This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®  & Road ID but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #roadid #RoadIDItsWhoIAm  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV

did you know each year over 450,000 of us are injured and taken to the hospital unconscious? how many of those people do you think had identification on them? none! zero. in reflecting on my years of running - wearing a Road ID would have been a super idea.
as a runner - the statistic that over 122,000 runners, walkers, and cyclists are hit by cars each year - that's just a staggering amount of incident. 

and up until now - if i had experienced some sort of incident - i would have been one of the 450,000 without any identification. i can honestly say that 100% of the time - i've never once had identification on me. not once.

when i first heard of Road ID a few years ago i immediately thought of me as a runner. i've been running for 16 years and i'm truly so lucky to be injury and incident free in all that time. i'm not saying there haven't been close calls (like the time i was mountain biking in the foothills and went over the handle bars into a little ravine - but that's a different sport)...but you guys, Road ID could have made all of my 16 years of running so much safer. 
let's take a trip down memory lane when i first decided it was a great idea that i start running. i needed to get in shape and as college student i certainly didn't have money to go to the gym for classes. i would be pounding the pavement in my running shoes, two sports bras (i doubled up back then), and cotton t-shirt. that was my gear. i was a nanny in a suburb outside of philadelphia back then and i ran all over that cute town, but usually at the high school track. i wasn't worried for my health or safety in a big city with no family around. i was 20, what could go wrong?

fast forward to myself as a fresh-college-grad in boise. i would run at all times of day. sometimes in the early morning before student teaching. sometimes at dusk after getting off work from my second job. my main focus was getting in shape. i wasn't worried about someone being able to identify me if i was injured...or as a woman...something worse.
jump ahead a few more years to when i moved to prague. another big city. a big city and a foreign language. i ran there too. mostly at the gym, but when i would get off work i did a lot of exploring. i would walk to the tram stop and not return home until well after midnight. you guys - that can be really scary. at 24 i was finally getting rid of some of my invincibility and it was being replaced by fear. something could actually happen to me. i was a young woman, alone, in a foreign country at a mostly deserted tram stop...or walking to a tram stop. or walking from the tram stop back home. what i'm saying is i was walking in the dark late at night alone a lot. i think back now and just shudder. that's scary! if i thought for a second that i would have been able to effectively and efficiently communicate with a doctor or someone trying to help me, who i was, where i was from, or even a phone number - the thought of that is laughable to me, now. 

and now - now i live on a farm. i'm talking small town, country living. our town has less than 200 people. but of those 200 people we all drive like race car drivers. there are no lines on the roads. there are no speed traps. honestly - i'm not even sure if there's a speed limit sign. (it's 45 mph - but most of us go 65.) now - in our town of 200 i think it's safe to say i've honestly never seen anyone else out running (aside from some mandatory high school PE running). so you can bet that i've been passed by vehicles going 65+...and they didn't give me any extra room. i always jump off our farm roads when i see an oncoming car, truck, semi, or tractor. always. i also always make a point to have a big smile on my face and wave enthusiastically - because it's important to remind them that on occasion - our sweet, little farm town does have pedestrian traffic...so pay attention...even though it's so easy not to on our country roads. honestly - i felt safer running the streets of boston than i do running out here. (yes - i lived in boston for a period of time as well.)
now when i'm running, pushing one of my girls in our running stroller, i couldn't be happier to have all the very best equipment on me: running shoes, music, one sports bra these days (thank you very much), and a Road ID. i'm a mom! i have two sweet gals who depend on me and need me to be healthy and safe for them.

just as we strap our sweet kids into their car seats in the back seat and adjust the harness and check the tightness of the straps and go to all these lengths - we too need to think of ourselves and the people who depend on us to keep ourselves healthy and safe. we make good decisions every day for our kids...which is why it's so important to for me to make a good decision when i head out for a run. wearing my Road ID with my farmer's contact information on it gives us both peace of mind. 
and some more food for thought (especially with the holidays just a few weeks away), all Road ID products and gift cards are 20% off from november 24th through the 28th, but only while supplies last! get it while the getting is good!