‘I just don’t feel safe when it’s dark’ - The women’s running club keeping members going in winter

• Beth Thomas meets the women's running club running together and supporting one another

It’s a chilly November night in Barry and the sun set two hours ago. But the dark and the cold hasn’t stopped the women of Girls Who Run Cardiff who, with their headtorches and reflective arm bands, have gathered for an evening 5km.

At this time of year, however, it’s not something many of them would feel happy doing alone.

“I don’t think I would feel that comfortable going in the dark on my own - unless I was with at least one or two other girls,” Anna-Lee Powell, co-founder of Girls Who Run Cardiff, tells us as the group warms up.

“The only times I would now run is with the girls.”

Many women across the UK seem to share Anna-Lee’s trepidation about exercising outside alone during the winter months. 

A survey by This Girl Can found that almost three-quarters (72%) of women in the UK change their outdoor activity routines during winter, up from almost half (46%) last year.

“I probably just don’t feel that confident going out in the dark,” Bethan McKee, the group’s fellow co-founder, added. 

“It’s not nice to hear that some women don’t want to go out at all running because everyone should feel like they can go out and exercise.”

“Cardiff, because it’s a built-up area is actually quite good, it’s quite well-lit,” Bethan added.

“I’d say probably more like the parks are quite dark so as a group we don’t really even go to the parks together in the evenings because, just in case we trail off.”

The women in the group say the darker months don’t just impact their running, but also their everyday lives.

“Walking back from work, I just don’t feel safe when it’s dark and not well-lit. Suddenly your fight or flight - it’s on,” one group member says.

“I get really stressed. I’ve been followed once from work home and it stayed with me.”

Anna-Lee says that on the rare occasion where she has to walk home from work in the dark, she’ll share her live location with her partner or calls him or a family member.

“Even though you know he can’t be here in a split second, it does make you feel a little bit safer knowing that there’s someone listening to you on the other end,” she said.

“It’s the same with taxis - on the way home, I’ll share my live location. I’ll make sure I just don’t really drink too much if I’m going in a taxi on my own, or if I’m the last person to be dropped off.” 

But Anna-Lee says the onus shouldn’t be solely on women when addressing safety concerns. She feels the responsibility could be shared more widely.

“I think a lot of it is educating others, not so much as us as girls/women, (and) why we should be doing things to keep ourselves safe. Why is it education not being taught to other people to keep others safe? We’re the ones now who have to put things in place like wearing lights, sending your live location,” she said.

“Whether it’s daytime or nighttime, it’s about pushing the education on others.”

Ria Burrage-Male is a board member of Cymru Women’s Sport, an organisation established to connect, celebrate and advocate for women in sport and physical activity.

Ria believes there are things that can be done to make sure women feel safer at this time of year so they don’t drop out of outdoor sport and exercise.

“Local authorities have a responsibility to play here to ensure that the streets are safer - what’s the quality of lighting? Are lights staying on? Are there enough street lights that are bright enough to allow women to go and exercise,” she said.

“I also think employers have a role to play in this and if women can’t exercise during the evenings, employers can accommodate them during the day and they can have a longer lunch to get that exercise completed.”

A WLGA spokesperson said: “Local authorities are committed to ensuring public spaces are safe and welcoming for everyone. We also encourage individuals to take practical steps, such as staying in well-lit spaces and sharing plans with trusted people, to help protect themselves.

“We will continue working with communities and partners to improve safety measures and raise awareness, ensuring everyone can go about their daily lives without fear.”

Girls Who Run Cardiff, which now operates in the Welsh capital and the surrounding areas, has just celebrated its first birthday. Since November last year, it has grown from a handful of friends to a club with hundreds of members.

While the group runs allow many of the members to continue training during the darker months, Girls Who Run Cardiff isn’t just about safety in numbers.

For many, it’s a supportive community which has seen them establish new friendships and find confidence.

Group member Fliss said: “In my twenties now, it’s harder to make friends in comparison to at school and at uni. It’s been really nice and you can run with other people. We run outside of the group as well and it’s been great.”

Co-founder Bethan says: “We’ll all get together in the morning, we’ll have a warm-up and then we just usually have a chat on our runs then and start our day off or end our day together. It’s lovely.

“Some people don’t feel confident going out on their own, a lot of people we’ve met through the group have been new to the city, students as well, so we saw that opportunity to bring the girls together - just having fun running. We don’t take it too seriously, we don’t run at a certain pace or anything, it’s just about being confident while running and having fun.”

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: "Every woman has the right to live free from violence and harassment.  Women should be safe while out running.  They should be safe to walk through public spaces. We are clear about our ambition to end violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. This starts with changing the behaviours and attitudes of those who are violent, abusive and exploitative. It is not for women to modify their behaviour; it is for abusers to change theirs

 “Our strategy sets out a commitment to focus on violence against women in public spaces and our work includes a workstream to prevent harassment both within sports settings and in wider communities; in addition to making early intervention and prevention a priority, and to encourage those who may go on to commit abusive behaviour to change.

 "Our approach is supported by the ‘Sound’ campaign, which encourages men aged 18-34 in Wales to learn about gender-based violence and to think about their own behaviours.”