An Eventful Week!!

[Skiddle1]

Sat here watching the London Marathon absolutely amazed by some of the finishing times!! Brilliant!

This week I have made some much smaller achievements in comparison but every little goal counts and you never know I may complete my own marathon one day. 🤷

I attended my first ParkRun yesterday and really enjoyed it. It's a great option for safety in numbers to continue running in the darker months of the year... It's a shame to have to think like that but as a female I barely feel safe trail running in the summer days by myself. A feeling many of you share perhaps.

I've been working hard to contribute kilometers to the runner's world cup the past couple of weeks and was so glad we got through to the semi finals, fingers crossed for the finals. Today is the last day so I may squeeze in another run today.

Also, I had no idea that one of my runs I uploaded during the tournament was put towards the guiness world record attempt for the most 5Ks run on a single day.... So now I'm part of a world record! Congrats to everyone else who is too. Great result as a collective effort! 😁👍

I'm wearing my England world cup runners t-shirt today with pride 🇬🇧

Have a great Sunday everyone!

[Instructor57 Graduate10]

Yes the marathon times are amazing aren't they 😳Great that you enjoyed your first parkrun 👍I've yet to do one , haha !

It's so sad that you don't feel safe running trails alone 😟

Perhaps you can find a run buddy to join you ?

I also ran my 5k for England in the world record 👍

[Skiddle1 Graduate10 in reply to Instructor57]

I do have a running buddy for at least one day of the week but I like to run two or three times so I guess the other runs I'll have to stick to the roads and highly public areas. It is a shame to feel like that instructor57 and I'd love to be able to have an attitude that I should and will run where I want but that would also be a silly thing to do. I'd love to set up a 'safe zone', (something on a smaller scale than parkrun) for women who feel a bit vulnerable. 🤔

Well done on your world record participation! Can't wait to find out if England go through to the finals in the runner's world cup. I just looked and we are now fourth on the leadership board and 4 countries go through don't they. Exciting. Altogether since it began I've contributed 43K! Chuffed with that. 😁

[CBDB Graduate10 in reply to Skiddle1]

Wow! Run World Cup - I read that and couldn’t believe it as last time I looked we were on 9th place. So the London Marathon probably provided a huge jump! (And wasn’t the LM brilliant coverage!)

Also so we’ll done for your Parkrun!

[Cmoi Graduate10]

Like Instructor57 , I'm really sad that you don't feel safe running trails alone Skiddle1 .

I'm a 60 year old female who lives in a very rural part of France. I run solo all the time, on forest trails as much as I possibly can, and I very rarely meet anyone during my runs.

My logic is that the chances of my being attacked are way smaller than they would be if I were running in an easily accessible place where there are more people around. I also carry a phone, though that's more in case of falling and getting injured, than out of safety concerns.

I'm absolutely not decrying your fear, but statistically (see bbc.com/news/explainers-563... women are more likely to be killed, attacked, raped or sexually assaulted by someone they know than by a stranger.

However, if I do end up assaulted, raped or murdered, I can assure you that it won't be because my choosing where to run is "a silly thing to do," it will be because somebody else has chosen to commit a violent crime. Their fault, not mine.

[Skiddle1 Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

Oh no I didn't mean it was a silly thing to do going and running trails as a female alone (of course we should be able to).... I meant it would be silly of me to ignore the feeling of vulnerability as this is a normal way the body protects itself. I know the chances are small, however, if you did the job I did you would have a heightened sense of safety too despite the statistics. The fact is that it does happen and that's enough for me to remain hypervigilant. ☺️

Even Charlotte Purdue today at the London marathon said to the cameras she doesn't feel safe running alone and her parents drive alongside her when she is training! This is not just a me thing, absolutely loads of female runners feel this way and it is sad.

[Cmoi Graduate10 in reply to Skiddle1]

Hi Skiddle1 , before you read my response, I want to be clear that I'm not getting at you personally. 😀

I'm just hugely frustrated and angry, raging at the impression I'm getting of the UK in 2021. Nothing seems to have improved since the late 70s and early 80s, when that evil creature Sutcliffe was out murdering and students like me were being told to be good little girlies and stay at home, to avoid being mistaken for prostitutes and ending up dead.

For me, it's not just sad that "69% of women do not feel safe or adjust their behaviours to feel safe when they run" (Women’s Running National Running Survey 2021.) It's utterly appalling. It is fundamentally wrong that a 30-year old female athlete living in the UK, a supposedly civilised democracy in Europe, feels she has to have her parents driving next to her while she's training.

Also, it's probably semantics, but I can't agree with you that "[a] feeling of vulnerability ... is a normal way the body protects itself." I entirely agree that humans are able to sense imminent danger ("the spidey senses are tingling") but for me, that is not the same as vulnerability. Running makes me feel strong and powerful, not vulnerable.

I don't want safe zones. I don't want to have to spend my life being hypervigilant because society is perfectly happy to tolerate unacceptable behaviour. I want it called out and stopped. See wewillcampaign.com/ #WEWILL

[DylanTheRabbit Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

Thanks for the link and well put👍🏼

[Skiddle1 Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

I'm right there with you with the frustration and don't worry I'm not taking your comments as a personal attack on the topic I brought up! I love you are passionate about empowering women. We shouldn't 'need' safe zones but ultimately there are women out there that would perhaps love to go out and run or even walk but just don't because they cannot guarantee absolute safety.

I know female dog walkers that choose their paths carefully and avoid certain times of the day or certain places.. just last week my friend was out walking in broad daylight across a park with her dog and her 6 month old baby and was approached by a man that frightened her so much she had to pretend to know a couple that happened to be walking in her direction and they kindly escorted her home and the police came out.

You are right, we shouldn't need safe zones and maybe having them just reinforces the thoughts that the world isn't a safe place but it is a shame that so many women miss out on either the activity itself or just being able to carry it out in beautiful places (which are usually more isolated) because they simply don't feel safe enough. For those individuals more safe places would be beneficial if we were just focusing on the objective of health and fitness and enabling more people to be able to get out their and take part. Maybe the words 'safe zone' isn't the best phrase... More just safety in numbers with having more meet places and days. ParkRun is great but it is very busy and is limited to Saturday mornings.

[Yesletsgo Graduate10]

Regarding feeling safe while running, my routes are all across open fields where I can see for miles in most directions and there aren't many hiding places. I rarely meet anyone, just a few dog walkers.Mostly I feel pretty safe and it's liberating, maybe this is how men feel all the time? Even so, at least once every run I'll just check behind me to make sure nobody's there...

Although running out there is fine the idea of walking the same route alone bothers me. Maybe my subconscious has decided I can run fast enough to get away?😁