Falmouth woman launches night-time run club as study reveals safety fears after dark
Girls After Dark was set up to help women feel safer running at night.
More than half of women feel unsafe exercising outdoors alone after dark, according to new research from Sport England - a finding one Falmouth running club founder says reflects exactly what she's trying to change.
The research found 55% of women feel unsafe exercising alone outdoors after dark, compared to 33% of men. It also found 69% of women are concerned about sexual harassment and intimidation while exercising outdoors after dark, up from 60% in 2023.
The figures come as Sport England's This Girl Can campaign, Let's Lift the Curfew, returns to highlight women's safety fears around exercising after dark.
In Falmouth, Paris Gregson-Weeks has set up an all-female running club called Girls After Dark to help women feel safe running through the darker winter months.
"I wanted to create a space where women could continue enjoying running and even feel encouraged to try something completely new without the winter months dictating whether they could do that," she said.
She explained how her own experiences have led her to creating the group.
"It's not necessarily that I'm constantly expecting something bad to happen, but there's an awareness that I don't think I'd have the same extent to if I were a man.
"You think about who's around, whether you can hear someone approaching, whether the route is isolated, whether there's enough lighting, whether someone knows where you are.
"Something like listening to music becomes a consideration because you want to be aware of your surroundings."
She said planning a run as a woman can take a lot more than people realise.
"I think that's the thing that sometimes people overlook," she explained.
"It's not just a physical risk, it's the amount of mental energy that goes into trying to feel safe.
"It can feel like you're not just planning your run, but you're planning how to feel safe during it."
Paris said members of her group have faced unwanted attention from strangers, despite running as a group.
"What's been quite upsetting is that even during our run groups, we've experienced things like people beeping their car horns at us and shouting things at us from the street," she said.
"We're running together as a group of women, laughing, chatting, enjoying ourselves, and taking up space - and yet we're still experiencing unwanted attention."
"It's not just a physical risk, it's the amount of mental energy that goes into trying to feel safe"
Falmouth has a midnight to 5am switch-off in parts of the town, which has become a point of contention in the town. Jayne Kirkham, MP for Truro and Falmouth, led calls for change and launched a petition in July calling on the council to reconsider.
As a result, street lights are now kept on during student nights - Wednesdays and Thursdays - as well as Fridays and Saturdays. However, concerns remain for women and students' safety on nights when the lights are switched off.
Paris said lighting plays a significant part in how safe she feels while running at night.
"I'd always, always avoid parks or alleyways," she said.
"I think there are definitely stretches where I'd be more hesitant to run alone or walk alone, particularly if they're isolated or have very little lighting."
So, what needs to change?
Paris said she wants councils to factor women's safety into decisions about street lighting.
"I'd want them to understand that access to public spaces shouldn't feel conditional of time of day or your gender," she said.
"I'm not saying that every street needs to be illuminated all night, but I do think women's experiences need to be a part of those decisions."
Paris said she hopes women who feel nervous about running in the dark won't let that stop them from enjoying their evenings how they want to.
"You deserve to enjoy the freedom of running," she said.
"Don't let feeling like you have to do it alone stop you. You don't have to be experienced runner. You don't need to be particularly fit. But just finding a friend, joining a group like Girls After Dark, or finding a route that you feel more comfortable with can really help."