One week ago I had an encounter that I always knew was possible, but didn’t ever really think would happen.

On May 2nd, I was out running trails in Concord, MA.  I came upon a couple with a dog.  The dog was off-leash, as is common in many places out that way.  Many towns allow off-leash dogs, as long as they are under voice control—this dog was not.

As soon as the dog saw me he growled and barked, and I immediately stopped.  The female of the couple yelled towards me that the dog was “friendly.”  I stopped my run, and walked passed the dog, and then passed the couple.  The woman apologized for the dog bothering me, but made no attempt to grab the collar, or put a leash on it.

As I walked passed the man, the dog started to jump on me.  Its teeth were showing, and it was growling.  I swatted the dog away and yelled a forceful, “No!”

The dog was deterred, but man wasn’t.  The man came towards me even as I yelled at him to, “Back off!”  But he continued to walk towards me anyways.  As he walked he pointed a finger at me and told me that I was the problem, not his dog.  That since I don’t like his dog, that I am the cause of this situation.

Then he grabbed me.  He grabbed me on my tank top/sports bra.  He scratched my skin on the way, enough to leave some marks.  I didn’t know what was going to happen next, but I did know enough to make a fist and punch him as hard as I could.  It was enough for him to let go, and stagger back a bit.

The red marks on my chest are the aftermath of the man that grabbed me.

I backed away, knowing full well I could out run the couple, but also knowing that I could not outrun the dog.  As quickly as my fist hit the man, the woman came over and yelled something at me.

What happened next is truthfully a bit of a blur, but I found myself running at top speed back to safety—according to Strava I hit an 8:33 pace running barefoot in the woods.  I knew I needed to get the fuck out of there.  I ran back to the Walden Pond Reservation, where I knew there would be people, and park officers.

I did call in to the Concord Police, but it seems unlikely that anything will/would result from it.  I don’t know who these people were, or even which trailhead they came from.

I haven’t gone back to that section of woods since.  I doubt I will until I feel more confident in my ability to defend myself.