Running While Female

[Ohiogal]

Male runners may be shocked to learn how often women must endure on-the-run harassment.

Many female runners have come to just expect it.

A man will look a woman up and down as she runs past. a driver will shout a come-on, laughing with his friends as they speed away. A person on a bike or in a car will follow a woman, and she might dart down a side street to escape. Even if nothing like this happens most days, knowing that it ( or something worse) could happen, causes stress.

As the recent national dialogue surrounding Donald Trump’s sexist comments and alleged sexual assaults brought to light - almost all women, runners or not, have endured unwanted sexual attention. And no matter how swift the woman’s pace, it’s impossible to outrun harassment.

https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a18848270/running-while-female/

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I used to run many years ago when I was in my 20s, and I can verify that all of these things happened to me, even though I was careful to run during daylight hours, in a safe neighborhood, where people were usually around. It’s horrible. I even was harassed when walking down the same streets when I quit running in favor of walking. Even riding my bike, once, a car full of young guys followed me for about a half mile, yelling come-ons at me. It’s terrifying.