Running in the Dark: London and Beyond
- Aug 21, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 19
As an East London girl, I do run in the dark come autumn and winter. And I have always had the attitude that if someone tried something it would be their unlucky day. Terms and conditions apply, results may vary. But let's be real, if I can avoid it I will.
When I do run in the dark, those quiet corners feel like they belong to me for a moment. Streets empty. City hushed. A handful of women out running, and some not alone, accompanied by men on bikes alongside them. For good reason.
This is London after all. And if you are running at 5am, especially on a weekend in autumn or winter, you will cross paths with the zombies. Those half asleep, half awake and the intoxicated.
I felt liberated after completing those runs and returning home safely, probably partially due to the relief. No encounters or mishaps. It felt like a successful mission.
But what is that danger, exactly? For all it is probably cars, foxes, off lead dogs, a misstep on a kerb, or a murder of crows. For women? You can add a man to that list. And I am pretty sure other men would make men's list as well.
Here is the thing. The facts speak for themselves. In London, 84 percent of female runners say they have experienced street harassment, compared to 50 percent of men. Thirty percent of women have been followed, either on foot or by vehicle. Globally, 92 percent of women say they worry about safety when running, with over half fearing physical attack. For men it is just over a quarter. And these are just the reported stats.
Case Study: The Speed Project (tsp)
During the day in France and the US, the scenes were endless, the views breathtaking. Surreal. You realise how much beauty this world has to offer. The landscapes, the variation, the sunsets. All that adventure waiting.
At night, you are consumed by what you cannot see, senses heightened. Rattlesnakes, coyotes, wild dogs. Some even got bitten. But for us women, again, you can add a man to that list too.
There is a saying. Not all men, but always a man. And that about sums it up. A lone car parked in the middle of the desert, miles from anything else, men sitting inside. Were they resting? Were they waiting? Were they going to help or harm? It is not paranoia. It is survival instinct.
You are not just thinking about pace or form. You are scanning the streets. Watching who is nearby. Always alert, especially in the dark. And not speaking the native language of the country you are in adds another layer entirely.
ASRA: Still I Rise
Then there was ASRA. An all Muslim women's running crew who also took part in The Speed Project France. At the same time, French athletes were being banned from wearing the hijab at the Paris Olympics.Running in France wearing a hijab was not at the top of many people's lists, but they did it anyway. That decision alone carried an additional weight of fear and safety concern that most of us will never fully understand. Because you do not know how people will respond. This is not London, where difference is woven into the fabric of everyday life and most people can move through the world as themselves. This is France, where the ongoing targeting of religious visibility, especially when it comes to Muslim women and how they dress, has been part of public life for decades,and where being visibly Muslim is not always met with warmth.
And yet they did it. Every single one of them made it to the finish line in Marseille. The emotion that swept through in that moment was tsunami like. These were not just women crossing a finish line. These were Muslim women in hijabs who had run across an entire country, through fear, uncertainty and resistance, and arrived whole. All safe. All across the finish line. In doing so they sent a message that was bigger than the race itself. To take up space even when the world has not made room for you. To embody fear rather than be stopped by it. That message is powerful. It is rich. It has longevity. They made history and I was there to witness it.
It reminds me of one of my favourite quotes. Still I Rise. Maya Angelou. And so will others witness moments like this, through mediums like photography. Sometimes it is not enough to hear the story. You need to see it to believe it. That is why I love what I do. In the realm of representation, you enrich the visual diet of everyone. Kids, young adults, and all those still figuring out what is possible for them. You show them people doing things in spaces they never considered or are just beginning to imagine. You create new neural pathways. If the mind can see itself, it can do. And in doing so, you contribute to something far greater. Butterfly effect. The bigger picture. Always a picture. Sometimes a photograph.
In TSP, the only way to survive is to lean in. Lean into fear, lean into resilience, lean into who you say you are.
Your Turn
[Picture it.]
Torch off. Pitch black.
Torch on. Five metres ahead, if you are lucky.
Your torch only illuminates where your head is facing. Everywhere else is a void. It does not exist until you look.
Senses heightened. Sight limited. Now it is all smell, touch, sound.
Dogs bark ahead. Another team? Curious animals? Or something closing in?
You keep running.
Cigarette smoke. Somewhere close. But where is the person attached to it? Man or woman? Will I scare them? Are they following me?
You run on, apprehensive for the next danger, almost forgetting the last. No music. The only bassline you have got is your own heartbeat and the sound of your kit against your skin.
Nothing for another mile.
A car. Blinding headlights. They can see me, right? Scared driver? Drunk? A man who might take an interest?
[exercise over]
You will meet yourself. The Speed Project is a beast. If it is not the distance, it will be the dark. Or both.
Running in the dark will never feel the same for women as it does for men. The threats we carry in our heads, and sometimes in our hands to mitigate, are different. But every time we step out, whether it is the UK, France, USA or just our own front doors, we are not just clocking miles.
We are claiming space in a world that too often tells us not to.
Cheers to the girls.
Love, Leonie x
References:
84 percent of female runners experienced street harassment in London compared to 50 percent of men. — Study by St Mary’s University, Twickenham, as reported in SW Londoner
30 percent of women have been followed (on foot or by vehicle). — Details from the same St Mary’s University study published by SW Londoner https://news.adidas.com/running/new-adidas-study-finds-92--of-women-are-concerned-for-their-safety-when-they-go-for-a-run/s/c318f69e-7575-4ced-bbf3-9db6d2ab1642?utm
92 percent of women say they worry about safety when running, with over half fearing physical attack; for men it’s just over a quarter. — Adidas survey of 9,000 runners across nine countries, as reported on Adidas News and Runner’s World
