Silver Comet Trail Attack: A Crime against My Running Religion
Running is my religion. It’s my sanctuary for finding myself. It reminds me of the strength that lies within us and among us. It breaks down barriers and unites us. It makes me better. It reconnects me with so many things that are good about our world and our community. It delivers inspiration every day from the stories and triumphs of others. Running is a physical, emotional and spiritual journey.
So, when there is an act of hate against my religion, it hits me deeply.
On Tuesday, a woman who was out for an evening run around 6:30 p.m. was brutally attacked on the Silver Comet Trail, a 61.5-mile long path my friends and I run and ride on often. In 2011 and 2012, I did nearly all of my long runs on that trail. I was there just several Friday’s ago with a friend for an 11-mile morning run. During half Ironman training the past 2 years, I must have ridden my bike past the spot of the attack 100 times.
Our local news reports revealed that the runner who was attacked broke bones in her face and that her jaw will have to be wired shut for 6 to 8 weeks. She was dragged into the woods, beaten and somehow managed to crawl back to the trail where a cyclist found her and called 911. In an interview with our local CBS affiliate, her husband said:
“When I first saw her, the emotions came out because that’s not my wife.”
This act of senseless violence comes almost 8 years to the day that another woman who was on the trail was raped and murdered near the same spot.
I can urge us all to be even more vigilant and more careful when we are running – particularly women who run alone – but you and I already know that. We know we should run with friends when we can, wear bright colors, ditch the music or use only one ear bud, carry pepper spray, have our phone to call for help, etc. etc. etc. But I sit here dumbfounded about WHY something like this continues to happen.
Perhaps my friend Teesha (who you know from this post) said it best on Facebook last night:
“It almost feels unfair. I’m a woman and I love being active and being outside. Why don’t I get to be safe while I’m doing what I love to do?”
My friend and training partner Elizabeth who I run with every week was attacked on a run 2 years ago.
None of us are immune.
Running is my religion. I don’t know how to keep runners safe, but I will not stop running. I will not boycott this trail. I will not allow bad people to take away from something so good. Please pray for the metro Atlanta runner who experienced such a horrific act of violence while running. And please be careful every time you lace up your shoes and head out for a run.
What is your best advice for running safety? What strikes you most about this Silver Comet Trail attack?
Comments
That is awful!
I am fairly safe when it comes to running, but not super safe. I always run during the day, never early in the morning or late at night – Anything that has happened in my neighbourhood has been super early in the morning. I also let the husband know where I am running to and say “if I’m not back in X minutes come find me”. My running routes are all heavily travelled routes with tons of people on them – I don’t think I’ve ever been alone on the one major path that I use. If no one is home at my house, I tend to run on very heavily used roads. BUT – I don’t always carry my phone nor do I have any mace or anything like that. Ottawa is pretty run and bike happy – unlike Toronto where I was the only runner on Sunday evening…
This truly makes my heart hurt. As women, we shouldn’t have to live in such fear, but ultimately we do…no matter how man precautions we take. Great post, but sad that it even needs to be written.
This gives me chills. Running is a mental safe haven for me, and I often think that it is a physical safe haven, too. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. I’m sure this woman did everything right. I’m heartbroken for her that running alone might now be scary. Praying for her and for all women who have suffered or been endangered just because of their gender.
That is the scariest thing to read about. I am a pretty cautious person but honestly I could be much better. I have a bad mindset at times that if something is going to happen to me then it will. However, I do realize that is a stupid thing to think and I know there are numerous ways to prevent something like that from happening. When I ran in Charlotte I always read about this kind of thing happening on their Greenway trails. Why is it that something created to help us feel safer when we are running happens to be an unsafe place.
85% of the time I run with friends and we stick around our neighborhood during our very early morning runs. We never leave the hood until it is light out and even then unless it is a long run don’t venture far. We unfortunately don’t have trails to run on much closer than 30 minutes away so we don’t do them. If I run alone I always have my phone, only use one earbud or none at all, and try to stay close to home but I do like different routes so there are quite a few times I have run far on backroads that are pretty desolate. I also wear my RoadID in case something did happen as well as tell my husband where I am running in case I don’t make it home.
I am so saddened by what has happened and hope this lady pulls through and doesn’t let this take away from her something she enjoys.
I truly wish we didn’t have to think about protecting ourselves in this manner but unfortunately there are bad people out there that have nothing but harmful and evil intentions.
I really just wish I would never read or hear anything like this ever again. I also run and train on a similar trail, like so many of us, and feel the same personal impact when something so terrifying can happen somewhere so many of us find peace and strength. I’m glad you brought it to light and have chosen to run on, on that trail and not give in to fear. What else can we do?
How awful! We as a society need to teach our young boys not to attack and rape women, instead of telling women how to avoid being attacked and raped. We also can’t let fear keep us from doing what we love.
My advice: be aware of your surroundings and trust your gut. Turn the other way and run if you feel unsafe. Too many of us ignore our gut feelings for fear we’re being silly or rude. We can’t do that. We have to trust our instincts.
Jesus. What a jarring reminder that we, as women, unfortunately have to be extremely vigilant. It is so not fair, I completely agree, and I hate it, but apparently it is something we have to do.
This is so terrible. It hurts my heart. Whenever someone attacks a runner, I have to wonder why. It is so unfair and sad that as women runners, we have to worry about this kind of stuff while doing what we love.
How terrible. I run a trail here a lot and always carry my phone, but sometimes worry, what if. Horrible that we have to worry.
Hope she recovers quickly.
This is Heartbreaking and scary! It’s so sad that we have to worry about things like this!
What a horrific story! Unfortunately there are sickos out there who think they can do such things. Unfortunately, there is only so much one can do to prevent such gruesome attacks and the things you listed would seem to help prevent such senseless acts. Keep safe out there ladies
So horrifying. It seems like every few years, the comet is a target 🙁
I wrote about safety tips while running alone – http://www.fauxrunner.com/2014/07/safety-tips-for-running-alone.html. Feel free to share it if you like it. I’m with Teesha – why can’t I do
Something I love without fear?
Oh my god, this is so terrible. Unfortunately we never can feel safe.
I mostly run alone.
Years ago I attended a course about self defense at our police. We learned a lot and the police men advised us to be alert all the time, never run with music, wearing a cap to look less womanly and also acting not very ladylike ( looking unfriendly, spitting, blowing the snot out and so on ) when a strange man approaches.
Safe running everybody.
These attacks have got to stop, but you’re right – how does anyone make that happen? Running with someone else is a good way to stay safe, but it isn’t always possible and women shouldn’t have to be afraid to run alone. Maybe the running gear companies should start developing easy-to-carry safety devices, such as mace or pepper spray, or loud, obnoxious alarms. I’m usually pretty complacent about my safety on my runs, but incidents like this remind me that I should never take safety for granted.
That is awful. The Silver Comet is supposed to be one of the safer areas around Atlanta! unbelievable.
I used to live near the Silver Comet Trail and yes, while some areas of the trail are safe and protected, there are some areas of it that I’m convinced people have forgotten exist. That being said, regardless of whether it’s safe or not, this is a big city and there are bad people out there. We have to protect ourselves. I don’t want to scared or afraid every time I head out to run during the early AM hours. But it seems like I’m headed down that mind set path more and more 🙁
thanks for sharing my story….all of your tips are ones I live by. I carry my phone and use the road ID app if i’m going out alone. I just saw something on fb about a self defense class at podium in a few weeks and i’m going to go to that, too. It really makes me want to always run in pairs!! I was pretty freaked out on Monday’s run in Piedmont alone. Hopefully they will catch this guy.