Female runner pulled from race due to death threats

[InflagranteDelicto]

Had this pop up on my social media this morning, although through a different news site initially: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2026/01/14/british-woman-removed-from-ultramarathon-beheading-threat/

Basically, Sarah Porter does a lot of fundraising to help women and girls, on this occasion in Afghanistan, and the organisers have had to pull her from the race because of the threats. It's not a race for the weak either, I'd warrant 99% of the ones making the threats would not be physically or mentally able to take on such an event of endurance.

It makes me so angry that she's been put in such a position but also the barriers these men, and I'd bet it's men, are putting up to stop her helping other women. And if we don't talk about how unfair it is, they get away with their behaviour.

Archive link here: archive.ph/oKEVs

A bit like ‘walk like there are 3 men walking behind you’. A very male viewpoint that all women immediately spot the flaws with…

TBF to the race organisers it's pretty common for this kind of event. GPS tracking was introduced for runners' safety ironically enough (& is a disincentive to cheating) but it draws public support for the events too, it's the only real audience option other than start/ finish lines.

I'm wondering if the decision to pull her carries any echoes of Lauren Jeska. There's a strong crossover with fell running in this kind of event & Jeska's old FR club is in Glossop, not far from the race start. Jeska's attempted murder of UK Athletics official, Ralph Knibbs, would have made massive waves in the area. They may take her safety more seriously with that violent narcicisstic psycho as an example, hence the insistence that she leave the race.

(And once more with feeling - why is the murderous male, Lauren Jeska, still in the female prison estate? He doesn't belong there, he never did.)

Not really. This can be dangerous terrain even in the summer months & in bad weather most people shouldn't go further than the nice, cosy pub near the start of the race. Tracking could be the difference between life & death for a runner who's taken a tumble, & I've been up there in a white-out, it's lethal - you could run straight off a crag before even you knew you were getting close to the edge. Then there's the bogs to get stuck in & go hypothermic, or a seemingly solid lump of gritstone that decides this thaw is the day it fancies bouncing down onto your head.

There's a difference between "the race organisers can track the runner" and "the whole world can track the runner". The former is sensible. The latter is moronic.

These are very niche races. I don’t think some posters are quite understanding the terrain and conditions.

it’s a testament to the religiously motivated fanatism of the men who have threatened this woman, that they have made a credible threat within the conditions of this type of hardcore race in extreme conditions and remote areas.

Absolutely terrifying, will head to her gofund me.
Actually surprised there’s not been any “yeah but, whataboutery apologists” so far. Is it too early for them?

I posted about this on my running club FB page and - nothing,

Clearly it's fine for Islamists to threaten women who want to do races and raise money for other women.

Not for the first time, I am disgusted by the lack of interest in the plight of women in Afghanistan (and here!)