As a female runner, I take all the safety precautions I can before I lace up my shoes and head out for a run. I always give my boyfriend a rough route and estimated time of return, I turn down the music when running in the dark, remove one earphone, and always make sure my keys are on hand to protect myself in an emergency.

Like many runners, I am always looking for apps and technology to help me feel safe when I am out alone, like the "Find My Friends" feature on my iPhone, which allows me to share my live location with up to three people using Beacon and stop activity The Beacon can continue to track them until they stop their activity.

It can be a little tricky to set up, but it's a great feature. To make the community safer, Strava announced today that it is adding Beacon as part of its free features (previously it was always paid for). This is based on research published in the brand's Year in Sport report, which found that three times as many marathons will be run alone in 2020 than in 2019. More athletes than ever are training alone, and outdoor activity increased 28% in the U.S. last year.

To set up a Strava Beacon, simply log into the app and click on records. You will see a Beacon icon on the far right, click on it and it will save your secure contacts and send them a random URL that works in any web browser, desktop or mobile. The contact does not have to be a Strava member to open the link.

You have the option to choose how often you want to notify your contacts. They will be notified automatically when they start an activity, or you can manually choose when to send the tracking link.

If you have a compatible Garmin running watch, you can also use Beacon with your watch.

Before you begin, check to see if your watch has an "auto-start" feature (available on the Forerunner 55, Forerunner 245, Forerunner 645, Forerunner 745, Forerunner 945, Fenix 6 series, and other Garmin devices), or if you have a Strava available) or turned on in the Strava or Garmin Connect app.

If Auto Start is enabled, your contacts will receive an immediate alert when you manually start a run or ride from your watch. Without the auto-start feature, you must manually start a Garmin LiveTrack activity at the start of your run.

It should also be noted that while the Garmin watch tracks the GPS of your run, Beacon sends location information via your cellular signal, so you will need to bring your cell phone with you on your run. For more information, visit the Strava support page here.

If your Apple Watch has a cellular signal, you can use Strava Beacon while running even if you leave your cell phone at home entirely; Strava Beacon is available in the Strava app on the Series 2 or higher Apple Watch.

To set up Beacon, you must first add Beacon contacts to the app on your phone by following the instructions above. Once that is done, simply open the settings page of the Strava Watch app and switch Beacon to "ON". Once the Beacon status on the settings page switches to "Ready" and recording begins, a Beacon link will be sent to your safety contacts via text message.

For more information, visit the Strava website.

Here's the not-so-good news: Strava's important safety features will be free on the mobile app, but not from connected devices; Garmin said in a release, "Connections such as Garmin cycle computers and Apple Watch Beacon sharing from devices will continue to be a paid feature due to the increased complexity of supporting these integrations," it said.

While this may be annoying news for free members who prefer to leave their cell phones at home, overall it is definitely good news for runners and riders who are out on their own as we enter the winter months.