Years after being attacked while running, Dena launched Running Mate, a safety app for runners that provides a running-mate-on-demand service — the ‘Uber for runners.’

(Feature photo courtesy of Dena Lewis)

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Dena Lewis has been physically assaulted while running. Twice.

“I did all the things that we’re supposed to do. I carried a mace. I told my husband where I was. I shared [my] location. I always let him know when I got back. I didn’t run in the woods,” she says.

The unfortunate and intolerable reality is that taking safety precautions doesn’t always prevent us from harm. Just last month, Alyssa Lokits was attacked and killed while running on a popular greenway during the daytime in Nashville.

“Being an advocate was nowhere close to my mind,” Dena says about the first time she was attacked. “It was just getting through, day by day.”

Years later, when it happened again, she got angry.

Dena says she began thinking about how to help create a safer environment for female runners. While working in the medical device industry and traveling during the pandemic, early morning runs on empty streets made her uneasy. But it sparked an idea: What if there was an Uber for runners?

“When we’re traveling, we don’t necessarily feel safe,” Dena explains. Running with a buddy is a much better option than running alone, but what if we don’t know anyone locally?

With the help of developers and investors, Dena launched Running Mate, an app for runners to find mates to run with, in April 2024. Every user on the app completes an extensive profile and a background check, and the app tracks the routes of booked runs to provide an extra layer of safety.

Building an ‘Uber for Runners’

In only eight months, the app has had nearly 900 users across six cities: Atlanta; Boston; Salt Lake City; Austin, Texas; Tampa, Florida; and Charleston, South Carolina.

“We’re growing this business not as just a transactional business, but more of a community,” Dena explains. The Running Mate team partners with large running groups and brands such as running shoe company On to build momentum.

Once 75 users are signed up in a new city, it’s established on the app. Then, there’s a live event to celebrate the launch. Recently, more than 200 people participated in Atlanta’s activation event, a 5K glow run.

Find Running Mate on Instagram.

Another arm of the Running Mate organization is the Female Runner Safety Summit, which Dena hopes to turn into a nonprofit to help support women who have been assaulted or harassed. In partnership with four companies focused on running safety, the Female Runner Safety Summit speaks at races and universities.

Below, Dena shares her journey as a runner, her experience being attacked while running, the ins and outs of the running safety app, and her running safety advice for female runners.

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When did you get into running, and what role has it played in your life?

I started running about 20 years ago. I delved into it a little bit in my early corporate career, just as stress relief …. I traveled a lot, and it was the easiest thing I could do. So I started picking it up a little bit, here and there — one mile, three miles, four miles.

After my kids were born, I was all in. My kids are 13 months apart, and honestly, it’s the most stressful thing I’ve ever done in my life. But the time that I could put them in the stroller and push them up the street and run was good for them and for me, so that became our daily routine. Then they went off to preschool and kindergarten, and when that happened, my running journey really took off. I was now free to have time to myself, and I didn’t have to push a stroller. I was more focused on my time and my distance and things like that. So I really became more of a serious runner.

My first race was a 5K, which I think is most people’s journey, and I was hooked. I loved it. I just loved the adrenaline and the competitiveness of the race environment. But it was a love-hate relationship. I remember standing there thinking, I’m never doing this again. People standing there in the gate, waiting to go, and I was so stressed — I thought I was going to throw up. Why am I doing this to myself? But then when the race was over, I couldn’t wait to sign up for the next one…5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, marathons, and then [I] became an ultra runner. I’ve done two ultramarathons and two triathlons.

I don’t currently have any races…I just run because I enjoy it. I run almost every day …. I do at least take one day a week off. But I run pretty long distances, between 10 and 12 [miles] a day. For me, it’s just stress relief therapy.

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Can you share your inspiration for wanting to help runners find safe ways to run?

In 2010 I was running, and I was assaulted. I was grabbed and assaulted by a man, and I got away. I ran home. This occurred about a mile from my house …. I was in disbelief. I was in shock, I didn’t know what to do with the information. I didn’t know what to do with what had just happened, and so I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t call the police. I didn’t report it. I didn’t even tell my husband.

Over the next couple of days, I was really trying to figure out what I was going to do. For me, the answer to reporting was obvious right from the get-go, because he had left bruises on parts of my body that I knew if I reported to the police, I was going to have to expose. To me, that was like it happening all over again.

I honestly just wanted to pretend like it didn’t happen. I wanted to go about my life. And I thought, ‘Was it as bad as I thought it was?’ There were all these tricks my mind was playing on me. I knew it affected me, but I also thought, ‘I’m stronger than this. I can get past it.’ We’re just going to move on.

