Safety when out running?

[Lillyputter]

Incident tonight where we took a wrong turn which led us onto an unknown estate. We had stones thrown at us by two older, male teenagers, at our backs after we'd passed. We dealt with it by pretending we hadn't noticed, and not reacting (though I was furious they'd target two women like that) but they hit me on the back and the person I was running with on her hand, and it hurt. There were passers-by, possibly scared, who said nothing.

Then we had trouble finding the way out as it was a bit of a maze.

It's shaken me a bit, and I'm the idiot responsible as it was my fault we ended up down that road.

But it's made me think about safety, and what precautions people take, if any. I'm thinking of getting an alarm, though I don't think it would have been helpful to use tonight.

Thanks in advance

Have you reported the incident to the police? They might not do much in isolation but it may be a useful part of a bigger picture.

I hope you're OK now, and ignoring sounds like a good strategy for that moment.

Knowing your area is important. That doesn't mean don't explore but look up the areas before going somewhere new so you've got a good idea how it joins up.
If you buy a new OS map, it has a code that you can put into their app so you can access that on your phone (as an alternative to a subscription). Plus there's the usual GPS software like Google Maps. The heat maps on Strava are interesting too.

I do have an attack alarm and have used it once to split a couple that sounded like they were having a heated domestic. My logic is that it's not necessarily for help but will get the attention of potential witnesses, and startle a threat taking some of their control out of a situation.

Advice about carrying offensive items e.g. hair spray, keys in hand is more likely to backfire and result in injury to you.

I am more selective about my routes in the evening/ dark. For quiet trail, it's more about not seeing trip hazards. In urban areas it's about people loitering/ lighting/ places you could get hemmed in.

I feel safer on rural trail because the main hazards are tripping and cows rather than humans! I tend to feel more cagey on some main roads and off-road cycle routes that are known with a quiet flow of people.

Thank you, that's useful!

My friend thought it might be over the top to report to police, but I would strongly suspect we're not the first people they've ever done that to, joggers or otherwise. So I was already thinking about how best to report today.

We do usually run in a rural area, and pass a couple of farms. That's our regular run. I feel far safer there as you can see for miles around and we're still near a main road, usually. It was my stupid idea to take a short cut (without checking I was correct, as I was certain it would bring us out at a certain point, I can see now I should have taken a left turn) down what I thought was a main road, but instead tapered off deep into the estate and some narrow path. After the stone throwing I didn't feel safe to stop and check my phone until we reached a main road.

I'm fine now thanks, but perhaps it was a good thing, as it could have been worse and perhaps I had grown complacent about safety.