"I had a plastic bottle thrown at me" - Worcester male runner on the abuse he's received when out running
A University of Worcester study has identified incidents of runners being shouted at from cars, chased by dogs, and having items thrown at them while out exercising
A man from Worcester says him and his wife have experienced harassment and abuse when out running, which included him having a plastic bottle thrown at him.
The Running Free, Running Safe survey conducted by the University of Worcester heard from 101 runners, 61 women and 40 men, with more than half of those reporting experiencing harassment and abuse while out running, the vast majority being female.
It found the abuse most common in being directed at women took the form of men shouting obscene and sexualised remarks or comments from vehicles and the shouted abuse was often about the victims’ appearance.
"I’ve heard plenty of women that I've been running with be wolf-whistled"
Jeremy Jones has been running with the Black Pear Joggers club in Worcester for 12 years and says his incident luckily didn't have a lasting impact on him.
"Personally I had a plastic bottle thrown at me out of a car on a main road," he said.
"I’ve heard plenty of women that I've been running with be wolf-whistled and my wife actually got assaulted while running, she got her bottom slapped by someone, it then got reported to the police and followed up," he said,
"It obviously had an effect with her running for a little while and other women as well, obviously they didn’t want to go out on their own, so strength in numbers was the way forward and it’s rubbish because they shouldn’t have to think like that."
The research also asked participants what changes, if any, they made after being targeted by abuse.
Particularly for women, responses included running in groups rather than alone, not running early in the morning or late in the evening and sticking to built up areas away from streets with poor lighting.
Research lead Dr Claire McLoone Richards said in the survey one woman described buying a treadmill to place in her home because she did not feel safe.
"I wouldn’t want my wife or anybody running on there own, especially at night time"
Mr Jones says it isn't fair women shouldn't feel safe to go out running.
He said: "With the women it is a bit more serious and it can impact their behaviour in terms of wanting to go out for a run in the first place, which isn’t how it should be giving how running is such a good thing for people’s mental health.
"I’ve never really felt threatened, but being a man is different compared to a woman in this, so I wouldn’t want my wife or anybody running on there own, especially at night time."
The study has now entered its second phase, with a second public survey being available until 29 June to record the experiences of runners in the lighter summer months.