Only half of the female runners polled said they felt confident when on a run, and anecdotally, feeling self-conscious is the number one reason that women tell me they don’t want to run. We’re afraid of not being good enough at running or worry that we don’t look the way a ‘real’ runner should.

The key thing to remember is that even if someone genuinely is staring disapprovingly your way, you’re out there putting in the effort while they’re either sitting in their car or lounging on a park bench. You’re doing the thing. But acknowledging that kind of thing doesn’t necessarily make it easier to block out other people.

“My best advice would be to face your fears head on as the more you run, the more confident you will feel,” says Steve Paterson, people development and product trainer at Runners Need. Indeed, 40% of the people surveyed in the research said that their running confidence has grown over time, while over a quarter said running with someone else improved their self-belief.

Finding someone to run with can give you the accountability and confidence you need just to break into a slow jog. If you don’t have any mates who want to get into running, there are running clubs up and down the country that cater for absolute beginners, while parkrun is a community that continues to flourish at 9am on a Saturday in almost every area in the UK.

Running tips: 5 biggest reasons women avoid running (and how to overcome them)