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This raises interesting questions. Why would specifically women's levels of running increase during lockdown? I personally found that fewer men out on the streets meant I felt safer. BUT it's important to note that other studies contradict the Strava data. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/dec/16/women-behind-huge-increase-in-running-and-cycling-in-2020
Sport England study showed that 42% of women reported a drop in activity levels during lockdown, due to increased caring responsibilities. In 2nd lockdown, when the days were much shorter, 50% of UK women reported doing less exercise. @PlanUK found that street harassment of young
women went UP during lockdown, and had detrimental effect on their ability to be outside comfortably. It's worth noting that Strava has far fewer female users than male users - partly because it compromises women's safety by showing our routes (and thus our address) in public.
Strava's 'fly-by' function, which enables any man to instantly link to a random woman who runs past him, has been called 'a stalker's fantasy'. So, to me, it sounds as if the picture is much more complicated than the Strava data suggests. Undoubtedly some women found that
lockdown freed them up from work & commute commitments, and longer sunny days enabled more exercise. But many other women (many of whom may not be on Strava, precisely for safety reasons) found that lockdown had the opposite effect. That increased caring responsibilities, plus a
likely overall increase in street harassment towards certain demographics, led to constraint on ability to exercise. And this was almost certainly exacerbated in lockdown 2, in which closure of gyms plus dark evenings/afternoons, mean that very many women don't go outside.
Anyway, just to caution that I don't think the Strava data tells the whole story here. Although I do think it's very interesting & fruitful to explore why the conditions of lockdown led to a surge in *some* women participating in outdoor exercise. (end)
