(NEW YORK) — The reported rape of a woman who was jogging along Manhattan’s West Side Highway has once again put the spotlight on the dangers women may face while running outdoors.

The woman told authorities she was jogging at about 5:30 a.m., Thursday, when a man grabbed her from behind, choked her and knocked her to the ground, the New York Police Department said. She said he raped her, stole her wallet and phone and then fled on foot, according to police.

The victim was taken to a hospital in stable condition, police said. Authorities have taken a 29-year-old man into custody for questioning in connection with the rape, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The attack in New York City came less than two months after Eliza Fletcher, a 34-year-old teacher and mother of two, was abducted and killed while on an early morning run in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

“WE ARE SICK & TIRED OF HAVING TO WATCH OUT FOR MEN JUST BECAUSE WE BREATHE. Carry keys to stab someone, carry tasers, stun guns, mace, bear spray, loud alarms. Knowing self-defense, becoming a gun owner, never going anywhere alone. HOW ABOUT MEN DO BETTER,” a Twitter user wrote at the time.

“Women runners worry most about 2 things before a run-whether they’ll be abducted/assaulted/murdered or if they’ll be subjected to cat calls and being sexualized. Men worry about whether they should poop before or after their run. We are not the same,” another wrote.

A self-defense expert’s advice for women

A 2017 survey by Runner’s World magazine found that more than half of women who run said they are concerned that they could be physically assaulted or receive unwanted physical contact during a run.

It is impossible to prevent every attack and women should not feel the pressure to do so, Jennifer Cassetta, a self-defense expert, public speaker and health coach, told ABC News in 2018, after the deaths that year of Wendy Martinez, in Washington, D.C., and Mollie Tibbetts, in Iowa.

What women can do is empower themselves so they feel stronger and more confident out in the world, according to Cassetta.

She shared these three tips for women:

1. Know the weapons you have on your body and how to use them

Run or walk powerfully with your shoulders back and head up, making eye contact with every person in your path, Cassetta recommended.

If you are attacked, dropping down to a squat or a lunge will drop your center of gravity and make you harder to throw to the ground, according to Cassetta.

She said if you’re able to fight back, aim for the attacker’s eyes, throat and groin, explaining, “Scratch or gouge the eyes, give a punch to the throat to disrupt breathing and give a punch or a knee or an elbow to the groin.”

2. Be aware of your surroundings

Women should be “alert but calm” when they’re out and about, scanning for red flags and not getting too deep into thought, Cassetta said.

“When we’re being alert, our intuition is our inner GPS, it gives us signals and sends us messages,” she said. “If we’re too caught up in our to-do list or what we’re stressed about, we can’t hear it.”

Cassetta also recommended designating a friend or family member as your “safety buddy,” the person you text to let know when and where you are running and when you will return.

3. Arm yourself

Cassetta recommended women arm themselves with self-defense tools such as pepper spray and a personal alarm.

“They make you that much more aware because you’re holding onto it and aware of it,” she said, adding, “If you have pepper spray, make sure you know how to use it and have it accessible.”

Fletcher’s death while out for a run quickly drew comparisons to the deaths of at least six women who in recent years were also each killed while running in their city or neighborhood streets: Sydney Sutherland, 25, whose body was discovered two days after she disappeared after going for a run in Jackson County, Arkansas; Tibbetts, who was found stabbed to death after going for a run near her Iowa home; Martinez, who was stabbed to death while jogging in a busy, well-lit area of Washington, D.C.; Karina Vetrano, who was found dead after going on an evening jog near her New York home; Vanessa Marcotte, who was killed as she was out jogging in broad daylight in Massachusetts; and Ally Brueger, who was shot in the back while running in Michigan.

In 2018, another athlete, a 22-year-old collegiate golf player, was killed while she was golfing alone on a course in Ames, Iowa.

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(NEW YORK) — New York City Marathon runners are in for a shock, as the forecast for the Sunday race shows unseasonably hot and humid conditions with parts of New York City potentially reaching up to the mid-70s.

The organization hosting the race, the New York Road Runners (NYRR), has put out a warning for runners as they take their final steps in preparing for the 26.2-mile course.

“Start the race well hydrated and remember to drink fluids when you are thirsty,” the email to runners read. “Fluid stations are located throughout the course and handheld and waist hydration packs are permitted.”

The runners are also mentally preparing for the unexpected heat.

Tatyana McFadden, a five-time TCS New York City Marathon champion and 20-time Paralympic medalist, told ABC News that she’s been focusing on her hydration in the days before the race.

“Luckily we start a lot earlier,” McFadden said.

The race starts at approximately 8 a.m.

