I started training for a half marathon about two months ago. I run outside because I hate running on a treadmill, and my neighborhood is always busy. Men, usually older men, will stop and stare at me, turning around to watch as I run by. Sometimes they say things, sometimes they don’t, but it’s the intensity of their stares that really unnerves me. I keep my eyes forward and ignore them, but it makes me really unhappy to have to feel so uncomfortable in my neighborhood and as I’m trying to have a decent workout. Today I realized that I likely don’t even realize how much it’s happening, as a pause in between songs let me hear two men yelling loudly at me from across the street.
I just don’t understand what these men hope to accomplish by this behavior. Do they really expect me to stop my workout, take out my headphones, catch my breath, and engage with them? I try to look irritated and angle my body away from them, but don’t know how to make the whole situation less miserable.
– Anonymous
Location: Washington, D.C.
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