LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Throughout this week of September, runners across Kentuckiana are reinforcing safety in the wake of a Tennessee mother's death just over a week ago.
Teacher and mother-of-two Eliza Fletcher was abducted while on a pre-dawn jog in Memphis on Sept. 2. Police found her body days later.
Both Louisville and Southern Indiana chapters of the group "She Runs This Town" (SRTT) are taking action to honor Fletcher and bring awareness to protective resources available.
On Monday, Southern Indiana chapter leader Stephanie Lehr said the tragedy, despite being nearly 400-miles away, has resonated with women in Kentuckiana.
"It really hit our community of women runners," Lehr said. "And I think it is because she was a woman, she had children, she was married and she had a job where she was having to run before she could get on with her day."
Following Fletcher's death, local chapters of SRTT -- a national club of women runners -- invited thousands of people to run on her behalf, in some cases jogging the exact number of miles she had left that morning.
The 'Finish Eliza's Run' movement stretches through Sept. 18, but runners like Lehr want the message to carry much further than that.
"We want to be able to run out whenever we want to -- no matter what we wear, no matter what we look like, no matter what time it is. [But] in our society, it's just not that easy anymore," she said.
SRTT Louisville chapter co-leader Stephanie Boyd says their members understand this could happen anywhere.
"This is something that's in the back of our minds and a reality for us every day," Boyd said. "This is bringing it back up again and creating a bit of a conversation that needs to happen on a regular basis about what we're doing as runners to stay safe, [and] how we can up our game in terms of personal safety."
Boyd says they're continuing to urge women to use their phones and watches more often to alert friends and family of whereabouts before and after jogs, especially when the sun's not out. They're also partnering with self-defense instructors to create more classes and opportunities to learn protective tactics.
Group leaders say men need to take extra initiative, too, by joining co-ed organizations and being a part of the solution.
If you'd like to support the initiative, click here and search for your local chapter. There will be group-runs set for this weekend and more ways to get involved.
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