TASHA THOMPSON

The founder of Black Girls Do Run UK, an online community that aims to inspire Black women to run for their health, fitness and mental wellbeing.

I’ve been running for 22 years. I ran my first race in 1999 and loved it. I just kept on doing it, but I always noticed that there weren’t many Black women running, and I didn’t ever understand why. I love to be outside, but I always wondered why I never really saw anybody that looked like me.

So, two years ago, to mark 20 years of running, I decided to try and do something about it. I started Black Girls Do Run UK with no real plan, apart from an Instagram page where I shared photos of regular Black women running. There are loads of elite runners, of course, but these were just normal women juggling children, jobs, house stuff – just to show that running is one of the easiest exercises to fit into your life. Fast-forward to now, and I think I would say that it’s gone beyond my wildest imagination. We do a monthly group run and race together.

We just encourage each other and ride the roller coaster of life.

I think that harassment is an issue for all women. It’s so common that sometimes you don’t even think of it as that. Like so many women, I’ve had years of catcalls and cars slowing down next to me. It’s intimidating, but you brush it off and never tell anyone because it feels almost silly.

We have people joining group runs who wouldn’t go out on their own; it helps make them feel safe and also means we talk about things such as harassment, when we never used to and maybe still wouldn’t if we were on our own. But now I do talk about it and encourage everyone.

Recently, I was out with two of my friends and a man threw a glass bottle so hard that it smashed. Bits ricocheted everywhere and caught my friend’s shin. I reported it and of course they didn’t catch him, but if there’s a pattern, perhaps they will next time. We need to tell people that it’s not okay to do that. Nothing is going to stop me going out, but there are women who will experience something like that and not go out again.’