Sarah Porter, an amateur runner and founder of a charity supporting women and girls in conflict zones, was withdrawn from the Montane Winter Spine Challenger South endurance race due to death threats linked to her fundraising efforts. The 108-mile race, which is a portion of the full 268-mile Montane Winter Spine race extending to the Scottish borders, took place under tense circumstances for Porter.
Porter was nearly a third of the way through the race at this point. At the second checkpoint, Standedge, the race organizers broke the news that they were pulling her from the course. Her coach, Jon Shield, and security experts and race organizers all performed an extensive risk assessment ahead of the event. They decided it was safe for her to still compete, resulting in this ruling. Things got worse when Porter began to get threatening messages about her work as a resettlement advocate for Afghan women and girls.
I started the race and everything was going great,” said Porter before everything changed. She acknowledged that her charity work often attracts “unhappy people, threats, comments, a lot of hatred as a result of the work that we do.” The threats then forced her security team and race organisers to make the tough call to withdraw her.
For safety reasons, Sarah Porter’s tracker was shut off for the duration of the race. We performed this action to prevent you from being wrongfully harassed as you went along with your ongoing activism. Despite the precautions, Porter felt a deep sense of disappointment with the withdrawal, expressing her emotional conflict over letting down the very individuals she aimed to support.
“My immediate feeling was just one of shame really,” Porter said, reflecting on the experience. I mean, like I was, I was an emotional wreck, just born from the fact that I really felt like I’d let the girls down that I was running for and I’d really kind of gotten this story line in my brain and psyched myself up that what I was doing was just so meaningless compared to what they’re going through.
Porter’s foundation fights day in and day out to rescue women and girls imprisoned in conflict areas. This life-saving mission can be rewarding, but it can also be dangerous. The threats during the race do definitely raise some serious concerns about their safety. Activists such as Porter who do this important, crucial, and dangerous work are especially targeted.
In the aftermath of these events, local police reached out concerning the threats directed at Porter. “So this is not exceptional, we were aware this was a possibility,” she noted, demonstrating her understanding of the risks associated with her advocacy.
Though this was a bitter disappointment, Sarah Porter refused to be daunted in her mission. She made it clear that she was really impressed with the way the scenario was dealt with by her group and by planners. “I can’t do anything but respect them for the way that they dealt with things,” she stated, underscoring her dedication to both her mission and personal safety.