Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 114, January 2019 | Page 37

SAFETY SPECIAL
Knife Wounds
A
nother harrowing
experience last year
occurred when Kent
Venish was covering the 8km
of road on the way to his
much-loved trail playground in
Gonubie, near East London,
when he mistook his assailant
for a late night reveller making
his way home in the early light
of morning. “In the next second
he was on me and pulled me
off my feet by my pack, which
snapped the plastic clips
across my chest. He shouted
he wants money, I had none,
and it was at this point I saw
the knife.”
“They say fight or flight… well,
maybe in hindsight I should
have ‘flighted.’ Anyhow, I
attacked him by closing the
distance so he could not use the knife. I parried with my left arm which took three stabs
and then locked his arm and proceeded to bend it backwards until it broke. He screamed
blue murder and kicked me to the ground, then stumbled off with my bag and kit in it. I got
up, shouting at him and started chasing him down, and I had taken a few running steps
when I suddenly
realised I was
breathing through the
side of my chest. I
had been stabbed in
the side of my chest
and instantly knew I
had a more serious
problem than my kit
being stolen, so I
stopped chasing.”
Kent was rescued
by a gentleman on
his way to work, who
piled him into his car
and drove him home,
where his wife then
took him to hospital.
He has fully recovered
since then, and vows
not to let this incident
rob him of his love for
trail running, but his
wife no longer allows
him to run in that
particular area!
Take Back
Control
I
n spite of all these frightening stories, it
is not all doom and gloom in the world of
running, it is simply time for us to work on
making it better. So what can we do? For
starters, there are a few proactive, protective
items and devices you could consider
carrying, such as Mace, the world’s most
popular brand of pepper spray (available
through various retailers, including Cape Union
Mart), or a pocket-size stun gun (available
through Takealot). You could also purchase
a Run Angel wristband from We Run (https://
werunonline.co.za), which emits an ear-
piercing alarm when you push the button, and
pairs with smartphones via a free app to send
out alerts in the event of an emergency.
Furthermore, companies like Cape Town-
based ACT Personal Safety offer courses to
improve situational awareness and proactive
strategies for hostile confrontations. “We
also advise pre-planning and a thorough
understanding of the risks and preventative
measures before deciding on self-defence
devices or strategies,” says Kelee Arrowsmith
of ACT, adding that running groups or
organisations should avoid over-sharing their
crime-prevention strategies, which only serves
to pre-warn the criminals.
It is worth remembering that if we all stay away
from our favourite running playgrounds for
fear of our safety, we only serve to make them
more isolated, dangerous zones. In short, the
wisest advice seems to be to get out there in
your numbers, take back the spaces that make
us all feel most alive, and keep running!
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