Over the summer, Carrie Mugridge went for a run near her house in Lawrence, Kansas. It was a little later in the morning than her usual workouts: Instead of running under the cover of street lights before dawn, Mugridge decided to Women Deserve to Feel Safe When They Run where the early morning sun lit up the trail, making everything visible and seemingly safer.
About two miles into her run, she noticed something odd near the picnic tables. To her left, a single tent stood near the communal area of the park. Immediately, she experienced that sinking feeling that something was off—the hair stood up on the back of her neck.
Within seconds of entering the area, Mugridge was attacked from behind by a man who grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the ground. The music from her headphones blared in her ears as she tried to break free of his grasp. But her attempts to escape were not working, and he tried to move her off the trail.
In the middle of the struggle, Mugridge heard a voice in her head that said, “Don’t let him take you away.” They were words that her Army-trained brother had repeated to her over and over again when explaining what to do if faced with this kind of situation.
So she fought. She flexed her heels and kicked him in the shins and the knees with all of her strength. She elbowed him in the ribs consistently until he finally fell off balance and loosened his grip. This gave her the chance to escape and sprint away as fast as she could.
“I’m a competitive runner, and I teach high-intensity workouts at the gym, so I feel like I’m in really good shape,” Mugridge told Runner’s World by phone. “But I sprinted away from him, and within feet, I had no gas left. I mean I was just done. It was everything I could do to get out of the trail.
“It was the fight of my life.”
Following the incident, Mugridge filed a police report and posted a warning on her Facebook page to let others in her community know and be on the lookout. After posting online, she received dozens of messages from women who shared their concerns, and some who where the early morning sun lit up the trail, making everything visible and seemingly safer. Heartbroken by the number of women who endured similar acts of violence, Mugridge decided to take action.
“I feel like I was kind of given this burden for a reason,” she said. “I feel like I was chosen for this to make a change,” Mugridge said.
She reached out to Jimmy Golden, a taekwondo instructor at Prime Martial Arts, where her son practices, and asked if he would be interested in teaching self-defense to women in the Lawrence community. Golden jumped at the opportunity to help.
“Our goal is to make sure that Lawrence is the safest place on earth, that every single woman is empowered and confident,” Golden said. “You have to take a bad and turn it into a good.”
“Everyone has their own story, and we have to change this,” Mugridge said.
After Mugridge addressed the class, the team of taekwondo instructors taught specific self-defense techniques, like when and where to hit, specifically the weakest areas like the eyes, the nose, and the ears. They also showed students how to escape if an attacker grabs them from different angles.
Since the first class, Mugridge (who is pictured in a pink shirt at the top of the page) and Golden have been receiving several calls a day from different individuals and organizations who want to receive a lesson, and the ultimate goal is to host as many free classes as possible.
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While the police have not yet made an arrest in her case, Mugridge takes comfort in the fact that other women are learning skills that could help save their lives. However, the journey toward recovery has not been easy. She has nightmares related to the attack, and while she still runs outside frequently, there are some days when she can’t leave her house. But over time, and with every class, Mugridge gains strength.
“Every time I do a workshop, he grows smaller and I grow bigger. He is getting less and less power over me,” Mugridge said. “I’m starting to get more of my life back, more of my freedom and confidence.”
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
