Woman Who Wrote Letter To Man Who Fat Shamed Her On A Run To Appear On Cover Of Women's Running UK

Woman Who Was Fat Shamed By A Van Driver Has The Last Laugh

After writing a powerful open letter to the man, where she said: "Let me make one thing very clear, I am not ashamed of my body", the runner has now been invited to be on the cover of Women's Running UK's September issue.

Swift was out running with her boyfriend, Ryan Wilkes, 30, and had recently started exercising in a bid to get fit and complete her first 10k. As the couple ran past the man reportedly leaned out of his van to sing a version of Mika's 'Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)'.

Most women would have been put off running for life, but not Swift.

In her open letter, she wrote: ""Thanks for noticing. I'm not sure who you were telling I was fat, you clearly have eyes, and the only other people present were me and my boyfriend.

"I assure you that despite your concern I do own a mirror, and my boyfriend has seen my fat body as he too has eyes. Don't tell anyone but I think he might even like it.

"Let me make one thing very clear, I am not ashamed of my body. It has never stopped me from doing anything I want. My fat body has done things that you, hanging out of the window of your babe-magnet white van could only ever dream of."

"Here's hoping that anyone with a goal, fat or thin, isn't put off by this kind of thing. I know I haven't been.

"Now I have written this, I feel sorry for you. Your behaviour is not normal and your manners are well below par."

Swift's post then went viral.

Speaking to the BBC, she said: "It originally was something for my friends to see, and was a way of me taking control back for myself just by writing something a bit funny. I never expected it to go viral."

"I'm getting much fitter now that I've started running but I am a size 18. I haven't lost a dress size but my shape is changing. It's not about losing weight though, it's just about being fit enough to do activities. I can play tennis, I can swim and it's a more active and enjoyable lifestyle."

An open letter to the idiot who thought it was ok to heckle me with fat jokes on my run yesterday,Your comment was a...

Posted by Lindsey Swift on Friday, 7 August 2015
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