We have made significant strides in ultrarunning in recognizing that women are amazing athletes and competitors, and more than worthy adversaries. But last weekend I was reminded that there is still a long way to go in the fight for gender equality in our sport.
On Saturday, I passed one of you in a race. You had your head down and were walking. You did not look good. When I stopped to ask if you were injured or needed help, the first words out of your mouth were, “I was doing okay until a woman passed me.”
Come again?
I did not stick around to listen to your excuses or explain that we have no place for this attitude in our sport. But I did have several miles to reflect on what you said, and I would like to address you now.
First, if you cannot be respectful of your fellow runners then go run by yourself somewhere. Stay on your treadmill fantasizing about your male dominance. We do not need or want you on the trails.
Second, when a woman (or anyone, for that matter) passes you, say something like “Great job,” or “You’re doing awesome, keep it up.” Stop pouting. It’s not her fault that you trained your ego better than you did your body. That woman, and the several others that would pass you in the race, worked hard to get here. They are physically and mentally stronger than you.
Third, why does it bother you in the least that you were beaten by women? How are you not excited by the fact that women are crushing it in our sport? Did you not see that 10 women placed in the top 20 overall finishers at Western States? These are our daughters, sisters, wives, mothers and friends. These are the people who mean the world to us. Why in the hell would you not want them to succeed? How is it ever an insult when one of them beats you? Do not be so insecure that you look at a woman’s success as your own failure. Instead, celebrate it.
To the rest of you, I want to encourage you to keep moving forward. I think the ultrarunning community is ahead of the times when it comes to gender inclusivity in sport, and we should be proud of this. But we are still a long way away from reaching the summit. Look no further than this weekend’s Hardrock 100, which, as of Thursday, has only 15 women registered to run out of a field of 146. This does not add up. It is good to see that Hardrock is addressing this issue by implementing a policy to increase women’s participation in 2022, and I hope other races follow suit. Still, we have work left to do to make ultrarunning the example that other sports should follow when it comes to gender equality. Here are a few things we can do to help make this happen:
- Do not register for races that don’t offer equal prizes or payouts to men and women.
- Do not sit idly by and listen to people tease or joke about you or other runners being beaten by women. Call them out and explain how ignorant and unacceptable this is.
- Do not buy running products or endorse brands that don’t promote equality or offer sponsorships to women.
- Forever remove the term “chick’d” from your chauvinistic vocabulary. I never want to hear this word again.
- Educate yourself on the challenges that women runners face. Listen to what might be holding them back.
- Write to running brands and publications and let them know you would like to see more women featured in articles, ads and social media.
- Encourage your female running friends to sign up for more races and let them know that they are more than capable of crushing it.
- Use your platform to promote gender equality in our sport—whether it be through your online presence or simply explaining to co-workers at the water cooler how talented female ultrarunners are. “Hey Bob, did you know that at the most competitive ultramarathon in the country, half of the top 20 finishers were women? Pretty great, right?”
You’re damn right it is.
Call for comments: I know many women ultrarunners who have a ton to add to this discussion. I would love to hear your suggestions on things we can do to improve gender equality in ultrarunning. Thank you!
70 comments
Massive, monumental, truly mind blowing kudos and thanks for this!!!
This piece exactly captures the moment and the sentiment.
Keep pushing people. All genders and all flavors… You are awesome.
Kudos to any woman for running at any level and if they perform well or WIN all the better!
I have know a few GUYS who said they were CHICKED and I never thought of it as these few said it in a joking respectful way…CHICK is like HOMBRE in a fashion as a Chick is the English version of LAS CHICAS ,the GIRLS….I have been pased/beaten by many women in over 40 yrs now and never suffered any pangs of self esteem or lack of confidence in my Maleness….I am more concerned with MALES beating me in my age category HA!
What’s the word for women being passed by men?
Thank you for standing up for women and putting male egos in their place. I dig all the actionable steps you list. As someone who works full time on equity (in the clean energy space), I’d like to suggest that equal prize money, for instance, is a starting point, but it doesn’t rectify decades of disparities. I’d love to see race directors be bold and say, you what, in 2022, ALL the prizes go to women. That won’t account for the historical disparities either, but it would signal we need to address more than the present moment (reparations, ahem).
