Northampton women's running group say areas are out of bounds for female runners
It comes ahead of a 'Let's Lift the Curfew' event highlighting women's safety exercising outside.
The founder of a Northampton women's run club says there are places in the county they don't run.
With the clocks going back many women are having to adjust their physical activities even more, with research showing four in five women across the UK feel unsafe walking alone in parks or open spaces after dark.
The founder of Caffeine and Kilometres running group is Leisha Mulvey. She runs organised running meet ups for women in Northampton and Milton Keynes.
She says for her Northampton runs, there are area's of the county her group just can't go as they don't feel safe:
"We absolutely wouldn't go to the racecourse in the evening. In one of our morning runs there, we had like guys in balaclavas riding across the park in motorbikes towards us. When we go to Abington Park, we make sure we do the perimeter of the parks. We would never go through the park at all at night."
Leisha says the safety aspect women have to content with takes away from the job of running:
"We have to already be really selective of exactly the routes we're taking the group as often as possible, so there's nobody like left too far behind. It just adds a about 20 extra layers of like caution, organization, thought process. That kind of carefree nature that you'd like to be able to have to just go for a run in your local park is just no longer carefree."
This week has seen events run by This Girl Can and supported by many sports groups locally and nationally around the 'Let’s Lift the Curfew' campaign.
It's has been running since October 2023, showcasing women’s stories and concerns around getting active outdoors in the darker months and calls on wider society to acknowledge its role in making getting active outdoors safer for women.
Now in it's third year an event is being held tonight in Northampton's Upton Country Park, Main Car Park at 7:30pm, supported nationally by Good Gym and England Athletics and locally by This Woman Runs Northampton and Caffeine and Kilometres.
Runners aim to 'light up the night' joining in a 30 minute run with reflective running gear, neon and glow sticks.
Many events are being held this week as the nights are darker following the clocks going back.
Leisha says even running as a group isn't always a protection against harassment, having been catcalled and shouted at whilst her group has run, and also during the day.
She still counts herself as lucky though not to have been seriously harassed. And says though men aren't always safe in certain areas exercising as well, she feels it's difficult for men to understand women's fears in these situations:
"I don't think men, even like my partner, who sees the level of organization that has to go in to running outside and I still don't think he can really understand because he's never been shouted at on a run when you've got a headphone in and you're trying to listen to your music.
"So as much as I think they can maybe sympathise with what we say about how we feel about our safety. I don't think they can ever truly empathise."
You can find out more about the event and others here.