How Jogging Can Kill You

It continues to amaze me how some people jog for health benefits while simultaneously placing their bodies (and those of others) in peril. Not that I have anything against jogging, and have done it myself innumerable times, but I have to shake my head when I see people jogging on busy roadways with 55 to 65-mph speed limits, not paying attention to their surroundings, jogging in extreme heat or cold, not wearing reflective gear at night, jogging first thing in the morning in poor visibility,  or jogging with the flow of traffic  (meaning they have no way to see if a driver may be veering off the road towards them so they can at least try to get out of the way).  It’s as if some people think that the very act of jogging insulates them from being harmed along the way.  It doesn’t.

I pointed the perils of exercising dangerously in a November 2011 blog entry. Unfortunately, deaths from jogging continue to mount. So, it’s time for an update to try and bring some more awareness to this issue and hopefully prevent needless deaths or injuries related to jogging. Remember, all of these people went out for a jog to live longer and they wound up getting killed in the process. It’s a sad and terrible irony.

1. August 2012: A man in British Columbia died while jogging on the side of a highway after jumping a barrier and landing on the rocks below.  The jogger tried to get out of the way of a truck approaching him from behind, leaped over the concrete barrier at the end of the highway, and fell down the steep 30-foor drop on the other side. 

2. August 2012: A 21-year-old woman was critically injured in Corpus Christi, Texas, after running across a street (she was not on a cross walk) and being struck by someone driving an SUV.

3. July 2012: An experienced runner died in England while jogging and accidentally running into a low-hanging high voltage cable.

4. July 2012: A teenage jogger in England died while listening to his headphones and not hearing an approaching freight train which killed him.

5. July 2012: A 20-year old jogger is killed on Rte 507 in Pennsylvania while she is struck from behind by a pick-up truck. 

6. July 2012: A jogger in La Quinta, California was hospitalized with moderate injuries after being struck by a motorist who suffered some type of medical emergency while driving and went into cardiac arrest.

7. July 2012: A 22-year-old woman jogging in an atmospheric temperature of 113 degrees in Arizona collapsed and died. She was dehydrated and her body temperature was 109 degrees.

8. July 2012: An 84-year-old man jogging in Hempstead, New York, was critically injured around 7:45 am after being hit by someone backing out of their driveway with a Jeep.

9. July 2012: A 21-year-old woman in New York was critically injured after being struck by a driver who fled from the scene.

10. March 2012: In England, a 52-year-old jogger was killed by a truck driver driving dangerously.

I have not even included all of the cases of women who have been physically and/or sexually assaulted while jogging alone on jogging trails, often late at night.  Please use common sense while jogging and if you know a jogger, please pass this on.  Whenever you jog next to fast-moving vehicles, you are putting your life (and the lives of people in the car) in jeopardy. But wherever you job, you have to be aware of your surroundings, which includes the weather, to stay safe.

How Too Much Exercise Can Harm You and Your Heart