Training for her first marathon 38-year-old Kelly Herron, would often find herself pounding the pavement after work. She lived in the Pacific Northwest in the US, which often meant that Kelly would be running in the dark, by herself. Sometimes she’d feel a flicker of fear.

So when Kelly’s work offered a free self-defence class for all employees on Valentine’s Day 2017, she jumped at the chance. Peppering the instructor with questions, Kelly asked, as a runner, what she should do if she felt like she was being followed. The answer was simple: ‘Run!’ Terrifyingly, she was right.

Three weeks later, on a freezing, wet afternoon, Kelly bundled up, popped on her headphones and set off for a 16km run along the beach. About halfway through her run, Kelly spotted a public bathroom and decided to quickly duck into the ladies. It was in that moment that her life changed forever. This is how Kelly Herron survived…

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