Run My Way
A multi-year Safer Cities program collaboration with Transport for NSW aimed at increasing women, girls and gender diverse people’s active and meaningful participation in running, particularly in public spaces.
Running is one of the most popular and accessible forms of physical activity and active transport. In recent years, we've seen a surge in running events and a rise in local and global run clubs — creating more opportunities than ever for people to connect through movement.
The Run My Way program is focused on improving safety and inclusivity for women, girls, and gender diverse people who run—especially in public spaces and in the dark. The initiative includes:
- Research into running habits and safety perceptions among women and gender diverse people.
- Partnerships with running providers to conduct qualitative research and trial safety-focused interventions.
- Trials of best-practice interventions identified by the research, surveys and stakeholder engagement.
Why it matters
Running should be about freedom, health and empowerment.
Yet for many women, girls and gender diverse people, this freedom is often constrained by fear, harassment and perceived safety risks—especially in public spaces and during early or late hours.
The Run My Way program is working to change that by gathering insights from runners across NSW to understand their motivations, barriers and how safety perceptions shape their habits.
This is a program built on listening, learning and acting, with real voices driving real change.
Global Research
A rapid evidence review on barriers to participation and perceptions of safety for women, girls and gender diverse runners was conducted. A copy of the Rapid Research Report can be found below.
.
NSW Research
A market research project was conducted to gather insights from runners in NSW. Overall, over 5,000 surveys were completed. Full results will be published soon.
The research design also included an event-specific component conducted at seven major running events throughout NSW including the Nike After Dark Tour, TCS Sydney Marathon and the Husky Running Festival.
We spoke to runners at some of our NSW running events about their perceptions of safety and running behaviours and how it affects their experience. Hear what they had to say in the videos below.
Perceptions of Safety
Behavioural Changes
Running Behaviour
Co-Design
In late 2025, 52 representatives state and local government, sport and run providers, brands and people with lived running experience came together to identify practical actions to make running safer and more inclusive in NSW.