The runner's meeting called as an act of homage to Laura Luelmo, a woman runner murdered in Huelva, had a resounding response. Hundreds and hundreds of people joined in a call born out of rage and indignation.
Of course, all murders provoke the same feeling. Laura's condition of "runner" moved me to send a message to the social networks and the media asking women runners to gather in Bilbao to bring to light something that we had been denouncing for months: the insecurity we feel when we run.
Recommendations "just in case
Throughout the week we have heard and read many testimonies in which women who run referred situations of harassment during their workouts. And ways of acting that have little to do with freedom of movement: planning routes, not running in poorly lit or little-traveled places, communicating to your environment where you are going to run or carrying a phone are some of the recommendations that we are given "just in case".
At the runners' meeting, women of all ages felt reflected in each other's stories. It doesn't matter if you are 20, 40 or 60 years old. There are women of all ages running and we all felt that "it can happen to anyone" in reference to the situations of harassment or aggression that some, unfortunately, have already experienced in their own flesh.
Emotion and gratitude
To the emotion of seeing how so many people had put aside the feast of St. Thomas, their appointments with friends and their commitments to concentrate and run as a tribute to Laura Luelmo and all women victims of gender violence were added several more emotions.
The first one, the one I felt when a man approached me to thank me for organizing the meeting. He told me that era from the town of Zamora where Laura era from and that he thanked me on behalf of the whole town that Bilbao had paid tribute to her. It made my heart shrink.
I was pleased to see that there were many men who wanted to join us and who joined in the demand for streets and roads free for running. I said it in my short speech: the more men join our demands, the shorter the road that separates us from equality will be.
Let's hope this is the last call.
And another moment for reflection was experienced after the minute of silence and at the start of the race. I was the first to start and in no time I was surrounded by boys and girls who wanted to run with us. I immediately thought that there is hope. If the fathers and mothers of these children have explained to them why we were running in a group through Bilbao, they will have taken away a good lesson in equality.
In other words, there is hope.
Hopefully we won't have to call more meetings like this one.
Read more news about: Running News
