'Our running clubs let women jog on the streets in safety'

When the nights draw in female runners often change their routes to feel safer

Now that the nights have drawn in, female runners across Yorkshire are having to change their routes, training plans and outfits. Some women give up running all together in the winter months, affecting their physical and mental health - but joining a club can combat those fears.

Almost three-quarters (72%) of women in the UK change how and when they are active outside once the clocks go back, according to statistics from This Girl Can.

The same study found nearly a quarter of women avoid certain areas after dark.

Running together in all-female groups is a way to make women feel safer.

At Idle Athletics Club in Bradford, Bianca Maria Cavuoto, 43, leads 5km (3.1 mile) group runs as part of This Girl Can's Let's Lift the Curfew campaign.

The initiative calls on society to acknowledge its role in making getting active outdoors safer for women. It has been running since 2023.

This year clubs were encouraged to hold women-only runs, to share stories and tips.

Bianca says: "The clocks have just turned, the nights are drawing in very quickly - at 17:00 you look out the window and it's pitch black.

"Women are really confined to working out during a particular time frame outdoors during the winter and that's not very good for our emotional wellbeing, physical, mental wellbeing and it's really not fair to be honest.

"Why should you be excluded from exercise just because you're a woman?"

Wrose Runners combined a Let's Lift the Curfew run with their Halloween event

Ms Cavuoto says running in a group makes her feel safer, having experienced cat calling and verbal abuse while out alone.

"I've been out and there's a whistle, there's a yell. I don't run in shorts anymore. Even during the summer, I won't run in shorts.

"You feel like you have to be quite covered up. There is the catcalling, there is the car horns and it just makes you think, 'do you know what, it's not really worth the risk', is it?"

She adds: "As you get older you become more aware of the potential dangers around you. I don't think it makes any difference what area you live in. You could be in the most affluent areas or quite dangerous areas, but at the end of the day, if you're on your own, you feel unsafe.

"So running with a team or group or someone else, safety in numbers, strength in numbers."

Bianca Maria Cavuoto says she runs with a group to feel safe

Ellie Mawson, 26, joined Idle AC in September last year. She says running with the club helps her feel safe and gets her out of the house.

"It's just fantastic to know you've got other people around you and you run so much better with people and it's just so fun, it's like electric," she says.

"Running by myself, especially when it's dark is very daunting.

"When you start going down darker roads and alleyways, you've got absolutely no idea who is out and about.

"And I can't really put my finger on why it doesn't feel safe but you hear of horror stories - sad things that happen to women when they're out by themselves.

"Women should never ever have to feel unsafe running or walking, whether it be for exercise or just walking home. I really think these initiatives are not only bringing awareness to women, but everybody."

Ellie Mawson says running with others is "electric"

Beth Brough is the ladies' captain of Holgate Harriers in York. The club ran a women-only event for the Let's Lift the Curfew campaign last Thursday .

She says: "It was really interesting talking to all the different women because the amount of people that said: 'I don't go out as much in the winter months or I might choose to run on a treadmill instead of going out and running' so I think it definitely does have an impact."

For the route they specifically chose areas women might avoid in dark, winter months.

"We really wanted to go to the places we feel women probably avoid when running in the dark.

"We went down along by the river and that's one of the common places women would avoid when running in the dark and so that was absolutely amazing."

She adds: "I love running by the river in York in summer months and although I maybe wouldn't do that by myself in the dark, it doesn't mean I'm going to stop running down there.

"That's where being part of a club massively helps, because if you're part of a club you can all run together."

Abbie Blackburn, 20, set up Wrose Runners in Bradford two months ago expressly because she didn't want to be out alone in the dark.

"When the dark nights started rolling in, I didn't want to be running by myself. And there were a lot of other people on Facebook who said the same.

"It's hard when it's raining and it's cold, but we're working with the council to get some reflective vests so that when we're on the roads, cars can see us and we've bought some reflective lights and some strips and flashing lights that go on our vests.

"I just want to be able to run with people and feel safe and everyone else feel the same way," she says.

Her advice, if you have to go out alone, is share your location with a friend.

"If you can't run with a friend, make yourself visible and have fun with it because there's nothing worse than dreading a run, but once you're out it's always better than you expected it to be."

Run Dusty Sheffield combines each run with a pub to give runners a half pint

Chloe Groom runs with Run Dusty Sheffield. The club has a unique way of attracting runners.

"We partner with local pubs and breweries and everyone gets a free half pint when we finish."

Chloe moved to Sheffield three years ago to live with her partner. She found it hard to make friends, but has met like-minded people through running.

"That free half pint is almost like permission people need to stay afterwards. I've been to other run clubs where there is a pub stop or a coffee stop at the end.

"But that free half, everyone has it. No one ever leaves without it because it's part of it. It's permission to hang around even if you don't know anyone."

She doesn't think Sheffield is a dangerous city to run, but has experienced cat calls and some issues with drinkers in the city centre on early evenings.

"I've never actually had someone approach me or do anything inappropriate, but that doesn't mean it's not a fear, just because it's not actually unsafe, doesn't mean you don't feel unsafe.

"All the underpasses in Sheffield around the ring road, they can be quite scary when it's dark," she says.

"Someone beeps their horn and it's so uncomfortable because they could literally have just been beeping at their friend in another car, or it could have been aimed at me.

"When I'm on my own, that kind of thing makes me feel really unsettled because I'm not sure even how to react."

But beeping when your running in a group feels totally different, she says.

"When we run as a group, so many people beep the horn at us. People hold the horn down at us and you never know whether it's like cheering you on.

"But when you're a group, it's funny. It's a big joke, which is so different from when you're on your own."

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