Two weeks ago, Eliza Fletcher was kidnapped while jogging near the University of Memphis campus. She dropped her phone during the struggle. That single detail has changed how runners across this city think about the gear they carry.
Since September 2, personal safety devices have been flying off shelves in Memphis. Fleet Feet on Ridgeway sold out of clip-on pepper spray holsters within days. REI in East Memphis told me their GPS-enabled watch inventory is the lowest it’s been all year. Online retailers are showing shipping delays on personal alarms and wearable trackers that were readily available a month ago.
The demand makes sense. The question is which of these products actually do what runners need them to do. I spent the past ten days testing devices, talking to local running groups, and consulting with two personal safety instructors in Shelby County. Here’s what I found.
Wearable GPS: The Single Most Useful Category
The Fletcher case made one thing painfully clear: a phone in your hand or armband can be dropped, knocked away, or left behind. A watch strapped to your wrist stays with you. That distinction matters more than most people realize.
Apple Watch (Series 7 and SE, current models as of September 2022): The Apple Watch can share your real-time location through the Find My app. If you set up a workout and something goes wrong, a family member or friend can see exactly where you are on a map. The Series 7 has fall detection, which automatically calls emergency services if it senses a hard fall and you don’t respond within a minute. Cellular models work without your phone, which is the critical feature. Cost: $399-$499 for cellular. If you already own an iPhone, this is the simplest option.
Garmin Forerunner 245/945 with LiveTrack: Garmin’s LiveTrack feature sends a link to your chosen contacts before you start a run. They can watch your position update on a map in real time. The Forerunner 945 also has incident detection, similar to Apple’s fall detection. Garmin’s battery life is significantly better than Apple Watch, lasting days instead of hours, which matters for ultramarathon runners and anyone who forgets to charge nightly. Cost: $300-$500 depending on model. Garmin’s interface takes more setup than Apple’s, and LiveTrack requires the Garmin Connect app on both your phone and the tracker’s contact phones.
The real-world test: I ran the Shelby Farms Greenline wearing both an Apple Watch SE (cellular) and a Garmin Forerunner 245 over three separate mornings. My wife tracked me from home using Find My and Garmin Connect simultaneously. Both worked. Apple’s location updated every 5-10 seconds with smooth map rendering. Garmin’s updated every 10-15 seconds with occasional lag on my wife’s phone. Neither failed or lost signal along the Greenline, including the wooded sections near Walnut Grove.
Personal Safety Alarms: Loud, Cheap, Limited
Personal alarms are the most affordable option and require zero technical setup. You pull a pin and the device screams. That’s it. The theory is that a sudden 120-130 decibel blast will startle an attacker and draw attention from anyone nearby.
She’s Birdie ($30): Compact, clips to a waistband or sports bra strap, emits 130 dB when the top cap is twisted. Sold out at multiple Memphis stores. I ordered one online and tested it in my driveway. It is genuinely, painfully loud. My neighbor came outside within ten seconds to ask if everything was okay. That’s the whole point.
BASU eAlarm+ ($15): Cheaper, nearly as loud at 120 dB. Smaller form factor. The pull-pin mechanism is a bit stiff, which could be a problem under stress.
The honest assessment: These work in populated areas. Running through Overton Park on a Saturday morning at 8 a.m. with other people around? A personal alarm could absolutely draw help. Running along a quiet stretch of Central Avenue at 4:30 a.m. in the dark, the way Fletcher was? There might be nobody within earshot. An alarm is a tool, not a solution. And it does nothing to communicate your location to anyone who isn’t physically close enough to hear it.
Pepper Spray: The Controversial One
Pepper spray is legal to carry in Tennessee without a permit. Sales at the Sabre distributor in Olive Branch, just across the state line, have tripled since Fletcher’s abduction according to a staff member I talked to last week.
Sabre Runner Pepper Gel ($13): Designed for runners. Hand strap keeps it accessible. Gel formula reduces blowback in wind, which matters if you’re running and spraying into air that’s moving. Range of about 12 feet. This is the most popular model among Memphis runners I spoke with.
Mace Brand Sport Jogger ($12): Similar concept. Fits in the palm with a velcro hand strap. Slightly shorter range.
