The days are getting shorter, and darkness is falling earlier and earlier. Over the summer months, my evening runs have occurred with enough daylight to keep things safe and light the way. All of a sudden, with Daylight Saving Time coming to an end it’s like someone flipped a switch. Yeah, sure, there are streetlights and other light sources out there to make it tolerable, but it’s still a good idea to have something to light the path directly in front. Also, it’s important to have something that makes you more visible to people in cars.

So, I wanted to show the people in my clinic that I practice what I preach. As such, I got a clip-on LED light source. It just clips onto my cap and can go from 1 light, to 3 lights, to 5 lights, to a flashing state. I tried it out last night, and man, it’s bright. As the light shined on the runners in front of me I could see all of the reflective striping on their jackets glowing brightly. I guess you had to be there, but the glow had something of an ethereal feel to it. Having parts of clothing shine so brightly in the dark is just odd, isn’t it? Anyway, with that in mind, I guess it’s also important to note that runners should be using clothing that has these kinds of reflective stripes. It allows drivers to see people from a long distance. Especially when conditions become a little bit slippery, that extra bit of distance can make the difference between life and death, right? Safety first!