Girls just want to run: stop blaming victims

I am tired. I am disappointed and frustrated, but I am no longer surprised.

I share the same sentiment with countless other female and non-binary athletes who have to fear for their life to practice the sport they enjoy doing. We were scared to run alone before, but now we are terrified.

On the morning of Sept. 2, Eliza Fletcher, a mother of two and a teacher from Memphis, Tenn., woke up and went on her daily run. She took the same route every day and was sure to be careful, but on this fateful morning, she lost her life.

She was abducted and murdered near the University of Memphis campus while trying to complete her marathon training for the morning before she had to go to work, take care of her kids and be a functioning member of society.

Very few people have heard about this on the news. I only found out through the track athletes I follow on Twitter. I’m sure that some people reading this opinion piece will be hearing the name Eliza Fletcher for the first time. And yet, it is not the lack of exposure this heinous crime received that is enraging. It is the response from those who have heard the news.

The obscene amount of victim blaming that Eliza received postmortem for running at the hour of the day that she did is beyond mind-blowing. It is not uncommon for marathoners and long distance runners to get up at the crack of dawn to complete their runs in order to beat the midday heat. I would do the same thing if I was a morning person.

But for some reason, whenever a female runner is killed during her morning run, the question is always, “Well why did she go out that early? Didn’t she know the risks?”

I’m certain that Eliza understood the risks. She had known the risks for years because every woman and non-binary person is taught to be aware of their surroundings regardless of familiar location or time of the day. We have been trained to constantly be on edge, aware of every exit, running through every possible situation, both good and bad.

This is something most men cannot even begin to fathom. It is like a constant gray cloud that follows behind us. And despite the precautions we take, there is always someone who breaks that false sense of security that we feel in public places.

In a survey by Runner’s World in 2016, some 43% of female runner respondents said they had been subjected to harassment of some kind on their runs, whether it be catcalling, honking, etc. 54% of women stated that they had been in fear of assault prior to their runs and 30% have been followed by a person or car.

These statistics aren’t surprising. I can name at least 10 people off the top of my head that have had unwarranted, vulgar comments thrown their way while they were out on a run, walk, or simply existing outside. Mollie Tibbets, Sydney Sutherland, Wendy Martinez, Alexandra Brueger, Karina Vetrano and Vanessa Marcotte are just a few other female runners who have been killed in the past six years, with some running in broad daylight. And yet, women are blamed for putting ourselves in these situations just because we want to go out on a run when it’s not 90 degrees outside.

There is a double standard that exists because very few male runners fear for their lives running in the early morning. They can do as they please and exercise whenever they want without having to constantly look over their shoulder, a luxury many women don’t have.

We need to stop blaming someone’s murder on the idea that they were asking for it, and instead look at the murderer. This is not the first time it has happened, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Ladies and non-binary folk, please continue to do what you love and take that run. To society as a whole, let’s do better.