Abuse while running :(

It's crazy. I follow someone on YT who is overweight and posts her exercise stuff
The comments... it's always men
Like they will say "fat people should exercise" and then mock them when they do.. can't win

@IMustDoMoreExercise it did make me wonder if he would have said it if my DH had been there , probably wouldn't have done, he seemed the sort who would pick on women alone but dare not say a word if a man was present!

This was a few years ago now but it still stings a bit when I think about. I think out of anger more than anything, and reading all these comments shows it's all too common, sadly. I fear for my DD in this world I really do.

He probably has a lot of existential rage because he still lives with his mum.

Really glad I live in a nice area where I can run by myself without being heckled at. Pretty shocked to hear this is still a thing. I had it in the 90s but not now.

My own experiences (and those of female friends) are similar.

I go to the gym. A colleague runs with her running group… few women I know run alone. Well, unless they have a dog. I

I can sadly probably count on my hands the number of times someone (always a man) IS NOT rude, offensive or generally odd. I run five times a week and have done for years 😵‍💫

Latest one - a man stopped his car on a quiet road to tell me I shouldn’t be eating a packet of crisps. I was running 20 miles but that’s not the point. He didn’t say anything to the man who was behind me eating a pork pie (we’d been in the shop together)

I hate it but I refuse to stop.

That's just it, all the men who say things like this are fat and ugly themselves and can't get girlfriends. That is why they are so angry.

"No Thanks ... Shall I call you a wanker?" (or dickhead or whatever insult seems to fit)

So sorry to hear this but you just need to pity them, not take any notice of them.

They do it because they can't get a girlfriend because no woman would go out with such a cunt.

They are jealous that you are you have a partner and they don't.

I had someone wolf whistle me once whilst running, as I got closer, he looked me up and down and goes "oh, maybe not!" 🤣 I just laugh it off.

I'm doing something for me and my health. I don't know these people, so I don't care what they think of me.

Also, has anyone noticed that it's often the men giving abuse that are hardly Tom Hardy lookalikes?! They're all a bit overweight, a bit ugly and clearly don't look after themselves?!

This is absolutely horrible. Reflects so unbelievably badly on them - I'd be so ashamed to be related to these men.

Also they're obviously wrong. Some men just pick lazy tropes of ugly and fat to denigrate women.

I know that you shouldn't have to, but could you wear headphones without music to people think that you can't hear and so hopefully won't bother shouting?

Really sorry to hear this Op. I used to run outdoors but stopped due to the abuse. I've had beer cans thrown at me, a naked man approach me (turned out he'd "escaped" from a mental health unit ), kerb crawlers and teenagers calling me a fat cunt. I run on a treadmill now. Bloody awful we can't just enjoy a run due to the knobheads!

I've had that and I wasn't running.

Some men are tossers.

I had one shouting something really rude, I looked up to see where it was coming from and this fat bald idiot male says "I ain't talking to you speccy, fuck off you ugly c**t". I had literally just locked eyes with him for 2 seconds.

Or the guy who stopped his bike and I thought was going to ask directions, no, he stopped to tell me what a "moose" I was, laughed and then made barking noises as he carried on.

Even when I had DD in her pram, newborn baby, in the shopping centre, full of people, had some bloke in his twenties shout at me "alright minger, fucking fat bitch"

I've been in tears before. I think it should be treated as a criminal offence but it never is

I'm sorry that so many of you have been subjected to such awful comments and behaviour.

I had a comment recently when I was running down a hill, a woman walking up said loudly to a someone she was with, not bothered that I could hear, "I hope I don't look as bad as that girl running there." I go really red when I exercise, but it feels so good to run, I'm just going to keep on exercising, be healthy and outlive the idiots who feel the need to comment and shame others like that.

Another thing I sometimes do (though when walking alone) is to wear earphones even if they're not switched on. It's easier to pretend you can't hear someone, and can deter them from making comments at all if they see you're wearing them.

When it comes down to it you're probably right, along with previous posters who have said something similar. The fact that most of us can't retaliate physically is how they think they can get away with it and dare to do it in the first place.

Those teenagers who threw stones at us wouldn't have dared do that to two male runners. We had to ignore (I was furious as we were hit) but we didn't look back, pretended we hadn't noticed, while maintaining our speed. Out of sight we sped up and found a route out. Posters here agreed that I'd taken the best course of action in doing that.

They think it gives them power over you. Imagine how sad their lives must be to resort to this and ignore it.

Porn
men think we are just there for their entertainment,how dare we do something like running for ourselves
society has changed so much ,even the good guys go along with the bad guys ,they don’t call them out any more ,if they can get away with it they will

look at the amount of gang rapes abroad,..entitled males on holiday ,thinking they can get away with rape ,one of the rapes I read the men didn’t even know each other ,yet knew what the others were thinking enough to join in ,and not worry one of them would grass the others up .like a pack of dogs .that sort of pack mentality shows us what your normal every day joe thinks about women …there to be used and abused if they can get away with it

It's disgusting. In your case I would be tempted to face up to that twat who I think you said regularly makes that same comment about calling the cab. You'd hope with his poor wife there it wouldn't escalate too much.

I've been lucky it would seem and not faced similar when out on my own (always sticking to main roads) but once a week I go out with a running club and the amount of youths in cars who feel the need to either beep or stick their heads out of the window and shout and jeer is unbelievable. This is always to mixed sex groups too. Just why???

because society lets them get away with such behaviour and they know they won’t be challenged

This!

Some people are absolutely vile. I remember getting abuse and cat calls when I was overweight (more so than I am now), and also when I was hugely underweight (due to illness). Also often when I was walking/running/cycling. Always from men, of all different ages.

Nowadays, I'm lucky enough to have space for a treadmill, so I use that as I felt so vulnerable doing road running. I don't get it at all: I look at people running/cycling and think, "good on you". I wouldn't dream of shouting out nasty things, I don't understand why there are people out there who think that this disgusting behaviour is acceptable.

All of these men hate women there is no other explanation.
I would love for women to punch these men to the ground like a man probably would.

I dont run (spinal injury) but i do walk, fast pace, sweating when i finish, trying to lose weight. I stick to busy well lit paths and i like to go out around 6 am as not many people around, and i also wear ipods, and listen to my music loud, must have had comments shouted at me but i havent heard them.

i tend to get people (dog walkers) trying to strike up a conversation with me, very polite and nice but annoying when i have to pause my timer.