It’s amazing how much society’s attitudes and beliefs about consent and harassment have changed over the years.
Consider, for example, “The Drunk Scotsman,” a funny old song about a Scotsman who staggers out of a pub and passes out on the side of the road. While he sleeps off the whisky, two girls passing by decide to answer the age-old question of what (if anything) is under his kilt. They pull aside his tartan, verify that he’s “going regimental,” then leave him a little something to remember them by. I won’t spoil the punchline, but you can listen to it for yourself.
Again, it’s a just a lighthearted song—something to laugh at. But in reality, the story it tells is one of sexual assault. Being drunk, the Scotsman can’t consent to being exposed and touched by two strangers. But still we laugh, because drunk Scotsmen are hilarious, and anyway, guys like having their junk fondled by young girls, right?
Right?
The Savannah Bridge Run
Here’s another example of the collision of outdated thinking and modern boundaries. On December 7, 2019, WSAV-TV’s Alex Bozarjian was reporting live at the Savannah Bridge Run in Georgia when she was assaulted (slapped on the rear) by a passing runner. The whole thing was captured on video, which was posted more or less instantaneously on Twitter:
In short order, the slapper was identified as 44-year-old Thomas Callaway. Those who defended him noted that Callaway was a family man, Boy Scout leader and church youth minister—a basically decent guy who made a questionable, split-second decision. By the time the race results were posted, Callaway had been banned from future races by the Savannah Sports Council. Not long after that, he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor sexual battery. In September 2020, he was sentenced to 12 months’ probation, fined $1,000, and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
It was interesting to read the varied reactions as this case was discussed in the online running forums—both when the incident first happened and later, when Callaway was sentenced. A few Neanderthal holdouts tried to downplay or excuse the runner’s behavior, saying, “It was just a playful swat!” or “It’s no different from when a coach pats his players on the backside!” But the overwhelming consensus was that Callaway was a sexist jerk. He had touched a woman in an unforgivable place without her consent, and he got what he deserved.
After the guilty plea and sentencing, Bozarjian remarked: “… Nobody has a right to touch anybody or slap anybody for their own amusement.” In the era of #MeToo, virtually nobody disagreed.
The Deseret News Marathon
On Friday, July 23, I ran the Deseret News Marathon in Salt Lake City. This was my fifth full marathon of the year. I signed up for the race to help a friend of mine try to get her Boston qualification. Unfortunately, my friend’s legs started cramping up eight or nine miles into the race, and we fell further and further behind on our agreed-on pacing plan. Once it became clear she’d missed her chance to BQ, I picked up my speed and finished the race at a pretty good clip.
For this marathon, as usual, I sported one of my running kilts. I’ve worn kilts in 16 of the 20 full marathons I’ve run to date, not to mention dozens of half marathons and other races. I own six different tartans. It’s kind of my thing.
Late in the race, probably around mile 18 or 19, I found myself passing another male runner who was probably in his mid-50s. The guy was running without a shirt, and the minute I pulled alongside him I got this really creepy vibe. Instead of just letting me pass, he sped up to match stride with me. Not wanting to seem like a jerk, I took out one earbud and popped it in my pocket.
Not surprisingly, the first thing he did was comment on my kilt. “What are you wearing that for?” he said.
“Because of my Scottish heritage. And because it’s comfortable. Also, kilts are awesome.”
Before I realized what he was doing, this colossal asshat yanked up my kilt and took a peek at what was underneath. (Answer: compression shorts. Under that: my junk. But what if I was “going regimental”?) My first instinct was to punch the guy in the throat. Instead, I said, “Seriously, dude?”
“I just wanted to check,” he said, laughing.
Seriously, Dude?
It’s the question they write songs about: What’s under your kilt? I’ve had timid-but-curious runners whisper this question to me at starting lines. I’ve had (possibly drunk) women scream it from the sidewalks in Boston. Once, on the course of the Ogden Marathon, a gaggle of gray-haired ladies started chanting “Lift the kilt … lift the kilt…” as I passed them on the course.
Clearly, Shirtless Douchebag was simply trying to satisfy his curiosity. If he’d asked me, I probably would’ve told him. (I might’ve even shown him.) Somehow, though, he felt entitled to grab me and find out for himself.
I really wanted to shrug it off—to not let it bother me. But the more I thought about it, the more bothered I felt. I mean, how could anyone think this was okay? It’s entirely possible that Shirtless Douchebag is—like Thomas Callaway—a mostly decent guy who made a questionable, split-second decision. Or maybe he’s just an asshole.
Somewhat ironically, this whole situation played out right in front of a motorcycle cop who was directing traffic. Did the officer see Shirtless Douchebag violate me? If he did see what happened, why didn’t he say anything?
So imagine what would happen if I were a female runner and a creepy guy yanked up my skirt to take a gander at whatever was underneath. I guarantee the offender would’ve been wrestled to the ground, pulled from the race and arrested on the spot. No matter how young she is, how pretty she is, or how skimpy her outfit is, a woman should be able to run anywhere without fear of being harassed or assaulted. I think we can all agree on that.