Great read. I do think the 3rd should be 1st. We should be happy for anyone crushing a race. When my daughter was 12 she started crushing me in 5k’s and I was so happy for her. To think otherwise seems very ill.
I recently began my 50th year running. It’s truly been a joy and blessing to watch the evolution of women’s running in my lifetime…including that of my wife and our two daughters. When our daughters were young, it was common to hear mothers & fathers yell to their sons, “Don’t let that girl beat you!” They never seemed to understand that just added fuel to the competitive fires of our daughters. One of my all-time favorite races was the Bix 7 miler fourteen years ago with our, then, 13 year old daughter. I had her run the first half with me because she’d never raced that far. Half way thru I released her and she’s never looked back. I am a blessed husband and dad to constantly learn from the women in my life! Thankful for the many girls and women I’ve shared the roads and trails with asking this journey! Carry on!
Awesome read! I am surrounded by women with more talent, determination and fortitude than I could ever muster. I am proud of them and humbled by their accomplishments.
My Mom started running ultras in the early 1990’s. She ran 24 and 48 hour races past age 70. At 72 she is running a marathon in every state with my 52 year-old sister…..Her inspiration has led me to 100 milers and Leadville this year. So, yeah, ultramarathoning women are bad ass. And if anyone says differently, well, they just need to check the race results..she’d whip their butts
Behavior like that is very disturbing on many levels. Thank you for writing this piece.
In my first marathon in 1979, a 13 year old young woman passed me at mile twenty. She finished about ten minutes ahead of me. Her name was Karlene Erickson (now a member of the Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame), sister of Roxi Erickson. I can not believe that we are still dealing with the Neanderthal mind set about women and women in sports. Thank you for calling this person out!!!!
Karlene Erickson was a stud. And I’d be honored to have my doors blown off by her.
It’s the same in cycling, even on a training ride I’ll go past a guy then watch them bust a gut to get past me again.
It’s amazing how often it happens and I do wonder if they do the same if a man passes them.
It’s funny that I read the article and posted exactly this
same experience that my wife has all the time as we ride together. I’ll get greetings or compliments on my climbing capabilities as I pass other men, my wife 20 second behind me (I tend to ride ahead as I plot the routes and upload them to our Garmin’s so am more familiar, no other reason) will then be chased. I frequently hear the “go go go” refrain shouted at me as she has had enough of their nonsense and has decided to blow their fragile egos into a thousand tiny pieces. I’m so sorry you experience this too. I really do not know what is wrong with my gender that renders egos so fragile.
Great article! I think being competitive is what pushes us to be better at any and everything in life and we should never lose that. (Competitiveness is a personal thing – I’m competitive with myself and some people are competitive with the field. There are many forms). I think it’s ok to be like, shit I just got passed-“by a better or more trained athlete.” But men like that should understand, to your point, he got passed because of a lot of other reasons than that runner being a woman. Almost every race I’ve ever ran, there have been many women that have beaten me (when I was younger I did win a couple of races outright-that’s my ego coming out…lol). But my point is that it’s ok, there are many women who have better genetics, more drive, motivation, work ethic or whatever it is that makes those athletes better than me. It’s horrible that we have to have these conversations about men who still think this way. It’s sucking energy away that could be used toward many of the equality gap issues mentioned in this article: equal prize money, more inclusion, equal coverage, equal sponsorship and so on. I think women are proving more and more that the only biological difference in men and women, is the “equipment” not athletic abilities. I’ve said this several times, a woman is going to outright win Western States in the next 5ish years.
Good suggestions, but most men are not going to research races and brands and act on that knowledge even if it’s the right thing to do —Your favorite brand or race, a race that fits your needs and schedule—in a perfect world maybe, but not this one.
But, realistically, send a quick email to the publications that underfeature women or give token coverage. Yes, eliminate chick’d, say to anyone, male or female, who passes you “Great job. Way to go. Keep it up.” Say to any man before, during, or after a race who whines about a woman who passed him “Good for her.” And when he whines that he couldn’t train right, had an injury, got a cramp, say, “Or, maybe she’s just a better runner.” It might make him think. So he won’t say anything next time.
