After rape reports, women change running routines

This article was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on Wed, Aug. 26, 2009 .

Six days a week, Caroline Phelan of Manayunk runs about 10 miles through Fairmount Park to train for her seventh marathon - the New York City Marathon in November.

But in the last few days, Phelan, like many female joggers, has changed her routine, following reports of a second rape of a jogger in Fairmount Park.

A 21-year-old visitor to Philadelphia told police she was raped at 7:30 a.m. Sunday while jogging along the 3800 block of Edgely Drive, near the East Park Reservoir.

Women said they were jogging with groups, training in daylight hours, and limiting their runs to less-secluded areas.

"You feel like the odds of it happening to you are so low," said Phelan, a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. "Then something like that happens, and you realize that you just never know."

Since the attacks, Phelan said, she delays her morning run until after 7 a.m., when more people will be around.

She has also altered her route to the most popular parts of Kelly Drive, from Falls Bridge to Lloyd Hall, about three miles.

And "I consistently tell my husband when I am supposed to be coming back," said Phelan, who has been running for 13 years.

Police and leaders of Philadelphia running clubs say it is safest for female joggers to run in groups.

Police have no evidence to link Sunday's rape to an attack on Aug. 11, or to the so-called Fairmount Park rapist, who attacked four women in city parks between 2003 and 2007. That person has never been caught.

"You have to be realistic. This is a fairly large city, and the police can't be everywhere," said Carole Johnson, executive director of Women Organized Against Rape. "There's not a guarantee they'll be on every street, every lane, or every path."

Kate Hessenthaler, an assistant manager of iRun Philly, a women's running group, said she stressed to the club's 115 members that there was safety in numbers.

"People are less apt to attack you when you are in a group," Hessenthaler said.

For those running alone, she recommended that women avoid blasting their iPods, running down dark alleyways, or running at night.

"You always have to have an ear out and keep an eye open," Hessenthaler said. "You can't be naive and think that it's never going to happen to you."

Mallory Fay, 25, said such advice was already a part of her routine.
"I never run alone," said Fay, an accountant, also training for a marathon. "I don't run at night. And I don't wear headphones. And that makes me feel much safer."

Runners on a rigorous training regimen say running with a buddy is not always possible.
On the message board of Philly Runners, which organizes group runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays, some members expressed concerns about the recent attacks.

"I was hoping to get 10 miles in on Friday morning, and I'd like to do them on Forbidden Drive," wrote one woman. "With recent events, however, I don't want to run there alone."

Another woman wrote that she wanted to run on Forbidden Drive on Saturday. Phelan responded to both women, trying to link up, but they couldn't work it out.

"Running with someone is great advice, but it's not always very practical," Phelan said. "It is just difficult to find people and have schedules align."

For Phelan, restricting her runs to the most popular parts of Kelly Drive limits what she can see while she's running, but she said it was necessary.

"Six days a week, and I'm literally running up and down Kelly Drive and feeling like that's all I can do."