Where you run and your surroundings are critical to your safety, and it is always worthwhile to plan ahead of the day of your race. Try to choose a traffic free route, making use of any nearby parks, canal towpaths or cycle lanes to avoid busy traffic. 

Let others know where you are headed and roughly when to expect your return. If possible, bring some identification and cash/credit card so you get a taxi home in the unfortunate event that you are injured. 

Better still, sign in to Teem Up and let others follow your race progress in real-time!

Teem Up works best when you tune in to listen to the race instructions, however, it is important that you are still paying attention to your immediate surroundings. So we would recommend using bone conducting headphones if you have access to any, or maybe just use one earbud during your run.

This is always difficult to get right especially here in the UK as the weather can be changeable and you can get four seasons in one day! Our advice is always wear whatever that is comfortable to run in when you're warmed up, and this will take practice to get right. If you're unsure, run with a small backpack so you can stow it away as you get warm, and likewise, take extra layers with you in case you need to stop. You will be surprised how quickly you cool down when you stop running!

And if you are running at night then always wear bright and reflective clothing!

You may have trained for months for this race, or you may be raising money for charity and don't want to let your supporters down, or maybe you can't bear the thought of registering a DNF against your name, but it's never worth over exerting yourself and risking a longer term injury - there will always be another race for you.