It’s going to take time to un-train all the men who have been taught that being beaten by a woman at anything is a sign of weakness. If you don’t want to be beaten by a woman/man whatever, train harder.
My whole family are runners. I ran with my children in short races their whole lives and the races got longer as they got older. My son ran his first 5k at 3 years old…. I know you think I’m full of it, but I’ll swear on a stack of bibles. It’s a great story.
Anyway, now that they are all adults we challenge each other on fitness apps, we race each other at family reunions, we meet up at races and run for fun, and we all have fun trying to stay “faster than dad.” We hear the excuses, like “oh I just ate”, or “I have been training for this or that” or “I’m younger/older”, “I’m a girl”….. and the whole family has a joke we say “The watch don’t lie” If you want to beat me, get faster. The watch don’t lie. Gender, race, age, injuries, are all just excuses people use to try to talk themselves into thinking they have a reason for not being as fast as someone else. Your watch said you beat him and his watch said you beat him…… whatever he has to change to catch up, is on him…… good work. Keep beating everyone you can…… The watch don’t lie.
A lot of times in 100-mile races I’ll see a guy walking as I’m running. Miraculously, when they turn around and see I’m a woman… they start running so that I can’t pass them *insert eye roll here*. Obviously they get pooped out and then I end up passing. When I did my first 100-miler (where there was a 100K option as well, every male I passed assumed I was running the 100K. There’s faster women and men, and slower women and men than you. Don’t be insulted if you get passed by a female and be respectful of women that are in this tough endurance sport! Also – studies show women are better endurance athletes, so it’s not surprising women do well at the longer races.
This is a bloody awesome read! Thank you!!! My only problem entering ultras is that I struggle when I’m on my period as the length of the race is longer than I can leave a tampon in for!!! For more remote races it’s tough when there’s no toilet. If I ask about toilets on social media I get TONS of comments from men about ‘just going outside’ but it’s ignorant to assume I won’t go to the toilet outside. I’m fine with that, it’s needing to change a tampon which takes longer and requires me to have clean hands as I don’t want a UTI! So if a woman asks about toilets then please don’t patronise her with comments about just going outside EVEN if you think you’re trying to be helpful. Thanks 😃 and race organisers could make sure checkpoints have toilets but I know this is a big ask but if my flow is heavy I can’t go much more than 4 hours! 🤷🏻♀️
Nicola,
Ask at aid stations if they have any women’s supplies. I know sometimes things happen unexpectedly and women don’t always have what they need with them. I know races are starting to provide them and I do provide them at all of my races. I can’t necessarily get toilets out to all of my aid stations though just due to terrain etc.
I’m assuming you wear a vest. You could bring a Ziploc, a tampon, and a small bottle of sanitizer. You could even cover the Ziploc all around with duct tape ahead of time so you can’t see the contents. Yes, it will take longer than just peeing, but I don’t think your period should stop you. Everybody’s got their thing. Some people have to poop. Others don’t. Some people require more water. Others require less. You do it for you anyway.
Nicola, try the cup! It has done wonders for me on my long runs! You can safely wear it for 12 hours. Not the perfect solution on anything over a 50k, but it’s a start.
Agreed, menstrual cups have changed the game for me. Not perfect, but can keep in up to 3x longer than a tampon. Some brands are created by people who menstruate.
On lighter days, let it flow freely! No one cares about bloody knees, why care about blood elsewhere.
Diva cup works awesome for ultra running! Learned about it on the Hit Play Not Pause podcast!
Great to hear!
I think that experience is very rare. I am guessing that to use this N=1 to state we have a long road to go might night be accurate, I believe 99% do not feel that way. I think you have touched on the REAL problem we have here, which is supporting races we should not. There are race directors who do not treat women well, and hundreds of people still support their races. I don’t care if their race is one of the most epic around with amazing views, if you support them, then you support it.
Thank you for writing this! Women aren’t going to be able to change these views on their own. Just like the safety of women runners, it’s going to take out male counterparts shutting down the catcalls or derogatory comments by other men if we’re going to see real change!
Absolutely! All men need to call out toxic masculinity and work with our fellow human beings to dismantle the millennia-old systems of sexism. And ultrarunning should be a safe space away from that BS, not a microcosm of the rest of society at its worst.