Shouldn’t I, as a man, have the same right? Even wearing a kilt?
Response (or Lack of Same)
I wasn’t lucky enough to catch the incident on video. But on the evening of the race, the Deseret News Marathon posted race photos on their Facebook page. Sure enough, I found a clear shot of Shirtless Douchebag. Unfortunately, his bib number isn’t readable in the photo. But his face is right there, smirking and just begging to be punched. I made sure to save a copy to my hard drive, in case it somehow disappeared.
The Monday after the race, at 8:45 a.m., I got on Facebook Messenger and notified the race director about what happened. I even included the photo of Shirtless Douchebag. “Maybe they’ll blow it off, say it’s nothing,” I thought, “but at least I’m letting them know it happened.”
The response: crickets.
Later that afternoon, at 3:12 p.m., I emailed a much more detailed description of the incident to the race director. As before, I attached the photo I had grabbed from the race’s Facebook page. I even drew the parallel to the story of Alex Bozarjian and Thomas Callaway at the Savannah Bridge Run.
The response: more crickets, but louder. It’s been more than two days, and nobody from the Deseret News Marathon has bothered to respond to my report of sexual harassment during their race.
And that begs the question of … why?
Sexual Harassment Is Sexual Harassment
According to a Runners World survey, 60% of women runners have experienced some sort of harassment while running. This particular survey comes from the UK, but it’s hard to believe that things are any better in the United States. According to the respondents, female runners reported a wide variety of harassing activities:
- Sexist comments or unwanted sexual attention: 74%
- Someone repeatedly trying to talk to you: 39%
- Body shaming: 33%
- Someone following you: 27%
- A comment about your sexual or gender identity: 22%
- Unwanted physical contact: 12%
- Someone flashing you: 11%
- A comment about your race or ethnicity: 2%
I find this list sad and disturbing, though it doesn’t surprise me. Due to the well-known dangers of “running while female,” many (if not most) women take great pains to always run with a partner, only run in the daylight, or restrict their running to very public areas.
While some of these items are much more often directed toward female runners than male ones, men are also harassed while running. I can’t count the number of times some jerk has yelled “Faggot!” at me from a moving car as I ran down the street. If you’re a “Clydesdale” runner (a guy carrying a few extra pounds), you’ve almost certainly had someone scream “Fat-ass!” or make oinking noises at you while you run. Certainly the former counts as “a comment about your sexual or gender identity,” and the latter is definitely “body shaming.” It’s definitely harassment, but is it only sexual harassment when the target is a woman?
“Unwanted physical contact” isn’t quite as common when the runner is a man. Maybe that’s because men tend to be bigger and stronger than women, or because guys are more likely to throat-punch people who touch them without permission. Or perhaps it’s because men’s bodies aren’t as often sexualized as women’s bodies.
When it does happen, though, you’d expect that other members of the running community would take it seriously. You’d expect a race director to show some level of concern when you report that some creepy asshat hiked up your kilt on the off chance that he might get a glimpse of your naughty bits.
Apparently not, though, and that’s distressing, isn’t it?
Update, 7/29/2021:
We now have a name to put with the face. Shirtless douchebag is Douglas Griffin of Bountiful, Utah. He finished the race about eight minutes after I did. Both Douglas and his wife have results from the 2016 Boston Marathon. Still no response from the race director.
Update, 8/10/2021:
More than two weeks after I first notified the race director about the incident, I finally got a response:
David –
I wanted to reach out and apologize for the experience you had at the Deseret News Marathon. It is definitely not something we want our runners (or anyone) to experience. I apologize for the delayed response. We were waiting on some counsel from the Deseret News legal department on how we should proceed. We are determining who the runner in question is, and we will be taking appropriate disciplinary action. If you would like to pursue criminal action as well, we recommend you contact law enforcement. While we cannot control all behavior of the runners who enter our race, we want to do our very best to provide a safe, healthy, and comfortable environment.
f you have any other information that may help us or if you have any questions that we might be able to help with, please don’t be afraid to contact me. I would appreciate if you sent me your contact information so I can reach out through a phone call as well.
Sincerely,
[Race Director]
Deseret News Marathon
So the response took so long because they spent two weeks waiting for their lawyers to tell them what to say. As I said to Shirtless Douchebag: Seriously, dude?
In my reply, I pointed the race director to this blog post:
Hi [Race Director]:
I appreciate you finally getting back to me. I have already identified the perpetrator. His name is Douglas Griffith and he’s from Bountiful, UT (bib #305).
I found him on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/doug.griffith.104) and did a photo comparison, which you can see on my blog post on this topic: https://bakerdavid.com/sexual-harassment-at-the-deseret-news-marathon/
Feel free to call me if you need anything else….
David Baker
I never got a response to this one.
Some photos from the race that don’t involve Shirtless Douchebag:
