I felt like I stood out like a sore thumb until I met 4 other women

I was standing in Stockley Park with a handful of friends when a woman approached me.

‘Is this a club? And if so, how can I join?’ She said.

Considering we’d just completed a 5k parkrun in our bright orange T-shirts with the words ‘Asian Women Run’ plastered across the front, it was a fair question. And it was one that truly touched me.

For years I’d struggled to get into running. 

During the height of the pandemic, my mum would happily jog ahead on our daily allotted exercise while I would stick to walking.

She’d try to convince me, but I was adamant that running was not for me. ‘It’s boring!’ I’d insist.

However, once restrictions had lifted and I joined a gym, that all changed.

Sitting in the steam room, another occupant began doing some stretches. We started talking and I learned that his name was Bob and he had just come back from a run.

None of this seemed particularly miraculous to me, until I learned that Bob was in his 70s and regularly ran at least three 10ks a week!

‘You should join him,’ suggested my mum when I recounted the tale to her later on. And for the first time ever, I didn’t immediately dismiss the idea.

Bob certainly didn’t look his age, he was in good shape. I reasoned, if he could do it, then why shouldn’t I at least try?

The next time I saw him I asked when he’d next be running and if I could join him. Without missing a beat he said: ‘Of course you can!’

Two days later I completed my first ever run. I’d mentally prepared myself for a 5k, but I should have known better – I ended up doing a 10k and it was incredibly hard work.

I won’t lie, I was out of breath from start to finish and at times it felt like my heart was going to pop out of my chest. I kept stopping to drink water and to catch my breath and frankly I had no chance of keeping up with Bob who would often slow down his pace to check if I was OK. 

But the minute we finished I felt better for having done it.

Two days later I was back for more, and this routine continued well into winter.

Soon, I had fallen in love with running. Gradually, I felt healthier, I lost weight and felt stronger. And within six months I went from completing a 10k in 1 hour 11 minutes to running a half marathon. 

While this was all amazing, there was still something that made me sad – there was a severe lack of Asian women running.

Every morning when I’d go out for a run, I’d only ever see white people. And when I started running at charity events with Run Through UK, I noticed the lack of women like me even more.

To see no one else like me made me feel sad and self conscious – like I stood out and wasn’t supposed to be there.

I suspected that there must be many other Asian women out there like me who ‘hated’ running purely because they’d never have a safe space to try it. After all, I knew first hand that running alone as a woman takes a lot of courage.

There had been times when I’d been out on the roads where men in cars honked their horns at me and shouted something at me. Sometimes, cars have even stopped further up, as if they are waiting for me to get closer, and I’ve ended up having to change direction. 

I have also seen some men in parks stare at me while I’m running – that was always really creepy and made me feel uncomfortable. 

But my experience is nothing new.

According to the National Women’s Running survey 47% of respondents said that they had experienced verbal harassment while on a run. 

Meanwhile almost 11% had been followed or intimidated while running and, even more sadly, 18% stated that they had considered stopping running altogether due to safety concerns. 

Recent research from This Girl Can focused on the barriers women face to being active outdoors, and they found that barriers are felt more by certain communities – specifically Asian and Black communities.

It’s no surprise to me then that just 4.7% of Asian women participated regularly (at least twice in the past 28 days) in running or jogging. 

I figured, if I was looking for safer places to run and for other people like me at clubs, then I couldn’t be alone. So I decided to do something about it.

After speaking to Tasha, the founder of Black Girls Do Run, she suggested I set up a group exclusively for Asian Women. The idea was perfect and she helped me through the whole process.

Within the space of one evening we decided the name – Asian Women Run – got the domain, set up an Instagram page and decided on a logo and got some T-shirts printed.

When I told my mum about it, she was over the moon. She’d long been looking to be a part of a group, but I don’t think she ever expected her once running-averse daughter to make one.

In June this year, our first run took place at Stockley Park. Though there were just six of us that first day – myself, my mum, and four other women – it was honestly one of the best runs I’ve ever done.

As we all compared times after, there was a palpable buzz of excitement among us. That feeling was one I’d been searching for forever.

Since then, we’ve remained a fairly small group – we have about 10 members in total now – but it’s been nice to see it grow and more women are getting in touch to join every day.

We run twice a week, predominantly in the West London area at a few different parks, and some of us even signed up for next year’s London Marathon. We’re feeling very nervous about the challenge but excited too.

I never grew up having something like this – a safe place that brings Asian women together to run and also build friendships – and it is something I feel really grateful for.

Of course, there’s a part of me that wishes this club wasn’t necessary. That women could run whenever and wherever they felt like it and that Asian women in particular didn’t feel uncomfortable and self-conscious of running outdoors.

But until a bigger change is made, I hope that the group continues to grow.

I’d love for Asian Women Run to expand throughout the UK, or maybe even internationally. After all, I’m proof that sometimes the only way to make a change is to start.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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