wejo wrote:
we don’t ask people their race when they enter a race so why ask them their gender?
actually, BAA does ask race (though optional)
wejo wrote:
we don’t ask people their race when they enter a race so why ask them their gender?
actually, BAA does ask race (though optional)
Hooked on LRC unfortunately wrote:
I read the whole article and this is the direct quote
"Are nonbinary marathon registrants submitting qualifying times they ran under a nonbinary designation?
As of Tuesday, the BAA had received 14 nonbinary registrations for next April’s race, which will have a field of around 30,000. Their qualifying times came mostly from marathons in which runners had to misgender themselves because nonbinary registration was not an option.
How is the BAA verifying nonbinary registrants?
Through direct outreach to each athlete."
You said that NB athletes qualified this year with a time run as a NB entrant in another race but this is not true. There is no real way to prove someone is NB just by asking them, because it is a "feeling" and not everyone may post about it on social media (although many will, so that helps organizers trying to verify).
Most people will probably be sincere about it but right now I do worry about people lying. Maybe not for Boston because there's no NB prize money but for other races.
Yeah, I read that part of the Globe article and was confused. So I defaulted to the BAA website for clarification and got their words on the subject:
"Non-binary athletes who have completed a marathon as a non-binary participant during the current qualifying window (September 1, 2021 through September 16, 2022) may submit an entry application into the 2023 Boston Marathon between September 12-16, 2022."
I trust that^ over someone from the globe who may or may not know anything about road races. Maybe I'm being too hopeful in my previous long post that it'll work out and be closer to fair. But it definitely will never be completely fair for both sexes.
As some other posters pointed out, this is a statement for political and social impact more than it is for competitive fairness. After all, the Boston Marathon is "the people's marathon" so they are doing what they think will make their enormous audience the most satisfied. But really competitive amateur Boston runners should see through this and realize that it gives less opportunity to the people with female sex organs that it claims to be advocating for.
I also agree with the take that we should never have "gender" as something to fill out in any race registration. It sets us up for unnecessary conflict and we should use "sex" instead. BUT I'll stick with my belief that even if we do this, we'll eventually have to have 3 categories. Yes, non-binary people who have not changed their bodies would not have any advantage by competing for their biological sex. They would be fine in a 2-sex race format. However, DSD people and people who have suppressed testosterone or taken testosterone as part of hormone therapy would still run into fairness issues even with two "sex" categories (as we've seen in track, swimming, etc.) and most would fall somewhere between male and female in terms of competitive advantage. We might have to get used to 3 categories, branded one way or another.
Low Mileage Runner wrote:
However, DSD people and people who have suppressed testosterone or taken testosterone as part of hormone therapy would still run into fairness issues even with two "sex" categories (as we've seen in track, swimming, etc.) and most would fall somewhere between male and female in terms of competitive advantage. We might have to get used to 3 categories, branded one way or another.
We need a separate category for people who wilfully limit their athletic potential via bodily modification?
GTFO.
if we use sex instead of gender than it'd still be males and females category