T.T. doesn’t let winter get in the way of her thirst to go running.
She loves hitting the trails near SFU on Burnaby Mountain and doesn’t let cold weather stop her.
“Anyone who runs knows how addictive it can be,” T.T. says. “I’ve run in all sorts of terrible conditions, but I’m staying home right now. So you know how bad things must be for me to not do what I love. But for me, this is the last straw.”
T.T. and her friends told me this recently when I struck up a chat with the women on campus. I was asking about a recent incident that happened that has had yet another chilling effect on women at the school.
Earlier this month, Burnaby RCMP issued a warning and a plea for tips after a man exposed himself to a woman out on a local trail.
On Dec. 3, at around 3:15 p.m., a woman was met by a naked male while out running in the area of South Campus Road and Science Road at “Mel’s Trail” at SFU on Burnaby Mountain, police say.
“You see something like that and it’s just more creepy men who make us feel unsafe,” said T.T.'s friend J.T. (The women didn’t want their names used.) “It makes you not want to go anywhere on your own and so we have made a pact to all stick together at all times. It shouldn't be like this. Women shouldn't have to live in fear.”
This is not the first time there has been trouble on trails near the campus. Women have reported before about creepy men following them on this trail network, as well as while they are on the campus.
A man whose crimes a judge has called “every woman's worst nightmare” is now serving a 12-year prison sentence for attacks on these trails and will be bound by a 10-year long-term supervision order once he’s out.
Michal Popek, 41, has been in prison since April 2016 for sexually assaulting four women who were strangers to him – including two women walking on Burnaby trails in broad daylight in February and March of 2016.
And now we have a man wandering the trails wearing no clothes.
Police are continuing to investigate the public exposure. The individual is described as a white male, approximately 35 to 45 years old, six-feet tall, dark brown short hair with no apparent tattoos or marks.
Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed this incident or similar incidents to contact the Burnaby RCMP at 604-646-9999.
- With additional reporting by Cornelia Naylor
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
