'We felt scared running at night but now we're changing that'

Sophie Walker has had experiences of being harassed while out running in the dark

A running group is helping women feel safer about exercising in the dark after a national campaign found 72% of female runners change their habits once the clocks go back.

"I have had cars beeping at me, kerb crawling, I've actually had a car follow me before. It can be quite invasive," says Sophie Walker.

The 33-year-old says harassment while out running is a common experience.

"You just want to go on a run and feel safe so to have that experience it can knock you a little bit.

"It can make you scared. I always track my runs and tell my family and friends when I'm going out and we share locations on our phones so we can always check where people are.

"All it takes is one incident that can really unnerve someone and, ultimately, it could put you off going for a run."

Bev Clifford remembers the time a drunk man once ran alongside her at night leaving her "frightened"

Bev Clifford, 41, recalls the frightening time a drunk man ran alongside her when she was out running alone.

"A woman running on her own and you've got some drunk person running next to you asking if he can run with you, I felt frightened", she remembers.

"It's probably harmless, but it doesn't seem like that when you're a woman on your own. It's things like that that a woman should never experience but, unfortunately, we do.

"I don't understand why people think it's acceptable to do this.

"These people wouldn't do it to their own kids or sister, so why do it to a random person that you don't know. I think it's education, awareness and reminding people to be respectful and getting them to understand how it makes that person feel."

According to statistics from Sport England's This Girl Can - a national campaign funded by the National Lottery that focuses on women and exercise - almost three-quarters (72%) of female runners in the UK change how and when they are active during winter - up 26% from a similar study carried out last year.

Some women give up running altogether once the clocks go back, it said.

Tom Horner founded Altus Running last year to help female runners feel safer while running in the dark

Altus Running, based in Hull, is trying to change that.

The group holds weekly runs aimed at making women feel safer by running in groups of both men and women.

It was formed last year by Tom Horner, who believes men have a part to play in helping women feel safe, particularly at this time of year.

"We realise that throughout winter it can be quite a barrier to people getting out and running on their own because they don't feel safe," he says.

"It's really important that men are there to help women feel safer because it's not something that men have had to navigate.

"For me, especially, I'm happy to run in the dark but having spoken with members of our run club and my sister and my wife I think it is something that is really common for females to have to worry about at this time of year.

"If men see females receive this sort of abuse or heckling, that's not something that we should tolerate. By hosting runs like this we wanted to combat that type of behaviour."

'Be careful'

Claire Grice, 31, has been running for the last 18 months and says she has had to make changes to her training at this time of year.

She adds: "You've got to be really careful about where you're running, not posting online so that people can find you.

"I have to make sure I mix up my runs and that I'm not going on the same route all the time. I also make sure I'm in public areas so that I've got the support of pedestrians in case something did happen.

"More people need to know about groups like this. It might encourage people to want to come out if they don't feel like they can at the moment."

The group meets on alternate Tuesdays at 18:00 GMT on Princes Avenue and Costello running track.

Claire Grice says it is important to mix up your route to avoid creating a regular pattern

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