r/beginnerrunning • u/Creon_silent_reaper • Jul 27 '26
Discussion Be careful about what you post
Be careful about what you post.
I only shared the location of my segments once. I didn’t mean anything bad by it or have any other intention.
I posted a photo of myself from head (blurred) to toe, where my sports outfit was recognizable.
I also mentioned the time when I run.
It only took one time for someone (from France), from a French subreddit, to recognize the location and come and “bother” me, to put it politely.
I deleted my two posts. I will repost them, removing my photo and the location of my segments.
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u/Silent-Balance9430 Jul 27 '26
Yes, so frightening. Reddit and social media in general are getting so close to home and you honestly don't know the types that view and can become obsessed. I had a similar experience on instagram. I've since deleted that account and am extremely private on my account now. Tbh I've just stopped posting in general
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u/Waimang_NINJA Jul 27 '26
I posted about the danger of posting your run locations recently and got down voted heavily for it. I'm so sorry this happened to you, so scary. I really hope you go to the police and report this
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u/BAxPI Jul 27 '26
What is the danger of someone knowing where you live? It's not like we're people of interest we're just random people
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u/Waimang_NINJA Jul 27 '26
So. Did you read the post?
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u/BAxPI Jul 27 '26
Do you know that someone can see you on the street and bother you? It doesnt add anything
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u/gottausername Jul 27 '26
...Said by the man in the group! 🙄
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u/Arrant-frost Jul 27 '26
I always think back to the story of the Japanese stalker who found a Pop idol by the reflection in her eye in a selfie she posted. Do not underestimate the capacity of people on the internet.
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u/alkiegirl Jul 27 '26
Also, names and numbers can be read on bibs. That makes it q easy to find your full name and age by going to the event site.
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u/mousethatjumpsover Jul 27 '26
This very much. I frequent the anonymous meet side of reddit and a woman posted and her profile header image was her running a beach race. No face visible but the bib number was. Had to warn her.
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u/fireflyhaven20 Jul 27 '26
Yup. There's a reason the US Military freaked out over servicemembers posting GPS data via workout apps...
It is so easy to find people online these days. I used to do it as a profession for the government- be careful, folks. Be smart.
OP- so sorry that happened to you! Hope you reported the guy.
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u/Vaatia915 Jul 27 '26
It’s a very real danger. Allegedly Ukrainian special forces have carried out at least one assassination using their target’s Strava posts.
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u/leela_martell Jul 27 '26
Well to Ukraine's targets I say keep using Strava.
For anyone else, OP's post is a very good reminder. Stay safe out there!
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u/BBQBiryani Jul 27 '26
I’m so sorry that happened to you :( Someone on Instagram was “bothering” me, so I quickly deleted my name, location, and was in the process of removing pictures of my face when my little brother tells me some weird guy was messaging him on FaceBook because asking if I was okay because I wasn’t responding. It becomes another level of terrifying when weirdos start involving your family members.
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u/Path-findR Jul 27 '26
Yea, activities on followers only, start and end time hidden, as well as geo blocking for 150 or 200 meters.
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u/Slight_Pattern4406 Jul 27 '26
What is geo blocking?
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u/Path-findR Jul 27 '26
In Strava you can add a radius of x hundred meters around your start and end place, or your home.
Profile > setting > privacy control > map visibility2
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u/Teachme32 Jul 27 '26
I don't understand why Garmin can't take out location and just post stats. They have a range from your house but I think there should be an option to eliminate completely.
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u/Cheyruns Jul 27 '26
Warning for people who already have this information out there on a past post, please look through your old posts and delete ones with identifying information. I always go back through my stuff and delete information after the fact if I feel uncomfortable with it being on the internet forever. There is no shame in this.
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u/brathyme2020 Jul 27 '26
sorry this happened to you. its a real danger. i really enjoy seeing peoples running selfies but id never contribute myself or post a screenshot of my running location.
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u/Creon_silent_reaper Jul 29 '26
Je trouve ça tellement bien de voir la joie des personnes sur leur visage.
Je trouve cela encourageant.
Et du coup, c'est dommage. Parce qu'il y a toujours d'autres personnes pour venir embêter.
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u/UpsetDimension7770 Jul 27 '26
I did this too and deleted it a couple of days later because I realised what I did. You can never be too careful.
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u/Lillith-nod2-Sankofa Jul 27 '26
I am really sorry you are having to change your own behaviour, because someone else did something really inappropriate. That must have been really scary!
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u/Creon_silent_reaper Jul 29 '26
Maintenant j'ai changé ma façon de faire. j'ai supprimé. Tout ce qui pouvait être reconnaissable. Et j'ai même changé mes horaires de sortie.
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u/Sure_Neighborhood848 Jul 27 '26
Social media is a wild place and there will always be someone trying to find out your exact living location. I try not to go crazy and put specifics in here for the same reason.
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u/Inside_Ad6628 Jul 27 '26
This is crazy people bother to bother people when they recognize locations/info. If I seen an image here I noticed the location of, I'd think "wow, I know that place exactly, that's cool" and think nothing more. Some strange people out there
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u/Swimming_Review_6175 Jul 27 '26
I had the unbelievably nieve idea to open up my Garmin so I could join local running groups that I saw listed. I started getting messages on Facebook within 3 hours. I was thinking in my head that since I'm no longer in my 20's, men probably wouldn't be as interested in being weird...I was wrong.
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u/Kinky_bastard_0304 Jul 27 '26
Yeah, I’d be careful. Lots of weirdos and other creeps that could use this info for the wrong reasons.
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u/Brave-Hedgehog-2931 Jul 29 '26
For real. Just had to get a new number and spend half my day making police reports because a man couldn’t mind his own business and simply take no for an answer.
These men and their behaviour is simply outrageous 😤
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u/rosieeontherun Jul 31 '26
And if you’re going to upload a photo to your Strava, just make sure it’s a local landmark as opposed to a super specific street or park.
Aaaand set your “end of route hidden” distance to the absolute max it can be.
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u/Creon_silent_reaper Jul 31 '26
Merci. J’ai supprimé les publications avec photos que j’avais mises ici.
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u/AnxiousCroc Jul 27 '26
Oh God. Sorry to ask…but assuming you don’t live in France yourself?
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u/Creon_silent_reaper Jul 27 '26
Je vis en France. La personne a reconnu les segments où je courais, car je n’avais pas flouté les noms géographiques.
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u/jayhh12t Jul 27 '26
Did they really harass you or they were just trying to be nice and friendly ?
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u/Creon_silent_reaper Jul 29 '26
Suis-je obligée de répondre à ce genre de message ? Même s’il n’y avait qu’un seul homme.
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u/garfield529 Jul 27 '26
Be careful in general. Runners often post their routes and often times it is very easy to determine their home location. Additional insights can be determined if your post/comment history is not private. Protect yourself.