Young female journalist shares the reason she no longer goes running alone

This is the last place I ran alone & carefree. A thread on Mollie Tibbetts and running alone as a woman. https://t.co/3V3XT28YUI

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121236

I didn’t always love running. It wasn’t until I got to college that I realized just how helpful it was for my mental health.

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121263

When I got depressed, instead of smoking a cigarette I would run (err, most of the time). I put my headphones in, s… https://t.co/NXkrt0PGe8

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121374

It was the best form of self care I knew at the time.

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121389

During my last year at school, I was napping on a Wednesday afternoon (as college kids do) when a man attempted to… https://t.co/1ZaNksVHum

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121399

The police later asked if I was a runner and if I ran the same route. Of course I did, I’m a creature of habit.

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121416

I didn’t realize running the same route could cost me the peace of mind of being able to sleep on a first floor ever again.

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121450

I graduated and moved to LA. And that city just made my depression so much fucking worse. So I ran. A lot. Like a s… https://t.co/GvHXitep6L

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121472

I lived near the UCLA campus so most of the people around me were students. Aside from a few catcalls, I ran for mo… https://t.co/lopaZx5t0f

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121490

A few months later I moved to NYC. I had stopped running in the midst of a new job & the stresses of realizing I wa… https://t.co/fUVq1SPStc

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121620

I ran the same route six days in a row. On the seventh night someone tried to break into my second floor apartment… https://t.co/YwQcPaAGOz

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121657

I will never know if the break in happened bc some random person thought my window was the easiest to get into or i… https://t.co/KCiL3XKZTr

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121752

Any woman who calls herself a runner knows just how terrifying the Mollie Tibbetts story is. The lengths that women… https://t.co/aT3dY82kXU

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121787

*Also let me reiterate that the Mollie Tibbetts murder is not about immigration, it's about toxic masculinity and a… https://t.co/b3SNBExhlE

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535132643

I found out a few years after that first break in that my sister was almost abducted by a few guys in a van while s… https://t.co/wj0l4J7fjF

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121872

Yesterday, my friend told me her mom stopped running after dark & bought an elliptical machine after her best frien… https://t.co/6EqiU0mbFG

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535121906

I live on the 29th floor now. I keep a baseball bat by my bed. I still don’t sleep very well. And I don’t really run anymore.

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535122127

Tibbetts had every right to run on her own. This is not a commentary on her actions, but a reflection on how the ep… https://t.co/2FWFUoVq3H

— Alanna Vagianos (@Alanna Vagianos) 1535122109

@BenAllain @lannadelgrey If you have female runner friends - ask them if they need a running partner. In college, o… https://t.co/RbG82P9tvP

— Lena Blietz (@Lena Blietz) 1535144126

@lannadelgrey No matter what time of day I run with a stun gun made for runners. Today, I went on a run at 2:30 pm… https://t.co/hUs8y42yGj

— Your majesty🌱 (@Your majesty🌱) 1535148369

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@lannadelgrey I used to walk/run in a beautiful park with my husband almost every evening. The first time I walked… https://t.co/Ta0bkKqcIN

— Charlene E. (@Charlene E.) 1535133657