I’m absolutely delighted by women doing so well in ultramarathon events. Courtney DauWalter, Jasmin Paris, to name but two, are re-writing the book of what was thought to be possible, and smashing overall records whilst doing so. The Race Across AMerica this year – overall winner was Leah Goldstein.
Long may this continue.
Oh. And my wife is a triathlete. Who regularly beats me when we’re running a race together !
You do what you do, and keep on doing it. Please know that a lot of us men ARE cheering you on, willing you do to well – even if it means beating us : )
Another action to promote gender equality- support races whose lottery systems are designed to increase female participation in races, especially the longer distances where women are significantly underrepresented. One race that comes to mind is the High Lonesome 100- their lottery pool actually is divided into two pools, with half the spots allocated for men and half allocated for women. Encourage more race directors to create an inclusive and equitable lottery design and develop comprehensive community and equity policies at their races! 🙂 Happy Trails everybody
This is spot on! Thanks so much Drew for sharing this and bringing to light that these inappropriate comments still happen. Worse than the comment the male runner made is the fact that it even bothered him that any woman might be a faster or stronger runner than him. Good grief, get a grip buddy… if you act respectful you will receive the same in return. The fact that it’s ridiculous for a man to say that, is NOT at all new but rather we (women and allies) are just not putting up with it anymore. Enough is enough. Luckily in our awesome ultrarunning community this behavior is not the norm!
Something simple that male athletes (or any athlete for that matter) can do is to 1. watch what they say to every other athlete, (women specifically if it’s a sexist comment or has the sub-context of being sexist). I was running a 50 miler in Central Oregon and a guy says to me as I pass him, “2 miles down, only 48 more to go.” Seems innocent enough but it was really a dig on me passing him. I didn’t even answer. I thought about trying to make him feel better by saying that I was trying to be competitive. I doubt he imagined I was trying to get on the podium and maybe he wouldn’t have felt frustrated by me passing him if he had? I don’t think he would have said that to a male competitor, but even if he did, that’s not the positive and encouraging race environment that I love about ultras. We are all doing hard work at our own paces so let’s lift each other up. We have all worked hard and negotiated life’s obligations to get to that starting line, some putting together better training blocks than others.
2. Kindness matters and show it through your actions. For example, I had my second ever DNF due to pre-existing GI problems and every single person at the race who saw me struggling offered to help. Their kindness was so indicative of the majority of people in the sport and I sincerely appreciated each and every person out there. That’s what I like to see. Let’s do more of that for one another.
3. Per a comment above, I also see men speeding up so I can’t pass them. Let’s not do that.
4. Fundamentally, women are underrepresented in ultras because of child bearing and I’m not sure how we can help more women get to a starting line. Maybe we can start an ultrarunning mom’s childcare training camp? Maybe there are local chapters for weekend back-to-back runs? I don’t want kids so it’s not an issue for me but I know lots of moms feel guilt over training so much and we need to address that so that they want to participate and can enjoy participating.
5. Open more entries to women at races, reward them the same exact way men are rewarded, and have feminine products, including Motrin, at aid stations and toilets. It really is a whole other thing to think about and worry over during races.
It’s not just the athletes but, sadly, also the race directors.
I finished third in a last-man-standing race a few years ago. The two people in front of me were both men so I expected to get the first place women’s award. But the race director told me they weren’t giving out men’s and women’s awards, just overall. At first I thought ‘cool, so they think that women had an equal chance to win this race as men’ but I also felt bad for the two other women who did an amazing job but didn’t get any recognition.
Then this year a ran another race put on by the same race director. It was a multi-distance race (15k, 25k, 50k, 50 mile, 100k, 24 hour) and I won the 50 mile event overall. The next day I looked at the facebook page for the race and they posted finish line photos of the top finishers in most of the distance (all male)… but not mine. I wasn’t aching to have my photo taken but what a missed opportunity to not highlight that you had a female as one of your top finishers? Definitely won’t be doing any more races put on by that guy.
That’s some BS, Amy. I’m sorry you’re being underrepresented for your big accomplishments, but I’m glad you still go out there and crush it. Maybe this mag can feature you 🤗
You didn’t follow your own advice and just ran away from the guy. You then write an article to the anonymous guy that is really written to the rest of us. Follow your own advice next time and call the guy out. Your online white knighting might be easier on yourself but doesn’t actually help.
