http://www.bethantaylorswaine.com/

Bethan Taylor-Swaine, London (2026)

13/02/2026

Advocating for an end to public sexual harassment in run clubs is my passion. I’m driven by the stories women have shared with me and I feel really privileged to work with speaking out about this issue and offering run clubs tangible support to prevent harm in the first place. It’s amazing to see coverage of our work in thanks to and I’m so proud of the women who shared their stories (they know who they are) as well as for laying down the facts!

Involved with a run club and want to know more about the work is doing in this space? Get in touch, we’d love to chat.

11/02/2026

Someone left this comment on my (now very viral) post about Nike After Dark and it got me thinking (and chatting to lovely ) about whether it really is ‘just a bit of fun’ or whether it might not be as ‘supportive’ as we think. I have my own views, but I’m keen to hear yours first…

06/02/2026

I was really in two minds about whether to post this. There is a lot of noise at the moment about content creators and training related injuries, and I’m not sure how much of it is adding anything to the conversation. So much is driven by personal responsibility narratives and has a tone which can only be deceived as gloating about these women’s perceived ‘downfall’ it makes me incredibly uncomfortable. That’s not saying that I’m not concerned about overtraining or the impact of this type of content ( has an excellent reel on the subject) but I think it’s important to think about WHY people may end up training to the point of injury and what’s driving some of the reactions we’ve seen.

(also - and very excitingly - this is the first time I’ve applied the theoretical framework I used in my PhD to an example like this…I’m very proud)

05/02/2026

AD | Book Review 📚 31 Days - a zero bull-sh*t mindset masterclass for the modern runner by 📖

I won’t lie, I could have done with this book over the last few weeks while I prepared for/had an existential crisis about my viva. After her biography There Is No Wall, Allie is back with this practical and insightful book all about how to achieve the mindset you need to achieve your goals - something which has the potential to support more women to enjoy sport and exercise.

According to research by ASICS/University of Kentucky 45% of inactive women report they lack the confidence to exercise and more than 50% of women would like to exercise more. Supporting these women is complex, there are no quick fixes at a systemic level. However, individually there are things we can do to build our own confidence, and Allie Bailey is here to help.

I loved how concise and practical this book is, and that Allie doesn’t shy away from acknowledging that confidence takes work. It’s a fantastic addition to any runner’s bookshelf.

Thank you to and for gifting me a copy of 31 Days.

04/02/2026

My PhD journey from start to finish 👀

I know quite a few of you have been here since the very beginning, but for everyone who has joined along the way here’s the journey in full. It’s been a ride. When I started I thought I’d smash it out in 3 or (max) 4 years, me today is laughing 🤣 so much has happened since 2014 when the idea of studying women in running first crossed my mind and I decided to do an MSc which kicked this whole adventure off. It’s surreal to think that I’ve made it through (subject to minor amendments).

Thank you everyone for the kind comments, so many of you have given me so much support and encouragement over the years, it means the world ❤️

03/02/2026

Dr Taylor-Swaine PhD

(on condition of minor corrections)

21/01/2026

Following up yesterday’s post, here’s the rest of the story.
A quick recap...the woman concerned shared a post in a run club WhatsApp group asking if anyone else was marathon training, she was trying to find out if anyone was keen for some longer group runs. There was a bit of a response, but a few days later two men - who she had never met or spoken to - messaged her privately having taken her number from the WhatsApp group and having scoped out her Strava account. This made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
The general consensus was this wasn’t appropriate behaviour. WhatsApp groups are weird, they straddle the public/private divide and sometimes boundaries get blurred, including sending unsolicited messages to someone you’ve never met before.

In terms of how the club handled the issue it wasn’t great. There was confusion, safeguarding wasn’t something that anyone had thought about, people didn’t know how to use safety features and the classic line ‘I’m sure he didnt mean to make you feel uncomfortable’ got thrown around.

This brings me to an important point, it’s not intention that matters, it’s the impact the behaviour has. In this case it made someone uncomfortable, so a conversation is needed about why and the club needs to put guardrails in place to make sure everyone in the community feels comfortable and safe (including looking at using alternative platforms like or which are designed for communities and allow leaders great control and participants more privacy).
As a few people have said, the woman concerned could’ve politely declined the messages or blocked the men concerned, but sadly because of gender power dynamics that’s not always easy to do and, as I’ve explained, in these scenarios we must prioritise impact.

21/01/2026

Following up yesterday’s post, here’s the rest of the story.

