I may be wrong -- but that is the general impression I get -- but am wondering why?? Any thoughts??
I ran past a young (and overweight) boy this morning - probably around 14 years old - and passed him again on my return leg. He showed friendliness when I said "Good Morning " on our first meeting , so I said to him on the return "You should be running (with a smile)!! OH NO!! said he with horror, as though I had just said he should murder his mother with an axe!! ?? 
Ha ha! Never mind Bazza you can't win em all. He's probably happy in his misery, and to smile at a grown-up is possibly beyond the pale
In the early stages of my career, I used to travel and work at different offices every 6 months. Being as how I work in a male dominated industry (engineering), I often ended up house sharing with young men from the same company. From my observations, they often had their own network of friends they would train with and get support from, rather than use sites like this. My cousins also had their own sports networks. Generally, I noticed that if my cousins (12, 13, +) said they wanted to go for a run, their parents wouldn't bat an eyelid, and from that they formed their support groups of friends as they turned into young men (and now middle aged men, who, as a first port of call generally go to the gym with their friends). I'm not saying girls are actively discouraged from taking up sports, but often, in my experience, we come to it later, and often as a tool for helping us lose weight first, and to increase fitness second and look for forums like this to get support because we often may not have the same support network that the guys may have. That is, boys, because they have role models like David Beckham and other sports stars are perhaps more geared towards fitness at a young age and therefore start building their own support networks through the various things they do like after school or weekend football.
Note - I'm not saying that is right. Girls & women should look to emulate ladies like Jessica Ennis-Hill (in my opinion) who make better role models than catwalk models or pop stars, and all children should be encouraged to take up fitness from a young age, which is why things like junior Parkruns are such a great idea. But the point I'm making is that what I have noticed is that men/women have different ways of tackling fitness and generally, men may have a support network already in place compared to women. Forums like this also perhaps work better for women, where as working out with friends can sometimes add a competitive edge for young (and older!) men which spurs them on to work harder. Also, at a personal level, when I was a gym member, I used to hate getting ogled at by men, and women only gyms were a lot rarer then.
That said, I do worry for the younger generations, both boys and girls. My cousins don't really let their kids run around at the park - they get taken every where by car, and are often sat on the computer or staring into mobiles. As parents, it is a more difficult job because of all the extra worries on how to keep young people safe and the lack of time people have to spend time with their children because both parents are working, but the best way to get young people fit is to give them a good example of eating and exercise, which is why I say again, I'm so glad to hear about junior Parkruns. I'm hoping that when my daughter is old enough, my OH and I can start taking her out to these and show how exercise and healthy eating can be fun. It's all about priorities - healthy parents make for happy parents, and the same for their children.
What a strange question?
Hi Bazza. I joined up with a running group last week. 2 guys (3 including me) and about 10 ladies. Maybe running IS a female biased thing. You, Danzargo & I are merely showing our feminine sides (especially Danzargo - he is way too interested in his appearance...)
Loads of men do running but they arent as articulate as women in writing blogs and interacting on a forum 
So we are still showing our feminine side - by writing blogs & interacting on a forum, rather than by running?
......just thought as a bloke I'd 'stand up and be counted'. Personally I think this site is brilliant, a bit like earwigging in a busy bar somewhere or having your own personal therapy session...trouble is I keep getting interrupted by work stuff!
No one is more surprised than me...
Madness in more ways than one!!!
First run for more than a month...
More Flara Flopped than Flara Croft 🙈
More than 3 runs per week
