Anybody run regularly while serving? Please share your experience!

Hello there, fellow runner! I'm an avid (female) runner about nine months into my service in South America and I hope I can answer most of your questions.

I live in a small town so I usually run early in mornings two to four times per week before most people wake up especially when there are less cars and cat-calls (I ignore them and they don't bother me at all). Other times, I run in afternoon on a school compound so school children could join running if they wanted to.

So far, yes, I feel safe in my community because realistically, no place is safe although it is important to know where your escape routes are, which closest places (houses of trusted community members, police stations, etc) where you'd feel safe running to in case of emergency, and how would you have to confront anyone. Vary your running routes and distances on random days. I've never experienced any danger situation at all. Sometimes, I'd meet new and old faces running same routes and they'd show me new routes - a great way to explore the site. I hope that can be the same for you at your future site. My advice is... to start running as fast as you can to integrate faster into the community.

As for half-marathons and marathons, I ran the half-marathon here and I signed up for a full marathon in few months from now. One PCV had helped their community host the national marathon and 10K at their site in the jungle to help fundraiser money for their school. It was a huge success to the point they already planned on hosting another one soon. Also, few PCVs participated in half and full marathons in neighboring countries as an opportunity to explore there on their vacation days.

If you have any more specific question or anything, please feel free to ask. Running will be a great stress reliever so run whenever you can.

/r/peacecorps Thread