Ninety-one women and counting have joined a group called “Chicks With Kicks” over the past few weeks.
Caroline Holland is a third-year Vanderbilt University student studying early childhood and special education. She started the group on Feb. 23, one day after University of Georgia student Laken Hope Riley was killed while running on campus.
Tragically, Riley was far from the first female runner to be targeted, but her case stood out to Holland. Riley seemingly followed all the rules: She ran near campus, in daylight; she told someone where she was going; she brought a cellphone and even shared her location through an app.
“She just did everything that I’m told I’m supposed to do when I run, and then — even then — she was a victim,” Holland says. “For me, it was just like, ‘Wow, we really can never be safe.’ The only way is to surround yourself with other people and have a buddy system in running groups. It’s really tragic.”
Vanderbilt has a coed running club that meets daily, but it meets while Holland is in class. Coordinating through messaging app GroupMe, Chicks With Kicks runners can meet at a time that works for them.
Holland started running for the first time during the height of the COVID pandemic, but now she’s training for a marathon. It’s a stress reliever, she says. Though she isn’t angry about it, Holland admits she is envious of her male friends who run at night — and run through the city, even on Broadway.
“They’re probably just enjoying their run and not thinking twice about it,” she says. “Probably thinking about what you’re going to have for dinner tonight. Every step I take I am turning, looking. I have a routine. I make eye contact with everyone I pass. It’s annoying.”
Holland wants male runners to simply know that female runners are on edge, perceiving a threat until proven otherwise, so it can be helpful to give a friendly expression when passing a lone female runner on a path.
Chicks With Kicks is focused on Vanderbilt students, but Holland says she’d like to see other colleges create their own chapters. She’ll register it to be an official student group next semester, and possibly add self-defense class meetings. The surge of interest the group has seen demonstrates its need, she says.
Holland is already seeing the group work for its intended purpose, and friendships are forming. It offers some peace of mind and community, especially for runners like herself who spend much of their free time training for races.
“I just feel like maybe if there are more resources like this — I don’t want to say that would not have happened. We don’t know. But it could save lives.”
