Florida mom Michelle Kirk plans to complete the New York City Marathon in November. “Running brings me peace,” Kirk tells Us Weekly. But while training in her neighborhood with her 18-month-old daughter, Lilly, on Monday, July 11, a stranger made a comment that caused her to lose focus.
Kirk chronicled the encounter in a Facebook post that has since gone viral.
“To the nasty old man who stopped me mid run to inform me that I need to get a better sports bra because my boobs are sagging and will only sag more if I continue to run … f–k you,” the 28-year-old wrote. “You are the reason why women have insecurities. If you don’t like the way my boobs ‘sag’ when I run, then don’t look! I will NEVER stop doing what I love and I love myself way too much to have your hate bring me down!”
The preschool teacher assistant tells Us the man completely caught her off guard. “He said, ‘For what it’s worth, you should really get a different sports bra because your boobs are already sagging and if you continue to run with all the bouncing that I see them doing, your muscle fibers will break down, and they will sag really far south.’”
That’s when an enraged Kirk shut him down in the best way. “I told him that all my non-boob-sagging bras were in the wash, and it was either this one or no bra,” she says. “He continued speaking as I ran off. He wasn’t too happy with my response.”
Kirk hopes to inspire other women to speak out about body-shaming: “No one deserves to be brought down by someone else.”
