Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 114, January 2019 | Page 34

SAFETY SPECIAL
“As we crossed, he grabbed
my Camelbak chest-strap
with his left hand, pushed me slightly back towards the edge of the ledge and
pulled out a knife with his right hand. He put the knife against my throat and told
me he wanted money, my cellphone and my Camelbak.” What followed was a
surprisingly calm negotiation, as Ian was adamant about keeping his running
pack. They settled on him handing over his cellphone and the R30 that was in its
cover, and then the man retreated under the bridge.
“On insistence from my boss, I went to see an ICAS psychologist for a few
sessions. I thought I was okay, but a number of things surfaced in the sessions.
For one, I kept replaying in my mind what I could have done, ranging from
smashing his head into the
concrete wall, grabbing
the knife and jabbing him,
pulling him back over the
edge into the river, etc. In
the end, the way I handled
it was the best – my only
thought at the time was
to negotiate to get out of
there!”
“South African men, in
particular, are tough,
and don’t need to talk to
people about these things
– we are okay and it’s the
women who need to talk
about their feelings, or
so we are conditioned to
think. That’s utter rubbish!
I thought I was okay,
but I needed to talk to
someone. Now, whenever
I speak to someone
who has been hijacked,
had a home robbery or
been mugged, I strongly
advise that the men see
someone,”
closed in on us. They calmly said, ‘Ok, we
will kill you. Give us what you have.’”
“My friend and I froze as they searched not
only our pockets, but our sports bras and
our underwear. They groped and grabbed
every inch of our bodies. In what I now
know as a survival instinct that can happen
other than ‘fight or flight’, my friend and I
stood frozen. We only had our car keys, and
I had my cell phone. I also had mace in my
pocket. At one point I had my hand on it,
but in better judgement gave it over rather
than aggravate one or both of them.”
A
few months ago, Claire-Louise Worby and
a friend were accosted on the contour path
above Cape Town’s beautiful Newlands
Forest, close to the turnstile. “Whilst running along
the single track, we came across two men who
were dressed in smart and appropriate walking
gear. They looked very much like two walkers
enjoying the trail. Upon approach, the first man
passed us as we stood aside to let them walk past
on the single track. We even greeted each other
politely as he walked past first myself and then my
friend, but when the second man came up, they
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“When they took the keys and my phone,
they insisted we must have more – they
wouldn’t accept that my friend didn’t have
her phone. The one man was holding me by
the back of my running vest as the one who
had been searching my friend suggested,
‘Let’s just rape them.’ In a haze, I recall
my friend saying to them that they had
everything, whilst I peeled myself out of the
zip-up running vest that the man was holding and
we just ran.”
“I still don’t understand how it all happened, and
am grateful we got away safely. On our way down
the mountain, we came across other women,
running on their own. The first had a running belt
with her phone and she called a contact who
worked for mountain rescue to alert them. We told
the other women to turn around. The SANParks
ranger was already there when we got down and
was incredibly proactive.”
ISSUE 114 JANUARY 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za
This devastating experience has taken Claire
off the trails she loves, but she hopes to return,
in time. When she does, she says it will be with
large groups only. She adds that she has found
the trauma counselling at the Rondebosch Police
Station to be of huge help. And her advice centres
on the small, practical choices we can all make:
“Don’t run with anything that will attract someone,
like headphones. I’m still on the fence about
self-defence things like pepper spray, though.
Now, when I run on my own on the road, I arm
myself with pepper spray, but I think there is a
time and place for defending yourself. I know that
giving up your personal belongings is far less of
a sacrifice then getting into a heavy altercation.
In my situation, an aggressive move could have
jeopardised my own and my friend’s safety.”
Claire-Louise
I
an Hendry from
Johannesburg is a regular
work commuter, either
with his running pack or
on his bike, and one of
his favourite routes is The
Spruit. “This day, because
I was running, I decided to
follow the river under the
road bridge and then come
up the other side, so as to
not have to cross the road.
As I was coming up, I saw a
man in blue overalls coming
towards me, also on his
way commuting to work, I
assumed. I was on a 70cm
wide section of concrete
ledge, so I moved to the
open side to allow him to
pass me on the wall side.
I even greeted him with a
hearty ‘Good morning!’”