Abuse while running :(

Because ,men don’t like women
because they can
because they know / think they are stronger than u so u can’t fight back
because they feel shame you are faster than them so need to bring u down to feel better
because your trying to better yourself and they think your getting above yourself
because they are nasty twats
because society lets them get away with such behaviour and they know they won’t be challenged

That sounds awful, op! I’ve never had any horrible comments like that out running except when my neighbour told me he doesn’t know how people my size can run.

It's really tempting to just face it down

"You fat twat"
Stop running. Turn slowly back.
"Pardon?"
"I said you fat twat"
"Why?"
"More abuse.. yadda yadda"
"Why are you saying that"
"Yadda yaddda" - hopefully starting to bluster out and look not so brave now
"Oh ok, not important then. I'm going to head off now."

But I am in no way brave enough to actually do it in case it escalates

It’s shit OP and I’m sorry it happens to you.

I’ve had pervy comments when running on my own and also stupid ones from older men that just have to say something. If you don’t answer or smile, they say something shitty. Always men.

Now I only run with my son or with friends that include a mix of women and men. Never any comments when there’s a man running with me/us. If I don’t have anyone to run with, I use our treadmill. It’s fucking annoying OP so you have my sympathy.

I'm a new runner (did C25K a few months ago and now run 3 times a week). I run really slowly and some people can actually walk faster than I can run. I've been astounded by the number of people feeling the need to sneer or comment. Some of them are middle aged or older. I use headphones and just ignore. I'm not going to let them stop me doing something that makes me ferl good.

It’s horrible isn’t it :( I’ve not run for a while as currently pregnant but I used to get similar comments all the men/boys. There’s just something so wrong in the world still :(

In the , hopefully, unlikely event of any indecent behaviour always report it to the police

I’m not a runner, I’ve done couch25k 3 times and be never kept it up. I had some unpleasant comment during those 3 periods of running. I’m now much more overweight and needing to Jo my game and sort myself out. This thread has made my mind up to join a gym rather than do anything outdoors which would probably be by myself and more of a target. It’s a very sorry state of affairs but I have no idea what the answer is.

Not an answer (I've obviously been very lucky and have never had this), but have you considered bone conduction headphones if you would still like music?

I feel much safer with them than the in-ear type, because you can hear road noise etc. with no problems.

Some vile people about. We should be able to go about our business in the same way as , most, men can. I think if i didn't feel threatened i would call them out.

I tried running before and comments put me off. One was actually from a woman as I run past and she sniggered 'I can walk faster than she can run' to her friend. Really annoyed me. I have a dog now and take him for walks and gets comments shouted at me from men in their work vans and beeping.

What a sick thing, that they aren’t embarrassed to be behaving in such a way. How completely sickening.

I live in a small town and haven’t experienced that here, but when I lived in New York City, it was an everyday occurrence even when walking somewhere.

they don’t have any shame to keep them in line - in a small place, the frowns they’d experience from other people and the way they’d be the ones shamed for that behavior tend to keep people more careful of their behavior, unless they’re just out of their minds on drugs or something.

is there a place you can run where there are more runners or people out exercising? Safety in numbers …

ugh, I hate men

I wasn't even running, just getting my then 6 month old baby's pram out of the boot of the car in a supermarket car park when a middle aged man with his elderly mother walked past and he said "look at that fat c*". It was clearly aimed at me as I looked up and he looked very sheepish, put his head down and scuttled passed, his mother looked very uncomfortable...

I mean WHY?? I was so angry but didn't want any confrontation when I was with my baby so just left it. I was in tears all the way round the supermarket. Why do people (predominantly men it seems) think this is ok?

I think the world is such a mess at the moment. I'm a walker, not a runner, but I frequently get abuse from men - drunks falling into me, asked for kisses, been threatened to have my dogs head stamped on, or the opposite wolf whistling and leering, and the annoying "smile it might not happen" whilst I'm just daydreaming.

I'm not disagreeing but I have a go pro and I don't use it. it chafes and is annoying. What would I do with any footage? Would police even be interested?

The purpose of abuse is control. They don't like women exercising on the street and are trying to make us stay at home.

A body cam is a great idea

Ive never felt unsafe and I’ve not engaged with any of them, but honestly…what makes people think it is ok to shout abuse at solo female runners?

Yes, not engaging or even acknowledging that you've heard, and I explained and discussed this with teen DD sadly after the first shout from a passing van.

We also decide safe routes, as others here have done (our local running club may have done similar as we appear to run most of the routes they use) and we find it's better to run early morning or later at night as fewer people around (except runners and occasional dog walker). Though we shouldn't need to do this.

What the hell is wrong with these pieces of crap men. It's unhinged behaviour.
I'm sorry op, it's a sad world we live in

This makes me so angry. It’s what puts me off running. Why on earth do men feel so threatened / turned on / annoyed by a woman running that they feel the need to say something?? It’s just bizarre. Really odd behaviour.

I get it all the time while cycling, my female friends too. Funnily enough my male friends not so much. I really wouldn’t take it personally, they will shout it at most female runners they see.

myself and a friend got some abuse from a passing car recently and five mins later we came across the parked car and the occupants in the next village high street. They were a bit surprised when we stopped and asked them why on Earth they wanted to shout abuse at us. And not so bloody brave at that point either even though there were six of them! The two girls in the girl were apologising like mad, the 4 lads were slightly more blustering and still got the odd “you fat twat” shouted at me.

God this is depressing but sadly all too common. My female neighbour was running last year and a passing van slowed down and the passenger leant out and pushed her into a ditch.

It's always men needless to add.

I also despair. I always run in a pair or more, often with 16, nearly 17, year old daughter. I've thought about running alone but experience has put me off doing that.

The usual thing is beeping the horn, whistling, and occasional comments (especially if wearing shorts ☹️ when the weather is warm) but our route is mostly country lanes near farmland so it's nearly all car drivers rather than pedestrians.

Though I posted about this before. I did have a bad experience, last year I think it would have been, where we took a wrong turn and ended up in a unknown area. Two older, teenage possibly still, boys started throwing stones at our backs after we passed them. That was quite frightening really, in retrospect.

I know - we’re not hurting anyone or taking up space. Who are these men? Presumably don’t have a mum/sister/ wife??

I mean obviously they do. Would they be ok Learning their family was getting abuse??