It was a Sunday night, and my husband was packing for a work trip, and our doorbell rang. My kids were already in bed. It was kind of late .… I thought, ‘Who in the world is this ringing our doorbell at this time of the night?’ So, I went downstairs and opened the door, and when I did, that man was standing there.

I screamed. My husband comes running downstairs. The guy took off …. We call the police. They did a sweep. They actually found him hiding in our backyard, and they arrested him. The challenge is that he was released a few days later because I didn’t report …. I lived for months in fear. I mean, even getting in my car, I wouldn’t open the garage door.

I did end up getting help because I also started to project on my kids…I didn’t even want to leave them in school because I was afraid something was going to happen. It affected my marriage. So I ended up getting help. I ended up moving through it.

Fast forward. We moved out of the area …. We moved from California to Texas, and from Texas back to the East Coast …. And then it happened again.

When it happened a second time, I just got really angry. And so that’s when I realized I needed to do something. It didn’t come right away. It didn’t actually come to me until 2020, during COVID.

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What happened during the pandemic that prompted the idea for Running Mate?

During COVID, I was still working in [the] med device [industry]. While everyone else was on lockdown, I was still working, and the only time during the day that I wasn’t in a HAZMAT suit was when I was running. The world was super scary, and no one was out and about, and I was still out there.

I remember waking up one morning — I was in a hotel — and I was thinking to myself, I would literally pay someone to run with me today. That’s where the idea gave me a little bit of a shove, and I thought, you know, there’s got to be something I can do with this. How can I create something where people can run together, but it’s on the runner’s terms? You have control as the runner.

This isn’t a run group because those can be weird, too. This isn’t a social media meetup …. This is something that, if I want to go for a run and it’s 5 o’clock in the morning, I want to have control. I want to have control over my time. I want to have control over my pace, and I want to have control over who I’m running with. So that’s kind of where Running Mate started.

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How does the Running Mate app work, and how do you ensure safety in the app?

We are like Uber for runners. The mate makes a flat rate…off of each run, and the runner pays for the service …. The runner has the ability to actually read all the profiles of the mates that are in the area, and the runner can choose who they run with.

Early on, it was evident to me that everybody on our platform needed to be background checked …. The safety piece is huge for us. I expected that to be a challenge for people and to be challenged on that, but for me, that was always a non-negotiable.

Once [runners] create their profile and they pass their background check, they’re ready to go for a run. They open the app, they can click ‘create a run’ …. The app is going to ask them how fast they want to go on that specific run. You can toggle and select. It’s going to ask how far they want to go. And then it’s going to ask whether or not they’re wearing headphones on that run. We’ve trained our mates that if someone has their headphones on, chances are they don’t want to talk to you. They just need a running buddy.

The app will show you the mates that are available in the area. You can scroll through and read their profiles and then select which one you want. Once you select, that mate gets notified that they’ve been booked for a run …. If the mate accepts the run, you get notified that the mate is on their way.

Then you can see the map, a lot like Uber, and you can see the mate coming to you. The mate comes, you go for your run. Throughout the course of your run, the app releases breadcrumbs, [to digitally mark] where you’re going. And when the run is over, you can leave a tip or review.

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Based on your experiences, what running safety advice would you give to other runners?

Since launching Running Mate, one of the things I enjoy the most is going out and running with women because they tell me their stories. I find out that, more women than not, we have this innate, nurturing sense about us and we don’t want to be mean.

When people come into our personal space, or make a comment, or pull up in a car, we’re scared. The hair on the back of our neck stands up …. We know it doesn’t feel right, but at the same time, we don’t want to be mean. We don’t want to overreact. We don’t want to think, ‘Oh, well, I don’t want this person to think I’m rude.’

That is what made me a target.

[One of our event partners] talks a lot about victimology. One of the things they said is that people that are going to do bad things are going to do it …. As female runners, we are crimes of opportunity.

What I didn’t realize about myself was there was this lack of confidence when I was running …. Even though I had a mace, there was something about me that was giving an air that I probably wouldn’t use it…and that’s how a lot of assailants pick their targets. They may make a comment. They may say ‘hi.’ They may induce the response that we give. It’s our body language.

There are a lot of tools in the tool belt that can be used to keep us safe, [but] not any one of them is going to do it alone …. Whether it’s carrying…a mace, a knife, whatever it might be, make sure that you are proficient in using it. [If it’s mace,] you’re going to get back spray. Make sure you’re comfortable using it.

[Running safety] is a problem not just for women. This is a problem for all of society. I would love to say we can fix it, but we’ve all got to come together to be able to try to make a difference.

Don’t stop running. Keep doing what you’re doing, because it is one thing that we should be able to do freely …. Be alert, be diligent, and be aware — and know that you’re not alone.

Follow Running Mate on Instagram to find out where the app is launching next.

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