What runners need to know: Pepper spray requires you to be close enough to an attacker to use it, to have it in your hand or within immediate reach, and to deploy it accurately while under extreme stress. I talked to Jim Mathis, a self-defense instructor in Bartlett who has taught classes at the Memphis Jewish Community Center and several Germantown fitness studios. His take was blunt: “Carry it, absolutely. Just understand that it’s a last-resort tool and you need to practice pulling it and spraying it so the motion is automatic. Most people who carry pepper spray have never actually discharged it.”
He recommended runners practice deploying their specific model at least twice, ideally outdoors, so they know the spray pattern and range before they ever need it for real.
Buddy Apps and Location Sharing
This category has grown rapidly and offers something the physical devices above don’t: a direct line to emergency services or trusted contacts that works from anywhere with cell service.
Noonlight ($5/month): You hold a button in the app. Release it without entering your PIN, and Noonlight dispatches local police to your GPS location. You don’t have to speak, describe where you are, or stay on the line. Memphis falls within their coverage area. The app saw a significant download spike in Tennessee over Labor Day weekend.
bSafe (free, premium $3/month): Lets you designate “guardians” who receive a live GPS stream and audio from your phone when you activate SOS mode. The premium version adds automatic alerts if you don’t check in by a set time.
Kitestring (free): Text-based. You tell it when to expect a check-in. If you don’t respond to its prompt, it messages your emergency contacts. Simple, no GPS tracking, works on any phone.
Road ID ($10/year for interactive service): Originally a physical ID bracelet for runners, Road ID now has an app that shares your location with contacts in real time. The physical bracelet also has a QR code that first responders can scan to access your emergency info.
My recommendation: Pair a buddy app with a wearable GPS. Noonlight or bSafe on your phone, plus an Apple Watch or Garmin on your wrist. Redundancy is the point. If you drop your phone, the watch still transmits. If the watch dies, the phone app is still running.
AirTags and Tile: A Partial Solution
After Fletcher dropped her phone, several people in local running forums suggested clipping an Apple AirTag to a shoe or tucking a Tile tracker into a running belt. The appeal is obvious: even if an attacker takes your phone and watch, a small tracker hidden in your clothing might still transmit.
The limitations are real, though. AirTags don’t have GPS. They rely on the network of nearby Apple devices to relay their location. In a dense area like Midtown Memphis, that network is thick enough to give accurate, near-real-time tracking. On a quiet residential street at 4:30 a.m.? There might be very few active Apple devices in range. Updates could take minutes instead of seconds.
Tile has the same limitation with an even smaller user network.
These aren’t useless. I’d still clip an AirTag to my running shoes as an additional layer. At $29, the cost is minimal. Just don’t treat it as your primary safety device.
Running Groups: The Oldest Safety Technology
Sometimes the best answer isn’t a device at all.
Memphis Runners Track Club has been around for years, organizing group runs across the city. Since Fletcher’s death, their social media pages have seen a flood of new interest. Saturday morning group runs at Shelby Farms are drawing 30-40 people where they used to draw 15-20. Weekday morning groups are forming in Midtown, with runners meeting at Overton Park’s Rainbow Lake trailhead at 5:30 a.m.
The Overton Park Running Group, which had been a loose collection of regulars who recognized each other on the trail, has started a group chat to coordinate run times and share routes. A new women’s running group formed in Cooper-Young the week after Fletcher’s abduction, with 80 members joining in the first five days.
Running with other people eliminates most of the risk. An attacker looking for a target isn’t going to approach a group of six. That calculus is simple and it works.
The trade-off is flexibility. If you run at 4:30 a.m. because that’s the only time that fits your schedule, finding a group that matches is hard. Most group runs start at 5:30 or 6. Early-morning solo runners, the people most at risk, are also the ones least likely to find a running group that works for them.
What I’d Carry Tomorrow Morning
If I were heading out for a predawn run along the Greenline or through Overton Park tomorrow, here’s my setup:
A cellular Apple Watch with Find My sharing turned on and my wife set as a contact. Noonlight loaded on my phone with the quick-trigger widget on my lock screen. Sabre Runner Pepper Gel strapped to my right hand. An AirTag clipped inside my left shoe. And I’d tell someone exactly where I was going and when I expected to be back.
Total cost for everything except the watch: under $50. Total time to set it all up: about 20 minutes.
None of this is a guarantee. Eliza Fletcher did many things right and it wasn’t enough. The devices I’ve listed here improve your odds. They don’t eliminate risk. That’s a distinction Memphis runners are going to have to sit with for a long time.
No gadget replaces a city that’s safe enough to run in. Until Memphis gets there, gear and groups are what we’ve got.