I run alone

Yes, I almost always run alone and I like it. Many of us run because we need that time for ourselves, to face our problems, to analyze what we have around us, to feel that we take care of ourselves and to know that the time we spend running is only and exclusively ours. Away from messages, calls, obligations, work, family, children. Away from everything.

The asphalt and you. Nothing else.

But no, it turns out that running alone is not safe. We don't go out and choose the route as we see fit at the time. We plan everything in advance because we know that there are certain areas that, because they are dark or out of the way, can cause us discomfort.

As happened to Laura Luelmo, the 26-year-old who went out for a run last Wednesday and did not return. She didn't because some heartless person took it upon himself to murder her and leave her lying covered in weeds.

Rage and pain have invaded us once again. Not only because the scourge of violence against women strikes again, but also because the aggressors and murderers are trying to steal a space that has cost us a lot to win: the street.

We have fought for years to free ourselves from male tutelage. Until not too long ago they gave us permission to do many things: open a checking account in a bank, drive, enter a bar alone, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc. Unfortunately this is something that still happens in many countries. And now they want to take that freedom away from us using a paralyzing weapon, fear.

Going for a run is an enjoyment. Your body appreciates it, your mind too. But if you are afraid, if you feel you need protection to do it, the enjoyment disappears.

I am infinitely grateful for the initiatives to create groups of women runners so that no one runs with fear, but I don't share their philosophy.

If I am in a group of women runners, it is to be a mirror in which many other women can look at themselves and start running. I want to get more and more of us to put on our running shoes and have a healthy, healthy and happy life. I don't like to join out of fear.

Today a woman was telling me that she runs with her husband. He doesn't run, he rides a bicycle. He is her protector. The husband's initiative is praiseworthy. It is a pity, a great pity, that we have to depend on men to feel safe.

I run alone and I want to continue doing it.

My challenges, goals and training sessions are mine alone and I can rarely combine them with those of other people, so I have to do them alone. And I train very early, in the morning, when the sun has not yet risen.

What if I feel afraid?

I try not to think about it, although sometimes, when I see myself in the middle of a long and lonely straight, I get the thought "if someone comes out now with bad intentions, I'm sold out". I take that message out of my head because I don't want anything or anyone to condition my outings, my training, my races. I don't want to depend on anyone, I don't want to lock myself in a gym and run on a treadmill, I don't want to run in a group because what I like is to run alone.

On Friday I have called a meeting in Bilbao open to everyone, men, women, runners and walkers. Also for those people who do neither one thing nor the other but want to shout loud and clear "NOT ONE MORE", "NOT ONE LESS".