A quick recap…the woman concerned shared a post in a run club WhatsApp group asking if anyone else was marathon training, she was trying to find out if anyone was keen for some longer group runs. There was a bit of a response, but a few days later two men - who she had never met or spoken to - messaged her privately having taken her number from the WhatsApp group and having scoped out her Strava account. This made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

The general consensus was this wasn’t appropriate behaviour. WhatsApp groups are weird, they straddle the public/private divide and sometimes boundaries get blurred, including the idea of messaging someone privately even if you’ve never met.

In terms of how the club handled the issue it wasn’t great. There was confusion, safeguarding wasn’t something that anyone had thought about, people didn’t know how to use safety features and the classic line ‘I’m sure he didnt mean to make you feel uncomfortable’ got thrown around.

This brings me to an important point, it’s not intention that matters, it’s the impact the behaviour has. In this case it made someone uncomfortable, so a conversation is needed about why and the club needs to put guardrails in place to make sure everyone in the community feels comfortable and safe (including looking at using alternative platforms like or which are designed for communities and allow leaders great control and participants more privacy).

As a few people have said, the woman concerned could’ve politely declined the messages or blocked the men concerned, but sadly because of gender power dynamics that’s not always easy to do and, as I’ve explained, in these scenarios we must prioritise impact.

20/01/2026

What are your thoughts about this scenario? It was shared with me by a friend a few weeks ago, and honestly it makes me really uncomfortable (and illustrates why WhatsApp probably isn’t the best way to manage a run club), but what do you think? How would you handle something like this if you were a run club lead? Is it a big deal?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

18/01/2026

Im not totally sure how to write this post. The last couple of weeks have been very full on and pretty scary at times. Running has kind of fallen by the wayside in favour of working through some very big feelings and there’s been some real highs mixed in with some pretty awful lows.

A few weeks ago Mike started to get headaches. We initially thought they were migraine, he’d had them before and he already had prescription medication for them. But they happened every day, and the medication didn’t seem to do much. He was in agony. On his birthday he ended up being admitted to hospital for the day. Again the doctors thought it was a migraine. They sent him home with more medication and a promise things would ease. Two days later nothing had changed. It was day 7 and our GP was worried. A consultation with a neurologist and a new diagnosis of cluster headaches, a condition which sounds innocent enough but is brutal.

No one knows why cluster headaches happen. You can’t prevent them and there’s no cure, just symptom management. The pain is thought to be more significant than childbirth. They generally come and go in phases, an active phase can last a few days or go on for months. Over the last few weeks we’ve had to navigate a whole new world where Mike is taking up to 16 tablets for breakfast, dealing with the side effects of steroid treatment and learning to inject himself with rapid acting relievers. Our kitchen now has a sharps box and Mike is never without a little kit to inject himself if needed. We’re hoping this active period doesn’t last long, but we don’t know what will happen.

While all this has been going on we’ve also been making some big, very positive plans for our family. It’s been a weird contrast, on one hand worrying desperately about what’s going on in my husband’s head and getting to grips with a pretty nasty diagnosis, while on the other making exciting plans for the future. Weirdly though I think it’s helped bring a bit of balance to our lives.

Over the last few years we’ve dealt with a lot of medical stuff, from a high risk pregnancy to our child’s long term medical needs and my mental health (cont. in comments)

13/01/2026

2016 feels like yesterday and forever ago.

It was the first time I ran with .dem.crew and when I met one of my dearest friends.

My dad and I ran together.

One of my best friends from uni got married and I was a bridesmaid.

My Dad retired from teaching.

I ran a lot. And hung out with a lot.

SWEATLIFE was THE fitness event of the year (I tried for the first time at SWEATLIFE, little did I know I’d go on to work for them in a few years).

It was the first year of Mike and I’s relationship. We went on lots of adventures and spent our first summer in Menorca.

I went to so many fitness pop ups! Often with 🤣

12/01/2026

AD.

I drive to work at 7am most days, and most days my route takes me around Clapham Common, a favourite of South London runners. I love seeing people out early, chasing their goals and setting themselves up for the day, or at least I would if I could see them.

You see, the thing I’ve noticed is that on dark mornings very few runners seem to think about visibility. There might be the odd bit of reflective trim here or there, but (based on my very unscientific observations) very few people are making sure they can be seen when it’s dark. I think I’ve seen one or two runners with lights and reflectors, for the most part people are in black, and as a driver that’s disconcerting.

I get it. I’m a runner who prefers to wear black and prefers not to draw attention to themselves. But having found myself on the other side as a driver I get it a bit more - however hard I try, if I can’t see you I can’t see you.

It’s prompted me to make more of an effort myself, and my Smini head torch has become my go to because it’s a quick and easy way to make sure I’m seen. As soon as the street lights go on, so does my head torch.

Bethan Taylor-Swaine

13/02/2026

11/02/2026

06/02/2026

05/02/2026

04/02/2026

03/02/2026

21/01/2026

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