Yes, T, a gentle comment at the time might have been good, but I know my brain is really slow during a race…so I wouldn’t be too critical. I also think that to dismiss this article is wrong. I paced at Hardrock and saw the disparity, and saying something here about that and issues seen in other places is valuable. Making ultra more equal is something that takes frequent strong pushes to change, and this is a good push and reminder for many. If this article makes some guys and RDs think harder about how to quit being sexist, then I say great.
I really don’t understand how having Hardrock offering a weighted lottery towards a particular gender is fair for *ANYONE*
What’s next LGBTQ+ is not properly represented? Let’s allocate some lottery space for them..
Maybe a particular ethnicity is not represented? Let’s allocate some lottery space for them..
Maybe people with the first name of “Frank” are not represented? Let’s allocate some lottery space for them..
It’s a slippery slope
…and what if races did start to allocate lottery spaces for LGBTG+, ethnicities, and people named Frank? I fail to see what is wrong with that
Let me help.
When spots are reserved like this, subjective preferences are introduced. The resulting discrimination further divides us into tribes, fighting against one another. Besides being divisive, it also fails to recognize merit. That road does not lead to good things.
Equal is not equitable. Each race gets to decide what type of field they want to cultivate and each runner has the option to support (or not support) the races that reflect their values. I doubt you need an explanation of why women might face additional obstacles in accruing annual tickets. You’re free to spend your registration fees wherever you like!
I started running ultras 40 years ago, and this article, and especially the comments by women, are long overdue. Many thanks to all who responded. This should be required reading by ALL runners, and ALL race directors and members of the race staff and board of directors. Gender equality will not be easy for many of us old males, but it is a start.
Horrible reporting. Let meritorious decide who is able to enter races, not gender or race. Everyone should have a fair shot getting into these races.
Leave your political and equity comments out of sports. While it is a known fact that men compete at higher levels than woman, men cannot have babies. So, let’s let men and women compete on the athletic stage where they can. I applaud any athlete attempting to obtain a PR or beating a previous record. In the ultramarathon stage, there are woman athletes who crush male competitors. This discussion does not belong in ultra discussions AT ALL. It saddens me that we are even talking about it. I wish all the best in their personal endeavors.
yes..
Is it possible that this was nothing but a joke to lighten the mood? I have made similar jokes, also about dogs and strollers passing me in road races. Thank goodness, no one has written an article to defend the dogs.
Somebody has some real issues if this is the kind of thing that ruins a second of his life … let alone the time it takes to run a number of miles. But that’s made clear by the fact that the author feels comfortable placing himself on a pedestal and instructing others how to think, speak and live. For what it’s worth, I’m kinda tired of this.
Seriously – Why can’t we just run a race without having to inject some sort of morality into it? If this other racer was serious, well, it sounds like a personal problem to me. Why not take comfort that you don’t suffer from the same issue and move along. And without feeling the need to declare your moral superiority to the world. Instead, you could say a little prayer for him.
Amen!
Although a different sport, The Race Across America (RAAM) Bicycle Race (3000 miles with a running clock) was just won Overall by Leah Goldstein in 11 days 6 hours 41 min the first overall female winner in the 38 year history of the race.
Spot on, Drew. Thanks for writing this and I will be proud to share with friends and family of all genders. Sorry I missed you at SOB but I hope you are recovering well and I’ll see you out on the trails again one of these days!
15/146 Hardrock runners being women doesn’t prove anything without know what percentage of the applicants themselves were women.
Using that stat without the appropriate context is a typical example of the lack of critical thinking employed in todays social discourse.
Thank you for speaking up! I participated in the Leadville Silver Rush 50 on July 10th, and I was surprised that there were only about 25% women participating. We definitely need to find ways to encourage more women to participate! I also participated in another 50 mile race where I passed a man about a mile or so from the finish, and as I got into the finish chute he decided to sprint past me completely ruining any kind of finish photo I was going to get from my first 50 miler. Apparently, he didn’t want to get chick’d. This truly is an issue that I experienced firsthand. Again, thanks for writing this!
