I almost always run with my phone. One of the few times I didn’t, I was on about a 12 mile out and back run. At mile 6 my IT band seized up in a way it never had and never has since. I could barely walk, much less run and I was six miles from home. Eventually, I managed to hobble about a mile over the course of an hour and find a business with a phone I could use to call for a ride.
Having a phone that day would have been really nice.
… between me & my partner, we own multiple pieces of exercise wear that has a dedicated pocket for a phone, because … you need somewhere to put your phone.
I, for one, endeavor to retain situational awareness even while on foot.
The author of this article apparently demands to run around with an unlocked phone. I have the same "Theft Protection" enabled and the only thing it purports to do is lock the screen. So I may never trigger it, because if I'm walking, or running, or bicycling, the screen is locked!!
If I cram earbuds into my ears and drown out the world, then I am functionally deaf; I cannot hear tires squealing, or honking horns, or victims screaming. I shan't go on about how my bone-conduction technology muddles up both music and the real world sounds.
If I'm checking my phone while I'm in motion on a sidewalk, I'm functionally wearing blinders, and not the good kinds like they put on carriage-horses. Especially at night when my glowing screen is brighter than the Full Moon! If my face is in my screen, then my mind is also not in meatspace, but my imagination is in Lothlórien, or Cair Paravel, or 40 Eridani in the 23rd century.
My mind and five senses need to be in the present and need to be in meatspace, or my feet don't belong in traffic.
So you can listen to music? And most people don't have a smart watch.
It's fairly common to see people running with a phone strapped to their arm.