Some nonbinary runners are irate that Chicago Marathon's new nonbinary division isn't paying out prize money

These are people that choose to race outside their birth sex, which they absolutely could race in their birth sex and tell people they are nonbinary just like Nikki hiltz. With less than 1 percent of Americans identifying as non binary, having equal prize money is inherently unequal to the roughly 50 percent women and men that race (or maybe the split is 60/40, but that's way closer to equal)

Wheelchair racers can't footrace with everyone else. Masters runners don't choose to get older.

In addition, since some nonbinary runners choose to take hormones this category should really go against the spirit of the sport. People who went through male puberty and choose to take less or no estrogen will have a distinct advantage over those that take a lot of estrogen or went through female puberty. Therefore, I'm not against races giving people the opportunity to sign up as non binary and having gender neutral bathrooms, but having significant prize money is a bad idea.

Since it looks like only 1 person in the article is complaining about unequal prize money I hate the title of this thread. Please change it to one runner instead of some runners.

Shouldn’t Chicago first focus on reducing the 400+ shootings per month?

Some quotes from the article:

“As a trans athlete, showing up and registering for these races is a hard thing to do, because there’s not usually space,” Calamia said.

Not usually space? What does that even mean? No slots are allotted for men or women, either. There is a TOTAL limit, regardless of what gender a person is. Chicago's limit is what, 40,000? There is always "space."

“When runners show up to a race, there’s so much going through their mind: ‘How am I feeling today? How am I in tune with my body?’ They’re going through this whole checklist in their brain, as every athlete does,” said Fedorowski, who was hired by the Chicago marathon as a consultant. “But for those who exist in between the gender binary of men and women, they have an additional part of that checklist. They think about, ‘Am I going to be misgendered today? Will I feel safe? Will there be a restroom for me?’”

So afraid of being "misgendered" that they don't race? They could be misgendered at the grocery store, in school, at a restaurant, at a gas station ... anywhere. Does this mean they never leave the house? Safe? What is going to happen, someone is going to attack them in a hate crime on the street with 40,000 people standing around? It's probably the safest place to be. And port-a-johns are the same for male, female, or anything else. It's just a plastic box with a hole to piss in. They don't need anything different. My God, I don't ever heard wheelchair athletes worrying about bathrooms and they have a legitimate reason.

Gorden-Song ... decided against running the marathon this year because she felt too uncomfortable to race in the male or female category. She ran the marathon last year and would have signed up this year if she had known about the new division. “This year would have been perfect for me to participate in the nonbinary category,” Gorden-Song said. “Not having any races I could participate in really took a mental toll on me this year.”

Did not have any races she could participate in? That was a choice, not a limitation. Nearly every single race was back to 100% capacity across the country in 2022. And there is a simple fix to the, "I don't want to check male or female." Add a third option, "Prefer not to answer." I see this a lot when asking for race, so why not sex, too?

What's wrong? You all wanted different races separate from the women's for non-binary, trans or intersex people and here it is, and you don't like it either.

I'm starting to think your complaints about protecting the integrity of women's sport was completely contrived 😉

If you have male genetics, you will have an advantage, even if you were born without balls, even if they dope you with female hormones, you've got at advantage in your design of your skeleton and at mitochrondial level. Your position is as delusional as "men can give birth," there is no middle ground, no compromise possible.

Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says, "Hey, babe
Take a walk on the wild side"
Said, "Hey, honey
Take a walk on the wild side"

There's already a "Non-Binary" division and it gives out the largest amount of prize money. It's the "Open" division, and people just mistake it for a "Men's" division.

Cuzzzzzz, a real woman is real, and a real wheelchair is real. BUT, a non-binary is make-believe.

Just wondering; if a person decides to identify as a dog would they have to run a marathon on a leach? Just wondering.

Non binary has age categories. Oh the irony says the scientist.

I don't care about gender specificity for divisions in a race. I only care about age. Anyone younger than me should beat me regardless of their gender classification.

I think compromise can exist. I have non binary friends that run and they don't really care about money, they just want to be able to sign up and run as their identity. I don't really agree with their gender identity but I think it's a low cost compromise to ask if race directors. Elite money for an identity that can't be proven is where I draw the line.

Cal Calamia who is featured in the article won Bay to Breakers non-binary division in ~46:55. That was nearly 5 minutes behind the women's winner (and there isn't really an elite field). I'd personally be a tiny bit embarrassed to be given special participation prize money, and way more embarrassed to be begging for prize money while putting up some pretty mediocre times.

I definitely would NOT be calling myself an 'elite' athlete.

They could pay them with counterfeit prize money.

FTFY

That crossed my mind after I posted. But doesn't counterfeit money always identify as real money?

There should be prize money, but failure to meet a stringent time threshold should be met with a beating and a fine

If this happens, I want to see US elites who won't have a chance at prize money declare themselves to be binary for the day. Why not? They/it/etc said they can be transformers any time and can change at their will. Nikki Hiltz said she sometimes feel like a dude. Just not on the day she hits the starting line. Fight back their con game by playing their game.

Why not just eliminate all gender and/or sex divisions altogether? Everyone competes on an equal footing, the fastest runners win the money, no hassles, no debates, no one's feelings get hurt.

Eliminate age and sex divisions and I think you'll find a LOT of feelings getting hurt and you'd essentially eliminate women's sports.