‘A way to move forward’: Local runners hold forum on improving runners’ safety in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Thursday night, a group of women runners gathered together with a simple goal: to start a conversation about improving safety for runners across the city.

After seeing the news last month of multiple women assaulted while running or walking on greenways, Run CLT Run founder Lisa Landrum knew it was time to start a dialogue around making sure this never happens again.

“These attacks happen, and then everybody is vigilant for a while, and everyone is very aware of safety,” Landrum said. “And then everybody kind of forgets until the next time it happens.”

So Landrum and other Run CLT Run members decided to hold a forum, open to anyone who wished to attend and start talking about actionable ideas that can help everyone feel safe while running in the city.

“I think the more conversations that we have like this, and the more we keep this in the forefront of everybody’s mind... the better off we all will be,” Landrum said.

Many of the women who attended the forum said they typically run alone. All shared similar stories of feeling unsafe while running and brainstormed tangible ideas and solutions that can be brought to city officials.

Landrum said that a representative for the group will attend the next Charlotte City Council public forum on Oct. 24 with a more concrete presentation of the ideas brought up. Some of these ideas include adding lights to dark greenways and maintaining an increased police presence on trails and walkways where these assaults took place.

“I’ve always said runners, it’s a very motivated group,” Landrum said. “Seeing this group of women in particular really did make me feel better about our mission and our path forward with this.”

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