On the days I feel most overwhelmed by the world, or have a fleeting moment of uncertainty about my place within it, I find myself gravitating to a running path at the end of my street.
The path sits parallel between a busy, bustling road of traffic and a long stretch of sandy beach.
If it wasn’t for the occasional sounding horn of cars passing, it’s the kind of place that makes you feel like you’re anywhere else but suburbia; that although you’re a couple of metres from your usual commute to work or a few hundred from the home that houses your stress, for a moment – this is your safe space. This is where you come to breathe.
When I was younger, my beautifully wise mother once told me for all I could use the running track as a place to think, that I should always stay sharp and to look down as much as I’m looking up.
Specifically, to remember to look at the shoes on the men I passed.
Running shoes were fine, she said. That implied an intent to exercise. Any other shoes were ones to be wary of. After all, why come to a running track if it wasn’t to exercise?
It was a question I always knew the answer to: A man without runners would come to the running path at the end of my street for the women.
The lesson is fresh in my mind because of a single moment I looked down and spotted brown leather, not white laces.
I was 16, and running in my school holidays. It was mid-afternoon – exactly the quiet time my mother told me to never run – but teenagers know best and why should I live my life like a victim when my brothers live free?
Top Comments
Wow, what a sicko. These men must have such a deep hatred of women to get off on their fear. It's not too much of a stretch to think that someone like this could take it a step further and become a rapist. It would be interesting to know why they hate women so much, if only to nip this behaviour in the bud before it escalates.
Pity you could not have quickly got behind him & pushed him down the steps! He would have looked a sight falling, with his pants down around his ankles. But I know how the brain kind of freezes in that moment, and you just want to be safe👍