imagine how frightening this is–and then imagine yourself out for a run, waking up on the side walk with no memory of what just happened. You walk to the nearest house to ask for help, but the person who answers the door is afraid to help you. She doesn’t know what you are trying to communicate, and is afraid to let you in. You have no identification whatsoever and no way to get the message to her that you need help and you need someone to come get you. Thankfully, the situation turned out okay–but we all know that it could have turned out much worse.

As mother runners and non-mother runners, we need to take the necessary steps to protect our safety. If you do not carry any identification with your, consider getting some type of identification bracelet. I recently purchased a Road ID, where I could put up to five lines of text for emergency contacts, address,etc. I now wear the bracelet whenever I go for a run, even if I am at the gym. If you don’t want to wear a bracelet, at the bare minimum, you should at least make sure that you have an ICE (in case of emergency) number that is easily located on your phone. I recently read a story about a runner that suffered a heart attack while running. He had no identification, and the emergency medical staff had to use the serial number on his ipod to track down his address and telephone number to notify his wife! So, the next time you head out for a run, please make sure you take some ID with you! Your life could depend on it!