“Take your hydration seriously … You’ll be probably a lot more dehydrated, much more than probably your runs you had a couple of weeks ago. Key in that hydration and rest leading up to the marathon,” McFadden added.

Olympian and America’s marathon record-holder Daniel Do Nascimento told ABC News that he thought he expected to be cold for the race — but got lucky with the burst of heat that he’s used to being in.

“When I saw that it was going to be hot, it’s a great opportunity for me because I’m from a tropical country that’s so hot,” said Do Nascimenti, from Brazil.

However, he’d been training in Kenya though, which has a cooler climate.

NYRR gave runners some tips for racing on a day like the warm and humid one runners should be expecting this year.

They suggest wearing light fabrics, and don’t start off the race too fast. Also, if you start to heat up, they urge runners to slow down their pace.

“If you feel faint, dizzy, disoriented, or your skin is clammy and abnormally hot or cold, slow down or stop running,” race organizers recommend. “If symptoms continue, stop running and seek help at a medical station (located every mile starting at mile 3).”

They also recommend wearing hats or skin coverings.

“Be aware that you may not be acclimated to the weather we expect on Sunday,” the email read.

Medical, food, misting and fluid stations will be located throughout the marathon course.

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(DENVER) — Authorities in Colorado are investigating a “suspicious, powdery substance” found in a ballot mailed to the Adams County elections office in what officials say “appears to be an attempt to disrupt the elections process.”

Hazmat units, paramedics, firefighters and other law enforcement agencies were called to the county offices after the ballot was received Wednesday, and initial testing of the substance was negative for explosives, biological agents and narcotics, Adams County clerk Josh Zygielbaum said Thursday.

But Zygielbaum said the powder contained a “concerning, unknown chemical,” so samples have been sent for further testing.

FBI officials in Denver confirmed Thursday that they are supporting local law enforcement in the investigation.

“It really drives home what we’ve been concerned with, but we’ve got great plans in place and will ensure that the election goes off without a hitch,” Zygielbaum told ABC News. “And even if we have individuals who are going to try to disrupt the process, we will work around them to make sure it gets done.”

“The voter’s anonymity is protected and their constitutional right to vote is in place,” Zygielbaum said. “Should it be determined safe, we will move forward with processing this ballot.”

The incident comes as election officials across the country continue to see a rise in threats and harassment with the approach of Election Day.

Zygielbaum told ABC News in May that he wears a bulletproof vest to work — one of the many safety measures he says he’s been forced to take as the state has emerged as a battleground in the shadowy world of election conspiracy theories.

Appearing this week on an episode of ABC News’ Impact x Nightline, Zygielbaum was asked by ABC News’ Terry Moran what that says about the state of the country.

“It says that our democracy isn’t as healthy as it should be right now,” he replied.

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(TULSA, Okla.) — Forensic scientists have uncovered 24 additional unmarked graves in an Oklahoma cemetery, three of them containing child-sized coffins, as part an effort to identify victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, officials said.

The unmarked burial sites were discovered in Tulsa’s Oaklawn Cemetery after excavations resumed there on Oct. 26, according to city officials who authorized the investigation.

The latest discovery was made Tuesday in the graveyard just southeast of downtown Tulsa, officials said.

“Three additional child-sized burials were discovered…in the southern block (of the cemetery),” the city said in a news release.

Twenty-one other burial sites were unearthed in the western section of the cemetery since the new excavation got underway last week, according to the city’s statement.

Four of the graves are being excavated by hand to determine if the remains should be exhumed for further analysis.

Remains from one of the graves were found in a simple coffin and exhumed on Tuesday to be analyzed in an on-site lab.

“Experts continue to be narrowly focused on which graves will be exhumed and have determined that no child-sized burial will be,” the city’s statement reads.

This is the second excavation to occur at the cemetery. An excavation last year uncovered 19 unmarked burial sites, officials said.

Historians suspect that 75 to 300 people, most of them Black, were killed in the Tulsa Race Massacre, which the Oklahoma Historical Society calls “the single worst incident of racial violence in American history.” The Oklahoma Bureau of Vital Statistics officially recorded 36 deaths.

Following World War I, Tulsa was known for its affluent African American residents and black-owned businesses in an area called the Greenwood District, which was also referred to as “Black Wall Street.”

White mobs attacked Black residents in the neighborhood and burned down more than 1,000 homes and businesses during two days of riots that broke out between May 31 and June 1, 1921, prompted by allegations that a 19-year-old Black shoe shiner assaulted a white female elevator operator.

In 2018, Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum announced the city would reexamine the unmarked graves identified in a 2001 state commissioned report. In addition to Oaklawn Cemetery, the city has designated three other potential areas to excavate, including a park in northwest Tulsa near the Arkansas River and the Rolling Oaks Memorial Gardens cemetery.

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