Runner tests and shares safe routes for women

A runner says she tests out routes to see if they are safe for women to run solo, after being concerned about her own safety whilst running alone.

Emily Griffin, from Wiltshire, said she was "put off running, especially at night" after being chased by someone whilst on a training run.

That incident, along with speaking to other women with similar concerns, led her to set up a website and social media page, Legs on Tour, with "safe routes" in places like Bradford-on-Avon, Bristol and Bath as well European cities like Barcelona, Berlin and Munich.

She assesses well lit each route is, what the paths are like, how isolated it is, how far the route is and if there are other runners around.

Griffin, 29 and from Chippenham, said as a woman "you have to do a lot more work around thinking about where you can run and what time of day".

"Everyone should be able to run, it's such an accessible sport," she added.

Legs on Tour was started to "create a space where women feel safer running" with routes that "make them feel a little more comfortable", she explained.

Griffin started running about 15 years ago with her Dad, and this year she is doing her second Bristol half marathon.

Lucia Shiner, 25, always enjoyed running but when she moved to Bristol to study, she was not sure where to run and had not run in the evening before because she "never felt safe enough".

In 2023, she started a free run club to find people to join her and more than 60 people turned up for the first group session.

She said one of the main reasons she wanted to set up a running club was so women could feel safe running at night.

"I have experienced people beeping or shouting at me from cars or vans, it's horrible," Shiner said.

Despite not happening to her personally, she said women in the club had "shared stories about them being followed".

The veterinary student said she will even think about what she is wearing when going running alone and "won't wear shorts" if running early in the morning or in the evening because she does not want to attract that "unwanted attention".

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