I don't know why anyone uses their real name on any of these sites. Use a code name, nicname, etc that only a few of the people who know you - would know.
and then don't use an actual picture of yourself, moryons.
It's very easy to stalk some people on the internet. They post their workouts on Instagram with glamour shots plus then the workout goes on Strava. And yet, I've never heard of anyone being stalked or assaulted or murdered because of this. Instead, it seems like most murders of female runners are crimes of opportunity.
I'm old now, and it's interesting how the harassment sort of disappears once your youthful attractiveness disappears. But as a female runner, it drives me nuts when people say I shouldn't run alone or shouldn't run at night. Relatively few female runners are murdered. Far more female runners die in car accidents, for example. Should we all stop riding in cars? Running brings me great joy, and with a full time job and three kids, I have limited opportunities to do it. Sometimes those opportunities are alone and/or before it's fully light outside, or at dusk. Life is full of risk, and I hate treadmills.
With that said, please lock up known violent criminals for everyone's sake.
Yep, fly-by gives other users the ability to see you even if you just briefly crossed paths during a run. This is automatic and something that has to be turned off by the user themselves in settings. Also automatic, you will be added to segment leaderboards where people can find you there.
I make my account private, turn off fly-by's and segment leaderboards, and only accept people I trust.
The scary people are those like TMADDDHASFNE. He is so creepily obsessed with Parker Valby. He probably already stalks her but if she made her Strava public, it would definitely be a safety issue due to creeps like TMADDDHASFNE.
Stanislav Rzhitskiy publicly posted on the app the route of the six-kilometre path he regularly ran. Russian media say the post might have made things easier for his killer.
I deliberately un-follow sponsored celebrity runners in my neighborhood(s), because I feel gross/i.e. and that it's beyond creepy to know basically the block they live in, and/or drop their children off at pre-school, and don't want to know if I fly-by them or their partners/training partners. Yet I still run into them like every other week on accident and at group runs; i serve the entire families of Big Brand reps, and pretend like I don't know them from Strava leader-boards. I've had conversations with these people. The reality of parasocial influencing implies a weird fame-consciousness that isn't really fair to them either. I assume their sponsors are ASKING them to post MORE on Strava. Which is f-d up! If you really think about it... You can Google "Strava Scraper" programs up on Github... it's creepy AF the amount of data we invest in a company border-line sociopathically monetizing the app's capacity for "community activation." (
I'm basically going to turn my entire Strava profile private and maybe even delete it because of this.
It's not even just the men that are borderline stalkers. I think a lot of lonely, chronically online people get addicted a certain audiencing that's NOT good for you. In addition to over-training, the lack of privacy on public runs opens up everyone to stalkers/borderline personality disordered folks (not gaslighting, just stating the feeling i get when someone recognizes me on a trail from the shoes I'm wearing....).
I wish more pros actually would post just like a summary of their workout onto Strava instead of their GPS. Then I would feel a lot less creepy for "following" how they're training... insofar as it would therefore be away from their home
A new report claims that users of Strava are susceptible to anyone finding their personal information. Here's how to keep your info private and stay safe.
Is there an option to show the miles and paces and whatnot without showing the route?
It looks like there is, but there should be a way to change who is allowed to view the map. There should be an option to allow on followers or people you follow or something like that to see it.
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
Instead of avoiding Strava, it is better for women to run in groups or to run at times of day where there is high foot traffic. But since that won't work for everyone's schedules, it is an argument for running after work when more people would be out. Early morning running is the most risky for all. A strapping male could just as easily get held up at gunpoint during an early morning run by robbers.
in light of the murder of the runner at U of Georgia I've seen lots of chatter on social media about posting Starva workouts, especially females who often run alone early in the morning.
if I was a coach there's no way I'd want my runners (male OR female) giving out their locations. they could use Strava but keep it private.
discuss.
You think an illegal from Venezuela was tracking someone on Strava? LOL
The scary people are those like TMADDDHASFNE. He is so creepily obsessed with Parker Valby. He probably already stalks her but if she made her Strava public, it would definitely be a safety issue due to creeps like TMADDDHASFNE.
You assume Parker actually does mileage on the road.
Has there ever been an instance of anyone being stalked on Strava and then being attacked?
I feel confident that this is NOT what happened to the woman in Athens.
you're right, it was absolutely not what happened in the Athens case.
But the incident led to a conversation about safety for female runners in general and Strava was mentioned as it can reveal locations, some remote, which might not be the best idea to have out there for public consumption.
obviously the easy solution is to make Strava private, only accesable to close friends and coaches.
Sounds like a personal choice issue. Do or don’t based on what you’re comfortable with posting.
Creepie guys hang out at parks and Forrest preserves. it’s like a magnet to them. Especially at dawn.
In my 25 years I have seen guys you know are pervs head off into the woods together at dawn. I understand they even have parking arrangements that tell potential partners they are there for the same purpose. one guy dropped his shorts in my rear view mirror and started playing with it.
My point? Be less concerned about Strava yet be super aware of where you are running and these Rando guys just hanging out at 6:00am.
I posted my workout and it AUTOMATICALLY put this guy into my workout as part of my "group". Now for me that's no big deal, we both commented on each other's workout and moved on. Totally normal and nice guy. But I could see how someone could easily run with or near someone just to have Strava automatically connect them with that person.
This might just be another privacy function people will want to turn off that is automatically on.
The matching for this feature is fairly strict. You have to run a very large percentage of the run together for it to match/group. I've done parts of runs with friends and been surprised when it didn't group them. A friend and I recently ran separate workouts on the track, and it didn't group us.
There is a button to leave or manage the group. Or you can just set your profile to private.
Someone mentioned the flyby feature. That's now automatically off/private, but was originally public.
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