RUNLITES:REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

I'm not a huge fan of running in the dark.  But, during the winter I have to do it quite a bit.  On the week-ends, throughout the entire season, I work up at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, NH.  Between my job, my own recreational skiing, which I squeeze in between shifts, and the fact that both my girls train all day with the local ski team, I am typically on the hill from 8am to 4pm.  It's a long day. But, I love it, so I'm not complaining.  Since I started working at Cannon, about 5 years ago, I've also always been concurrently training for a spring marathon.  Thus, at the end of each day, when my friends are saddling up to the bar for a cold one, I often find myself zipping home to change my clothes and get my run in.  At first, it was kind of brutal as I, too, wanted nothing more than to just chill out at the lodge with my crew after a long day.  Over time, though, it's become the norm and I've learned to just accept it because it's what I choose to do and that's that.  My typical routine gets me out on the road around 5:00pm.  It's not quite dark out when I start but by the time I'm finishing it's pitch black.  I do my best to stay on smaller, local roads or the sidewalk whenever possible, but it's still a bit unnerving to be running in the dark in a bustling ski town where very few people expect to see a runner cruising the strip on a Saturday night.  After several unnerving run-ins with cars that were way too close for comfort, I bought myself a reflective safety vest with blinky lights on both the front and the back which I now wear religiously.  Even with this, though, I'm often not seen until drivers are very close to me if at all.  I should mention that I have tried several different types of headlamps and none of them stay snuggly on my head.  In fairness, my head is very small, but still, between having to constantly adjust the position of the strap and having to put it back on entirely when it slips off, I ended up giving up on the headlamp years ago.  So along with the vest, I am constantly seeking out additional safety devices to ensure that I stay visible and in one piece.  Enter RunLites.  A few weeks ago, the company reached out to see if I'd like to give them a try.  Yes please.  The timing could not have been more perfect as I was getting very close to resorting to using Christmas lights in some way which would have most likely been a huge pain in the ass to deal with if not really dorky.  In a nutshell, RunLites are gloves with built-in safety lights.  They offer several different options (size, color, fabric) for all sorts of activities (running, cycling, camping, etc).

For my purposes, winter running, I chose the RunLites Full-Length Fleece gloves.  Not only do they have lights, but they also have a reflective strip along the top of the glove for extra visibility as well as touchscreen capability for the thumb and pointer finger in both gloves.  You turn them on with one quick and easy touch and you're ready to go.  

There are two brightness settings, both providing more light than a standard flashlight, that project up to 15 feet in front of you.  They're powered by a rechargeable battery (USB cord included) that lasts up to 48 hours.  The gloves themselves are soft, lightweight, and breathable.  So, really, in regards to running in the dark, there is absolutely nothing these gloves can't do and no reason you shouldn't snag yourself a pair.  Winter is far from over and darkness, well, it's a daily occurrence.  Might as well get out there and run the night!

RUNNING THE NIGHT

RUNLITES GIVEAWAY

The good folks at RunLites have generously donated one pair of gloves in the size, style and color of your choice to one lucky RWM reader.  Here's how to enter:

1. Comment below.  Tell us what you love or hate about running in the dark.

2. Post the following to Twitter: I want to run the night with @RunLites and @runningwmusic

3. Send me an email with RunLites as the subject and your name in the body of the message.

4. Do all of these things.

Note: Contest is only open to US residents.  Winner will be picked via random.org on 3/11/16.  Retail value of RunLites gloves is between $34.99-$39.99.  Many thanks to RunLites & good luck!

Listen to this:

Lemon Eyes - Meg Myers (StéLouse Remix)