Yahoo Finance Is it safe for female runners to share their running routes online?
Activist Gina Martin urged female runners not to share their running routes, as it could reveal private information like a user’s home address, potentially resulting in unwanted attention or harassment. In response, some runners have pointed to features like Strava Beacon which can make sharing safer.
Martin, who is perhaps best known as the leader of a successful campaign to make ‘upskirting’ illegal in England and Wales, initially warned women against sharing routes publicly in a tweet earlier this month, which she has since posted to Instagram.
‘Not sure who needs to be reminded of this but if you’re a woman, pls don’t post your run route on social media’, she tweeted. ‘We are already proud of you for running & would rather you we’re safe [from] weird men who will screenshot it and be able to tell where you run and where you live.’
Not sure who needs to be reminded of this but if you’re a woman, pls don’t post your run route on social media. We are already proud of you for running & would rather you we’re safe form weird men who will screenshot it and be able to tell where you run and where you live. ❤️
— Gina Martin (@ginamartinuk) June 7, 2021
Saima Ferdows agreed, saying: ‘Oh god this a thousand times. I don't use certain apps like Strava and Nike Run cos strange men were adding me’.
oh god this a thousand times. I don't use certain apps like Strava and Nike Run cos strange men were adding me
— my sexuality is dan levy's eyebrows (@SaimaFerdows) June 7, 2021
Other Twitter users pointed to certain settings that can help hide personal information, while still allowing runners to share their runs. Twitter user @not_ewe_again said: ‘Strava can have a private view around your house to hide start and finish points’, while Instagram user @sianmarieee said: Don't forget Strava Beacon as well, you can nominate contacts who can track your location. I use it when I'm out mountain biking in the forest by myself!’
Strava can have a private zone around your house to hide start and finish points
— P (@not_ewe_again) June 7, 2021
Strava Beacon sends a unique URL to up to three nominated contacts, who don’t need to be Strava users themselves. However the feature is currently only available to subscribers.
In May Runner’s World and Women’s Health released the results of a survey of over 2,000 runners that revealed 60 per cent of women reported being harassed while running. 25 per cent reported being regularly subjected to sexist comments or unwanted sexual advances and six per cent said they had felt so threatened while running that they feared for their lives.
With lockdowns resulting in more people turning to running, one in five women reported feeling more harassed since the first lockdown.
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