With the time change comes morning darkness. A pain for me since I like to get my run done as soon as I drop off Thing 1 for 5:45am high school track practice. Out here in the Chi-town boonies, it’s dark. No street lamps and no sidewalks so running can be treacherous. Because of this, I have to be very careful about where and when I go and especially how visible I am to others.
I wrote a post about night running safety here. Now I found a great product to shed lots of light on the problem of running in the dark.
What are RunLites?
RunLites are essentially lightweight gloves with built-in lights just above the knuckles so there’s nothing to carry or strap on. I don’t know about you, but I never cared for my headlamp. It’s a PIA.
These babies are bright. I went out into pitch darkness and could easily see 15+ feet in front of me. Between the two gloves, a really large arc of light surrounded me. Brighter than any flashlight I own and light years more convenient.
RunLites could not be cuter or more functional. Made of lightweight wicking material with a terry thumb perfect for mopping sweat. There’s a secure pocket with a Velcro closure in each palm where you can stash a key, cash or ID, and a larger area that will hold a gel. The lights Velcro in and out of the gloves so you can remove them for charging. If you live in a colder climate like I do, no worries. There’s a full-finger polar-fleece model too. They’re perfect for runners, cyclists and I have to say I love them for walking the dogs at night. So much better than fumbling around with a flashlight!
Final thoughts: These are a great idea and perfect if you need to run in the dark. I’d still make sure I was visible from behind with both reflective clothing and lights visible from the rear, and of course, take all the usual precautions so you minimize your risk as much as possible.
I’m training for two half-Ironman races, and I’d use this for my very early morning runs. I love these!
These look awesome! I would love to be an early morning runner, but am always put off by the darkness. I think these would solve my problem!
Oops, didn’t read the instructions before commenting! I’m training for my first full marathon! And I would use these to become a morning runner!
These look really cool! I hope I win them. If not, I may have to buy them. I’ve got a couple of 5Ks, a 10K, and a half marathon do run all by 01 May!
Training for the Bay to Breakers in SF in May
I’m training for a 5K run with local teachers.
I’m training for the Boston Marathon. These would be great for my later runs when I get off work after dark.
Do you know Mary, the inventor of Runlites? She lives near me and gave me some gloves to review too! I think they are awesome and my husband even likes them. I think he wants a pair for fishing!
What a great idea. I would love to have a pair of these for my evening walks.
I’m training for the Grand Teton and Yellowstone half marathons in June!
These sound amazing! Do you think they would be too warm to wear when it’s hot out? Even though it will be lighter there were definitely some warm days in the fall when I was running in the dark and wore my headlamp.
Wow, these are super cool! I’m not training for anything in particular right now, but I like to do runs early in the morning, when it’s still dark. Daylight savings time has exacerbated this issue by making the sun come out at a later time. It would be wonderful to have these to run with in the dark mornings.
I’d much rather run early in the morning too and daylight saving is putting a cramp in that for sure! These gloves look like a great idea! (I can’t do the headlamp thing either!)
Right now I’m just training to get back in shape. I don’t have any big runs scheduled yet. I’d use these for those night runs when I get out just a bit too late.
Training for a marathon, but usually need to run at night. SO this would help with my mileage
I hate this time change!
training for a half marathon with my best friend
OMG, never seen anything like this. Those would be so practical ! Love them. Want them !
I am training for 2 half marathons in April. I would use these on my night and early morning runs. They would be great on an overnight relay
cool! I am always out in the dark, they look super hand-y! 🙂
I bike and run both. I could really use these handy lighted gloves. I usually use a head lamp.
Those gloves are awesome! Though I’m on the other spectrum – Im never up that early but late at night running is bad too.
These would be perfect for my early morning runs!! Training for a bunch of half marathons and my first full in the fall!
I run in the dark all the time and not having to hold a light would be awesome!
These looks awesome. I always run after work and sometimes it can get pretty dark. Right now I am training for the GA Publix Half Marathon on Sunday!
I’m training for my first marathon. I run at night after work, and these would be awesome and so much less annoying than my head lamp!
These sound really great! I run, and my husband bikes to work, so I could see us both using these a lot!
I’ve got Cherry Blossom April 3! I’d wear these on my 5:30 am runs which are in the dark again.
I love the idea of nothing extra to carry 🙂 No street lights here either, I like to have path of light for sure.
Not sure how I missed this post, but yes, I need these! We have street lights here but they aren’t so bright.
Training for…everything. LOL. I could use these on my weekday runs. It’s dark again. Thank you time change.
sometimes I need to run earlier when it is dark out-it would be great for that!
Training for the Marquette marathon in 9/16 and Chicago marathon 10/16
I’m training for my first full marathon! I would use them on my early morning runs. I totally agree with you about headlamps being a PIA!
I am training for my first full marathon this spring and these would be great for my morning runs 🙂
Just trying to get back into the game. I ran my first marathon last spring, then ran into some injury issues. I’m slowly working my way back after taking off for longer than I expected.
I’ve never seen those gloves before – light and a gel holder, too, so handy!
Oh, meant to write that I’m training for a 25K trail race and that the gloves would be handy when training in early mornings.