Runners tell of harassment, assault on Schuylkill trail
Hayley Hanby and her boyfriend were on an evening bike ride on the Schuylkill River Trail last month when they saw a group of teenagers blocking their path.
Hayley Hanby and her boyfriend were on an evening bike ride on the Schuylkill River Trail last month when they saw a group of teenagers blocking their path.
Hanby had only begun to bike seriously a few months before, and watched as her boyfriend skirted off the path and around the group. She tried to follow him, she said - and that's when one of the boys on the path stepped forward and shoved her off her bike.
Thrown to the ground and bleeding from her elbow and knee, Hanby tried to grab her bike back. The boy raised his hand, she said, as if to hit her. She let go. He pedaled off.
"I'm still stunned by the brazenness of this kid," she wrote by email Friday.
In the days after the attack, after reporting the incident to police, Hanby turned to social media for support, posting about her experience online. And she was struck by others who said they had witnessed or experienced similar incidents on the popular trail that runs along Kelly Drive and through Manayunk - recently voted the best urban trail in the nation in a USA Today poll.
Those reports of assault and harassment on the trail were enough Thursday to prompt the Schuylkill River Development Corp. to post messages on its website and social media accounts, urging those who witness or experience incidents on the popular running and cycling trail to contact police.
The corporation said they had received several emails about sexual assaults on the trail, and added that Ninth District police have agreed to increase patrols there.
Joseph Syrnick, SRDC president and chief executive, stressed that violent incidents on the trail are rare.
"I know of probably three instances of kids on bikes harassing women this summer," he said. He called recent incidents "totally inappropriate and totally unacceptable."
In light of the recent incidents reported, Syrnick said he had spoken with police and encouraged people who use the trail to notify authorities immediately if they are harassed or assaulted.
"We all should look out for each other," he said. "I would certainly not avoid the trail."
Discussion about the incidents escalated after a woman posted Wednesday night on the Run 215 Facebook page, a group created for Philadelphia's running community, about an encounter she'd witnessed.
The woman wrote that she saw about five male teenagers riding their bicycles on the Schuylkill trail near the Race Street entrance, surrounding a female runner who looked "terrified." The runner told the woman that the teens then harassed her, slapped her buttocks, and cornered her with their bikes.
Other runners wrote that they recognized the group of teens, and recounted seeing the group swerve into or try to knock over runners, smack women as they rode past, and heard them make lewd comments.
Cross-country coaches at local colleges, responsible for teams of young men and women who do some of their training along the Schuylkill, expressed confidence in the safety of the trail.
Claire Hewitt, the University of Pennsylvania's assistant cross-country coach and a 2005 Penn graduate, was sanguine about safety along the river.
"Like any running in the city, you have to stay aware and be aware of your surroundings," she said. "I've never felt uncomfortable out there. I probably felt more comfortable than my college coaches wished I would."
For her part, Hanby has since purchased a new bike, but now rides only with her boyfriend on the Schuylkill River Trail.
"It still gives me anxiety to ride by myself," she said. "This has definitely changed my sense of security."
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Emily Babay works for Philly.com