Friday, August 1, 2014

Running While Female Awareness

I just wanted to post this article because unfortunately, we live in a world where people blame the victim in cases of rape. It should not matter what someone is wearing, how they acted prior to the assault, or whether or not they are attractive. And women should not have to feel so vulnerable and helpless when it comes to situations like it. Unfortunately, this runs over into the running world just as much as the ' weekend night life' world.

Please, read the article or watch the video in this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-cordano/running-while-female_b_5562343.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063
 

I have never dealt with this, thankfully. However, I had one experience not too long ago, running around my hometown where there were three adolescents loitering in a parking lot. They yelled childish things at me, such as, "run faster!" in obnoxious teenage screams. I, too, never thought I was really in any danger, and nothing ever came of it. However, it was early in the morning, there was no one else around except myself and those kids, and with my psych degree, let's just... say my mind ran wild along with my body for the next 5 or 6 miles.
 
I mulled over adolescent impulsive behavior, group mentality and feelings of anonymity, and the rise of youth violence in the media. Since I was doing one loop twice for my long run, I wondered would these youth still be there when I returned to that section? On back country roads there IS no alternative route to take unless you want to cut off 3-4 miles or add 3-4 miles on.
 
As a female running alone, even though the adolescents were just that -adolescents-, I was a little scared. I wanted to sprint by them but wanted to be strong and stick to my slower long run pace at the same time. I resisted the urge to glance behind me until I got to the corner to be sure I wasn't being followed by them. And then I was nervous the whole rest of the run. Was ignoring them the proper action? Should I have confronted them? Should I have just bailed on the run and gone home? Thankfully nothing happened. They did not follow me physically, only with their words and the atmosphere of the situation sticking in my mind. They were also not there on my second loop around the parking lot. But I totally understand her feeling. Completely.

Safe and Happy Running!

 

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