Simona meets Emillia and Kate from UofG all-women running club Run Girls to talk about women’s safety, mental health and how they handle stressful deadlines
It’s dark season, and this means a lot more runs in the cold, in the rain and, well, in the dark. Running in the winter season is not made any easier if you are a woman: with the days being shorter, there are fewer options for where and when to go out for a run. For instance, going for a run at five in the afternoon in Kelvingrove park does not necessarily seem like a good idea at this time of the year, mainly for female solo runners such as myself. This is where UofG running club Run Girls comes in: Run Girls is a women-led and all-women group which aims to create a safe and empowering space for women through sport.
Emillia, 3rd year Geography student and President of Run Girls, started the club in September 2024. “There wasn’t really anything like Run Girls at Glasgow Uni. There was not a girls-only running club, and now we have 124 members. We meet on Mondays and Fridays, but we’re going to do a few more midweek runs!” she reassures me. “I wanted something chill, that you could do with your friends, and get a coffee after, while making it an all-girls environment. I think it’s important, especially for the community and for empowering women” she says proudly. She explains that sometimes mixed-group running clubs can be different, and this is where the need to create Run Girls came about “I think with mixed-gender running clubs is that there are certain issues that women have that men just don’t understand. Clubs such as Run Girls create a judgment-free space for women”.
Emillia meets me with Kate, a Law student and member of the society. They tell me that Run Girls also came from the need to create a space on campus where women could be active and safe together. “I think Run Girls is about safety for women while still being able to get active” says Emillia. In the colder months, safety issues increase for women as days become shorter and shorter. This poses a serious challenge to women’s safety, which is constantly being jeopardised.
A 2023 Adidas study found that 92% of women reported feeling concerned for their safety when they are out for a run, with 51% being afraid of getting physically attacked. “Over a third (38%) of women have experienced physical or verbal harassment, and of these women over half have received unwanted attention (56%), sexist comments or unwanted sexual attention (55%), been honked at (53%), or followed (50%)” informs the study. A more recent report confirms this data “Women are more likely to feel unsafe when running (48%) than men (36%)”.
They admit too that there have been times when they thought “Okay, if I wasn’t with this big group I would not be at this park. I would not be doing this”. In this way, Run Girls builds a sense of community and belonging to all its members, where people join because of running, “but don’t necessarily just talk about running” as Emillia puts it. In winter, it is not only women’s safety that becomes critical. The darker months can also affect mental health, but thanks to the club, Emillia and Kate have a reason to get up in the morning. “I often wake up and I’m like “I do not want to do this. It’s cold!” but going for that run is what sets you up for the day. I think that’s why people keep coming back” shares Emillia. It is well known that running, and exercising more generally, can boost mental health, and for Emillia and Kate tell Run Girls has taught them how to overcome challenges, including the one posed by assessments: “It can be quite daunting to be asked to do a 5K, but once you get past what you think your limit is, you feel like you can achieve anything!” shares Kate. This has helped them with their mindset about assessment too. It helped them realize some blocks are just mental: “your mind will always go to where your body does” says Emillia. They wake up early and by nine am they have already done their workout for the day. This makes them feel empowered and accomplished, like they could achieve anything they wanted. Assessments and deadlines seem more manageable to Emillia and Kate. To Emillia, just taking a few minutes out of your day to go for a short run is life-changing: “You take that mindfulness out of your day. If you are really stressed about something, and you are running, just being present and focusing on the thoughts in your mind can make you feel so much better. Even if it is just a 2K run, you won’t think about that issue anymore after it. At the end of the run, everything feels fine. No matter what is going on in your life, if you just go for a run, you will feel so much better”. Kate shares the same sentiment “If you’ve got a huge to-do list, going out for a run is something you can control. Something you can do right now even, and once it’s done, it’s quite nice to be able to tick it off the list!”.
Following their early morning runs, the club goes for a coffee, often in Byres Road, and that’s when the endorphins really kick in, Kate tells me. “We’re all having a coffee together after we run, we’re all chatting, everyone’s sweaty together!”. “Mainly in winter, I think it’s really good to mix and have conversations with people” says Emillia, and for Kate “Nothing is better than a run and a rant!”
The Glasgow Guardian would like to thank Emillia and Kate.
This interview was edited for concision.
