Women are significantly more likely than men to avoid trail running in the woods due to fears of attack and spotty cell service, according to a new study by researchers at Simon Fraser University (SFU).
The study, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, surveyed 548 regular trail runners to understand their preferences and concerns.
While the leading concern for all trail runners was slipping or falling (55.1 percent), women expressed a much higher fear of encountering other people (38.9 percent) and cougars (32.4 percent) compared to men (12.6 percent and 21.2 percent respectively). Additionally, 50.8 percent of women were troubled by the loss of phone reception on trails, compared with 33.8 percent of men.
“I think that women are just more concerned about their safety than men, and for good reasons,” says Nadine Schuurman, a professor in SFU’s department of geography and the lead investigator on the study. “We all see news stories about threats to women.”
Schuurman also highlighted social factors that disproportionately prevent women from engaging in trail running. “Something I really want to look at in a future survey is how women are also constrained by household chores and childcare, because trail running is time consuming,” says Schuurman. “You tend to go slower, so it takes longer to cover a distance than it does on the road, and you may have to drive to the trailhead, so it just requires a greater commitment. I think that those are disincentives for women, especially.”
Beyond their concerns, the researchers also explored runners’ preferences regarding terrain and other factors. Most respondents preferred undulating trails (57.2 percent) over steep (22.6 percent) or fairly flat (16.3 percent) routes. They also favored ‘buffed out’ trails (56.0 percent) over rocky terrain (40.3 percent).
The findings are part of a broader effort to understand “runnability,” a term coined by the researchers to describe features of the built environment that facilitate or hinder running as a leisure or sport activity. Previous studies have examined the preferences of road runners and neighborhood characteristics that encourage running in Metro Vancouver. Future research will include surveys of popular running routes using data from activity tracking app Strava, and an examination of the environmental factors shared by these routes.
“We’re really honing in on what specific environmental correlates are associated with both urban and rural running, or trail running,” says Schuurman. “Runnability is different from walkability or bikeability, and we’re actually looking at what makes a good running route and how you can encourage runners.”
Leave a Reply