Affects in Motion: Running, Inhabiting, and resisting in an Unequal Urban Space

Abstract

This article analyzes the emotional and physical dimensions of urban running using a mixedmethod approach that integrates a digital questionnaire (N = 81), semi-structured interviews (n = 8), and a critical autoethnography. The aim is to explore how urban running practices are configured in relation to gender, fear, harassment, and socio affective dynamics in cities across the Americas. The results reveal a well established practice: 55% of participants have been running for more than four years. Motivations for running vary by age: among thoseaged  26–35, affective networks play a predominant role (75%), while among those aged 36–55, personal interest stands out as the main motivation (over 40%). Analysis of fear perceptions reveals profound inequality: 66.6% of women reported feeling fear while running, compared to 43.7% of men (X² = 13.25, p = 0.01). Additionally, 35.4% of women reported having experienced verbal harassment,
while such reports among men were virtually nonexistent. Significant differences were also found in the causes of fear: the most common response among men was “nothing” (25%), whereas women identified “presence of people” (29.2%) and “darkness” (20.8%) as primary sources of fear. In terms of relational practices, women tend to run more often in groups, while men more frequently run alone.

The articulation of quantitative data, qualitative testimonies, and the researcher’s embodied experience reveals how the running body becomes a device for contesting public space. Running— particularly for women—is an affective and political practice marked by tensions, resistance, and everyday forms of urban agency.