It was just like any other day when Layla Eshow went for a run last Thursday afternoon — heart pounding, brow and clothes covered in sweat. She followed her usual route near Avalon Beach in Sydney’s north and ran a loop starting and ending at her home.
However, the day took an unexpected turn when two police officers approached her just after 12:30 pm and asked her to stop.
She had not long crossed Barrenjoey Road, where the footpath disappeared on one side, when the officers asked her if she was OK. It was then that Layla was informed that a concerned local had seen her running and called for a welfare check. The resident was worried she was either in trouble or was at risk of troubling the community.
Sharing a light-hearted post in her local community group, Layla stressed that she was absolutely OK, with hundreds praising her for her running efforts. She even had a good laugh about it with the cops who stopped to check on her at the time.
But on reflection, while Layla knows the resident’s actions in calling the police weren’t ill-intentioned, she told Yahoo she feels there’s a chance she was judged because the 43-year-old didn’t present like a typical runner, and hadn’t donned a glamorous running outfit that people may associate with the sport.
“I think people are really familiar with, you know, the runner’s physique… they’re super lean,” Layla told Yahoo News.
“They can wear tiny little shorts. They can wear crop tops, and that’s fine, because they’re runners. But if a chunky lady wears little pants so she doesn’t get chafing, and wears a T-shirt because she doesn’t want the tan lines… that makes it a little bit different from someone else’s perspective.
“They saw me as a fat person who’s not a runner.”
Layla was wearing a sports bra under the top she ran in. Source: Supplied
Layla had been wearing running shoes and sweatbands, but admits it wasn’t the standard ‘running attire’ most people wear when hitting the streets. She’s taking the confusion in her stride, but said she would be lying if she wasn’t going to have the incident in the back of her mind on her next run.
NSW Police confirmed to Yahoo News they performed a welfare check along Barrenjoey Road on Thursday.
“About 12.25pm on Thursday 23 October 2025, officers attached to the Northern Beaches Police Area Command were called to Barrenjoey Road, Avalon Beach, following a concern for welfare by a member of the public. Officers spoke to a woman with no further police action,” a spokesperson said.
Running incident highlights ‘misguided beliefs’ about women
Layla believes the incident highlights broadly accepted “misguided beliefs” about runners and women exercising in general. There has been a surge in running popularity over the last few years, with clubs dedicated to the sport sprouting up across the country, but the activity has long presented safety challenges to women wanting to run solo.
The mentality that a running woman must ultimately be in danger, or instigating it, if she doesn’t have a “runner’s physique”, is outdated, Layla claims.
“There’s always an alternative reality to the gazing eye,” Layla said. “The minute you have boobs and thighs, you’re sexualised, or you’re seen as a threat… I just want people to know that there are bodies that can run that are not a size six and flat-chested with no ass.
“They’re just misguided beliefs because they only have one set of lenses,” she said.
Layla is now urging others not to be disheartened.
“I think for other runners, just do your thing,” she said.
“We come in all shapes and sizes and colours, and we just want to be fit and confident, and we’re confident enough to go running with a floppy bits.”
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