whats the number of times the letter p appears in:
women who run alone should take the time to learn safety measures to keep them safe.
like many runners, amy emens first thought when you mention running safety is cars.
ive almost been hit twice by people texting, said emens, of gates, who is training for the disney marathon and prefers to road run alone on the main roads in gates, chili, and ogden. im constantly looking around when i run to make sure i dont get hit.
and while the dangers to runners from vehicles are very real, so is another danger emens is not as aware of: criminals.
i guess im pretty naïve when it comes to personal safety, emens said. its not something i really think about even though i know i should.
emens mindset is not uncommon. it is something village of brockport police chief daniel varrenti has seen often during his career in law enforcement.
not looking out for your own safety is common because it is the exact opposite of what running is supposed to be, varrenti said. people run to zone out and relax.
varrenti, himself a biker, appreciates the desire to run alone, but strongly cautions against it, noting that the chance of becoming a crime victim increase dramatically when someone is solo.
do not run alone, varrenti said. do it in pairs. no matter how strong you think you are, a person with a gun, club, or using the element of surprise can make the biggest or strongest of females and males incredibly weak.
while running with a partner is ideal, it is not always possible.
if you absolutely must run alone, varrenti suggests choosing a route that is highly traveled and not isolated, like residential neighborhoods.
isolation works incredibly well to a strangers advantage, varrenti said. choose highly densely populated areas and avoid trails. above all, use good common sense.
pete dupré, a marathoner with a black belt in tae kwon do, agrees that running in pairs is the best defense against being harmed while running.
often i will be out running in secluded areas at dark and will see a woman running by herself, said dupré, of bloomfield, its illogical. dont be there. run together or find a more open, public place.
dupré, who is a certified tae kwon do instructor, also suggests that if you cant find someone to run with, that you run with a dog.
many women have dogs, all dogs like to run and most dogs can be taught to run distances, dupré said. it is extremely unlikely a potential attacker will approach a woman with a dog.
dupré, like varrenti, realizes there are instances in which women will run alone. if that happens and you are approached by a stranger, he believes knowing how to physically defend yourself is critical and more apt to protect you then any device you may have in your running belt – like a key or pepper spray.
a womans immediate reaction is going to determine her fate, dupré said. if im an attacker and i run towards a woman and she steps back and gets into a martial arts fighting stance im going to say this woman is crazy or knows what she is doing and im going to find someone else to mess with.
a martial arts stance is one thing dupré said can be learned through minimal teaching – he recommends at least two months of classes in one of the martial arts.
every woman that runs should at minimum know how to set into a martial arts fighting stance, dupré said. it takes less time to train to defend yourself then it takes to train for your first 10k.
in addition to learning the fighting stance, dupré says women should learn a spirit yell and how to take an attacker down by kicking him in the groin.
there is the misconception that learning martial arts is a long, expensive, invasive process, dupré said. its not. with some basic building blocks you can learn some techniques that can save your life.

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In that passage, there are 57 occurrences of the letter "p."
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