Thread by @Caitriona_Mac

*Long thread*
Fantastic to see & meet so many ppl out exercising. What makes me nervous is when I see them alone.

I am 35yrs of age and have been:
▫️Stalked for 2yrs+
▫️Followed/cornered 3 times when training.

More information on situations ⬇️

Up until now those closest to me were the only people aware of the above plus the gardai. I was always afraid to tell others because having this happen so many times almost seems unbelievable.

Starting with the stalker. I have still no idea where they came from..

All I know is I recieved a call one night when out with friends from a private number. When I answered the male told me they were standing at my car. When I called their bluff they described the car and what I was wearing . That night I was escorted to my car by security..

From that moment I began to recieve calls from the same person 30- 60 times an hour. When I reported it I was told to change my number which in my opinion was unhelpful because I needed to know if someone continued to follow me when training 80 miles a week on the road. ...

I was then told unless I had a phone number there was nothing that could be done. After weeks I managed to get their contact number & in addition to them knowing where I was every day and what I wore. They verbally threw sexual comments each time also. It all came to ahead one

Morning when I was followed to a meeting in Dublin by a car that tried to run me off the Road at 6am. That journey is a long story but thankfully I made it to Dublin to report it and it turns out it was the same person that had been calling me. Thankfully now after being warned

By gardai it has stopped. I am still unsure of where or how they saw me. The only hunch I have is perhaps it was someone working in a takeaway I ordered from and they had my number. This particular situation has scarred my deeply.

The other 3 cases were all individual :

▫️When jogging at night a car circled me several times in my local town before suddenly braking & all 4 doors flying open. Thankfully as I ran an oncoming car drove at them and they took off. The following day the car was found burnt out

▫️On another occasion when cycling alone several motorbikes continued to pass me and then turn, pass me again and then turn. This continued as I pedalled for my life to the local town

▫️ When training for underage cross-country running with a friend an elderly man made us

Aware a male was in the bushes following us dressed in army clothes. Thankfully we got back to my parents parked at the top of the park.

The above does not include my car reg being traced by a male that saw me jogging and as he was a member of the forces he took it on himself

To run my registration and get my phone number. Nor does it include the verbal abuse recieved by passers by including members of well known sports teams.

I have learnt the hard way to #stayalert when out alone. Some simple tips help
1. Do not have earphones too high

2. Where possible train with someone else
3. If walking alone vary time and location
4. Stay alert to your surroundings.