Is it possible that the guy sprinting to the finish has nothing to do with you and he was just trying to finish his race strong? Many of us sprint to the finish and because we are busy running our own race, we aren’t necessarily aware of the photo ops of those around us…
Sad to say, but that is a common lame-ass attitude from some guys.
Back in my racing days, I liked saying “I’ll be chicked and dicked right at the start, which gets it out of the way fast”
A certain kind of ultra-bro would freeze on that.
Translated: I DGAF who passes me, they’re obviously faster than me.
Now, I could tell a true story about a prominent IG Fitness Celebutard who got his feels hurt at Moab 240 in 2019, when he was passed at Mile 39 by a woman.
It was a Twitter Shit Show to the end.
From him and his fanboys.
I’m all for women getting into ultra-running and I have mad respect for any woman (or man) who beats me in a race. I agree with the author on that, 100%. From a persuasion perspective, however, what I think would have been more effective would have been to track down the woman who passed the guy (or some other woman who placed highly) and write a profile article about her, and about how great she is. To me that would have been cool, and more persuasive than taking an approach trying to shame people into agreement, which tends not to work, but tends to make people hide their true feelings, without actually changing them. Why not take this opportunity to use this article to shine a light of positivity on a woman ultra-runner who had a great race, as opposed to using it to shine negativity on some guy who got passed by someone?
yes..thank you
Ouch. I had trouble reading this. It was so aggressive sounding that I found myself wanting to skip-read. It’s a very tender issue for many of us women (and men) struggling for equality. As a woman, I have long abandoned the “overall” talk in regards to finishes. There is no “overall” category. As soon as a woman rates her own finish in relation to men (e.g., “half the top 20 overall finishers at X race were women”) we are again measuring our status only against men. As women, we need to stop measuring ourselves against men. Women are amazing in sport. Full stop. Not amazing in relation to men. Not amazing because half of us at some race were running “at the front with the men.” We shouldn’t be doing a comparative. We are different genders, sexes, with different physiology. We were running at the front of the women’s pack. Women’s and men’s races are two different races held concurrently. We don’t compare women’s times in a 400m track or 5000m track to the men’s, because they are clearly separate races. As soon as we put everyone on the start line at the same time, we blurred that. I am not racing against men when I race. They can “race me” if they want. That’s up to them. Just like I could get demoralised by a 70 year old passing me and make a an ageist remark instead of an encouraging one (“I was doing fine until I got passed by an old lady/man” vs “Well done, you’re crushing it!”).
Let’s end the “overall” talk. Women’s performances are superb on their own merit. Not as measured against men’s. Two races run simultaneously, for convenience.
Well said.
Jason, I don’t think any blame was aimed at Hardrock in that comment. It may have been the same percentage of entrants as there were entries in the ballot. Thats not the point- the point was why so few entries in the ballot? We need to address that.
As for me, if I got upset every time I was passed by a woman I’d need to factor tears lost into my hydration plan.
If you’re a man, then technically you’re racing other men, so it logically follows that you should be more upset about being passed by a man (who is in your race) than being passed by a woman (who is in the women’s race).
Agree Bernadette, well said or written. Understanding equality is a learned experience and requires many open minded and educated decisions in life. Let each run his/her race as best possible for themselves.
Race directors need to stop making women’s distances shorter. It’s BS that road cycling races only let women do 18 miles (example only) instead of the longer distances that the men do. Stop entering races that aren’t equal in distance for both sexes and all age levels.
On respecting older women runners–
https://fitisafeministissue.com/2019/02/12/yann-moix-can-kiss-my-ass-but-hell-have-to-catch-me-first-guest-post/
While I applaud the general message in this article, I have to point out a sentence that exposes the very bias that the article is attempting to call out. “These are our daughters, sisters, wives, mothers and friends.” We should be respected regardless of our relationship to men. We should be respected outside of these relationships that have been identified as respectable. We should be respected because we are human beings. I have never heard someone say “This is someone’s father, son, brother…They shouldn’t be treated that way!”
Respect me because I’m another human being who you are sharing the trails with. I may kick your ass out there. You may kick mine. But I am always going to root you on when I see you because I have at least some idea of what it has taken you to get where you are.
