Runner's World magazine recently sent out an e-newsletter with this story, confirming what I discovered on my own in the first month we lived in the country (well, it's not quite country, but it's not suburbia either).

When we moved in, I thought...wow...look at all these great country roads I can run on. It will be so beautiful to run out here, shuffling along on these quiet, winding roads.

But, when I go out for a run, I always go toward Millcreek and/or the city. I run E. 38th Street a lot.

Why? For safety's sake.

I feel safer on a busy road with lots of witnesses (as opposed to an isolated country road), and it's been my experience that there's less trouble with loose dogs in more populated, urban areas. People who live on E. 38th Street contain their dogs (or they're soon hit by a car). In the country, people tend to let their dogs run free. And, there's nothing scarier than being cornered by some snarling Shepard whose owner is in the house a 1/2-acre away.

People often ask me if I run with anything (meaning dog spray, mace) and I do not. I have some dog spray and I carried it years ago. But it was annoying to have to haul it on the run and, frankly, whenever I was chased or cornered, I never even remembered I had the spray.

It didn't take long for me to realize that dog spray or mace was probably not going to protect me and that I was better off not putting myself into any situations where I needed it.