Run safer in Amsterdam.
Join our community today!
About Run Her Way Amsterdam
Amsterdam is rethinking its public spaces through the lens of women and girls. But what does that mean for women who run? Run Her Way is launching a new city project to help shape that answer.
This work is timely and urgent. Earlier this year, many women spoke out about harassment and assault while running in Amsterdam.
Our goal is to make running safety a visible and actionable priority across Amsterdam — through a structured, data-driven, community-wide approach.
Starting in October, we’re bringing together runners, clubs, and city partners to identify and map safety concerns, audit routes, and host bystander trainings and community dialogues. Together, we’ll build allyship within the running community, raise awareness among the broader public, and collaborate on practical solutions that make running safer for all.
From November to December 2025, we’ll be collecting initial data. In January 2026, we’ll start our first route audits and workshops. By March 2026, we’ll share preliminary insights, with ongoing action through 2026.
Do you run in Amsterdam? Or would you like to if it felt safer? Join the project today.
By participating, be part of a movement for safer running and stay tuned for perks from local supporters.
Launch Event — October 23 at Philos Running
Recently in Amsterdam
Bystander Training
We hosted a Bystander Training in collaboration with Fairspace. Together, we explored how to recognize unsafe situations and step in as allies in a way that feels both confident and responsible. It was an empowering session that showed how small actions can make a big difference in making running safer for everyone.
Run & Reflect Vondelpark and Rembrandtpark
We kicked off our Run & Reflect series with a route audit session in collaboration with All4running. In three groups we ran two routes through the Vondelpark and the Rembrandtpark. During and after the run we reflected together on how the routes felt in terms of safety, visibility and comfort, sharing experiences and observations to better understand how public spaces shape the running experience.
Launch Event
Run Her Way recently held the official launch event for Run Her Way Amsterdam. This event bought together many like-minded runners, policymakers and advocates to explore how to improve running safety in the city. This event was held in collaboration with Philos Running.
HOW IT WORKS
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Step 1: Complete the intake questionnaire
Join the project by sharing a bit about you, your running habits, and how safe you feel running in different parts of the city. Your input helps us map local experiences and shape safer routes for everyone.
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Step 2: Take part in weekly safety check-ins
Each week, for a period of 6 weeks, we’ll invite runners to reflect on their runs and share short feedback.
We’ve learned that runners who are tuned in to their surroundings notice more and provide powerful insights about what helps or hinders a sense of safety.
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Step 3: Join (or host) a route audit
Run your usual route or explore a new one while observing the environment together with other local runners. We’ll provide simple tools and prompts and a way to record what you notice.
We’re especially looking for running clubs across the city to partner with us in hosting local audits and sharing their members’ experiences.
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Step 4: Stay engaged
Join our community events and workshops!
Beyond running, we’ll host community dialogues, bystander-intervention trainings, and mapping workshops that connect runners, city officials, and partners to co-create safer places to run.
Stay updated through our email updates and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn.
WHAT IT DELIVERS
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Data-backed safety recommendations
We are compiling real insights from local runners to create a comprehensive and actionable safety report for policymakers, urban planners, and other community stakeholders.
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Interactive urban atlas mapping safe routes
We will highlight the safest running routes in Amsterdam based on community input. By mapping high-risk areas and gathering route feedback, this tool will help runners make informed choices while also guiding local leaders in prioritizing safety improvements where they are needed most.
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Strengthened community engagement on running safety
Through workshops, stakeholder discussions, focus groups, and running audits, we’re expanding the conversation on safety by bringing together runners, local organizations, city officials, and businesses. Our goal is to encourage cross-sector collaboration, ensuring that running safety becomes a shared priority across the entire community.
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A scalable model for safer running
This is part of three city pilot projects that will inform the final shape of our blueprint for running safety that can be adapted to other cities. By testing, refining, and optimizing our approach, we are creating a scalable model that will support global efforts to make running safer for all women and girls.
Partner with us
Women and girls deserve to run without fear. But 92% of women globally don’t feel safe running, 2 in 3 women have experienced harassment while running, and in the Netherlands, 73% say their running environments should be safer.
We’re pioneering a data-driven, community-powered approach to make running safer. By partnering with us, you can help transform local running spaces, drive real change, and strengthen the running community in Amsterdam and beyond.
Running clubs – Help us create a safer running community by co-organizing or participating in group route audits, recruiting runners to our project, and sharing your safety insights at our events and workshops.
Brands & businesses – Align with a movement that matters. Offer incentives for runner participation and support our awareness campaigns and events, while demonstrating your commitment to community impact and the empowerment of women and girls.
Local government, law enforcement & urban planners – Engage with us and use our data-driven insights to implement infrastructure improvements, enhance public safety measures, and support inclusive urban planning.
Advocacy & community groups – Work with us to promote education, awareness, community action, and policy changes that improve safety for female runners.
Help us spread the word
We need your help to reach as many runners and stakeholders as possible!
✔ Share our initiative on social media by tagging @run_her_way and using #RunHerWayAmsterdam
✔ Talk to your running club, local businesses, or local councilor about getting involved.
✔ Use our digital media toolkit to share posts, flyers, and visuals.
Click below to download our media assets.
FAQs
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This initiative is designed to make local running safer for women and girls by gathering real data from runners, engaging the community, and working with local stakeholders to implement solutions.
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Amsterdam is rethinking how it designs public space through the eyes of women and girls. We’re here to make sure that includes women who run. With its strong running culture, a track record of forward-thinking and progressive values, and recent public conversations about safety, Amsterdam is the perfect place to turn ideas about gender-inclusive design into action on the ground.
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While our focus is on the addressing the unique and well documented safety concerns of women and girls (16+), we welcome all allies—including male runners, community leaders, and organizations—who want to support safer public running spaces.
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✔ Step 1: Sign up here.
✔ Step 2: If applicable, indicate additional ways you’d like to be involved.
✔ Step 3: You’ll soon receive a welcome email with next steps. -
The entire project will run until mid 2026. We begin with an initial data collection period of 8 weeks, during which you’ll receive surveys to share your running experiences, safety concerns, and insights. This data will help shape key project activities, including workshops, focus group discussions, and running audits.
We encourage you to stay engaged as the project evolves, but your level of involvement is entirely up to you. Whether you choose to participate for the full duration or just in specific activities, every contribution helps.
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Partners can support this initiative by:
Offering incentives & benefits to participating runners
Hosting or sponsoring community runs, workshops and events
Using project data to improve safety measures & urban planning
Providing funding or resources to sustain the initiative
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The insights collected will be used to:
Advocate for safety improvements in Amsterdam’s public running spaces
Develop an Urban Atlas to map safer running routes
Provide data-driven recommendations to policymakers, planners, and law enforcement
Inform community-based programs to carry on the legacy of the project
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Please reach out to our team at amsterdam@runherway.org. We would love to connect with you and answer any questions you may have.