A female jogger has spoken about her experience of being chased in the street and verbally abused by men shouting "I would".
Sophie Lee said she has been left "shaken" and "paranoid" from her experiences of running alone - including being heckled by drivers.
She is one of four women who spoke to the BBC about being forced to exercise on the streets and roads during lockdown as gyms, running tracks and leisure centres closed, reports Hull Live.
Sharing examples of what has happened, Sophie said: "People shouting things at me out of cars and vans. If you are running past someone and someone physically touches you and pushes you, it can really throw you off and it really shakes you up."
She said: "Someone jumped out of a side alleyway and started chasing me. Luckily I was fairly close to home so I ran as fast as I could.
"Now I do get really paranoid passing people in the street.
What are your experiences of running? Let us know in the comments below
"I’ve got friends who this has happened to them before and that’s actually prevented them from going out running on their own which is really upsetting to be honest because, at the moment, we’ve not really got the opportunity to exercise anywhere else.
"It’s not acceptable really and I think there needs to be more respect within the communities."
Another woman, Lois England, shared her experience too.
"It does happen pretty much every run," she explained. "It makes me feel conscious when I go for a run on my own.
"Usually, I run in a big group of people so that does make you feel a lot more secure and it’s very rare people do shout at a big group.
"You do have to think if that person is on their own, what are you trying to achieve? Are you just trying to intimidate them?"
A third woman, Megan Hatfield, said she too has had inappropriate comments. "Wolf whistling, cat calling," she pointed out. "Comments about my figure, asking for inappropriate things.
"Parkruns are cancelled, races are cancelled, we can’t go to the track. Got no option but to go out on your own. They need to stop and they need to take a good long look at themselves."
While another woman added: "People might try and run alongside me and shout things and then eventually they will give up."
The report by the BBC's Natalie Bell, which featured on BBC Look North on Tuesday, said these were "some of the things women say about the abuse and harassment they face every week when they go out for a run".
Natalie said: "Women say the problems has got much worse during lockdown because they can’t run with friends or their local running club.
She added: "According to England Athletics, a third of women have experienced some form of sexual harassment while running on their own and half fear for their personal safety.
"There are now calls for this to be taken more seriously and for women to report incidents to the police."