I ride with and run with my wife all the time. Trail runs, mountain, road, gravel and fat on bikes. She tells me all the time that when she watches me pass someone, she knows if it is a guy, as she follows past, she will then be chased. We’re both tiny climber’s builds, so on bikes, our overtakes usually take place on uphills and she knows that she will shift up a gear and destroy them, but just once, she wishes she didn’t have to. It got to the point where she started riding in a shirt with “follow me” printed on the back, because they always do, huffing and puffing, killing themselves to try and not let her drop them. I never have this experience. What is wrong with our gender. What is wrong with celebrating the fact that a woman, in her 50s is strong enough, fit enough, to pass you. When we first started riding in the area we now call home, we used to regularly see a young woman on the trails who could ride a 30% hill that we could never get up. We watched her every time we saw her, in awe of the way she rode and we wanted to emulate her. We were so happy the first time we did. That is a healthy attitude – respect and a desire to achieve the same standard. I despair at the “chicked” attitude my wife has to put up with.
Well said.
“only 15 women registered to run out of a field of 146. This does not add up”
Why?
I’m no fan of the Hardrock registration process, but if it favours anyone, then surely it is based on age and number of finish. Not gender.
Regarding the general discussion about the number of women in the field: the signup process is gender-blind, 99.9% of races out there have no lottery, and the ones that do usually follow a normalized draw based on tickets, so again, gender-blind (in theory… again see Hardrock and their draw based on age / nb of finishes). Ultrarunning has been the most skyrocketting sport in the last 10-15 years in terms of mediatization, just look at the number of applicants at WS and UTMB. So surely any woman that runs long distance and/or is interested in that topic is now aware of everything. Why is it bad that women only make X% of a field, if women are relatively much less tempted by running ultras than men?
Should I encourage my male friends to become nurse as well, even if they don’t really want to, or at least do not want it as bad as my female friends?
This was likely a self-deprecating, woe is me, let’s laugh about how pathetic I feel at the moment, joke. Despite what you’ve been told, your white-knight BS will not get you laid. Keep your SJW garbage attitude in Oregon. And F the High Lonesome 100 inequality BS artists while we’re at it. Women are entirely capable of speaking up for themselves and do not not need this handholding trash.
I’ve become a expert in being beaten by everyone. When they are ladies it’s chicked; guys it’s pricked; devil-worshippers it’s wicked; Celtic people it’s micked; course-cutters it’s tricked; cops it’s nicked; or you can just be plain licked (state your own preference here).
This article is awesome. It is however not written for gender equality, but binary gender equality. There will not be gender equality in this sport until genders that do not fall into the socially-concepted male-female binary are allowed to race as their gender identity. When you sign up for a race, there are often only two genders listed as options, either male or female. Non-binary racers have to sign up by choosing a gender they do not identify with. There is no gender equality in a sport that does not allow all genders to race as their own gender identity. Thank you to all the race director out there that have race sign-ups that allow for non-binary racers!
Let’s do one better than binary equality and be accepting of all genders!
Dear ,
I find this article a little late, but I’m glad I had the opportunity to read this eye-opening piece of an article. This article reminds me of a runner I knew, who happens to be a celebrated runner in India. Almost every international marathon he’d run, he used the word “Chick’d” as an excuse for his lower overall rank. His running log from one of the Indian ultramarathons narrates this and I quote “I should be able to bear the pain and hobble. I’ve been through worse(maybe). Suck it up. I would look like a pussy if I backed out now. Let me confess something that I have done only once before (during the 24 HR stadium run). I popped a pill.”
So, popping a pill in running is acceptable and ethical according to him, but he can’t look like a “pussy”. These are the unfortunate kind of top runners we have in India who are backed by great brands such as #Hell Ultra #Leap Store (Leap gels), #Jus’amazin butters etc.
The running scene in India is extremely male chauvinistic as I’ve seen it from close quarters.
I have been disinclined in bringing this issue to the runners sponsors as he is a well-known ultrarunner and any such complaints against him would make him lose a career.
I appreciate your article very well, the content as well as the attached images you share with me, I will definitely share it with my friends, wish you always good health and write more blogs. Please
Comments are closed.