As the sport of trail running and ultrarunning continues to grow, so too does the need to create new ways to fully welcome and accommodate everyone. Creating welcoming spaces for gender-diverse athletes is just one way we can do this.
While many race organizations have made efforts to do just that, and many more are likely to follow suit in the coming years, one researcher is highlighting the need to include gender-diverse people — and their lived experiences — in the conversation and planning of these new race categories.
Sophie Glasswell (she/her), a trail runner and ultrarunner, member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and PhD student in Sociology at the University of Oregon is currently seeking interviewees for her research on sex and gender in trail running and ultrarunning.
More specifically, “athletes who identify with a multitude of gender identities outside of the binary identities of cisgender man, cisgender woman, trans man, and trans woman. In other words, those who are nonbinary, genderfluid, genderqueer, agender, etc. and run ultra events in the United States” are invited to have their voice heard about issues that affect them in the sport.
Sophie Glasswell at the Ice Age 50k, where she podiumed in her age category. Photo courtesy of Sophie Glasswell.
Glasswell hopes her research will help instill the need for thought-out ways that trail running and ultrarunning can be fully inclusive to gender diverse athletes. She said, “It’s encouraging to see that some trail/ultra event organizers are trying to build more inclusive races by adding nonbinary categories. However, the experiences and perspectives of nonbinary athletes need to be considered during the creation process of these new race categories and policies. That’s where my research comes in; I’m gathering lived experiences of nonbinary (1) athletes who compete in trail/ultra events.”
While Glasswell acknowledged the efforts of some organizers and race directors to include nonbinary categories in their events, she said in some cases these categories are not well implemented, which can lead to “hiccups that put undue pressure and scrutiny on nonbinary athletes.”
She added, “To date, I am finding that athletes who identify as nonbinary are attempting to navigate a space where they are not always sure whether a trail/ultra event will be legitimately inclusive and give the nonbinary division equal value to the men’s and women’s categories, or whether adding a nonbinary category is a poorly implemented lip service to diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) efforts.”
Glasswell hopes that through her research she can give voice to this underrepresented and sometimes misunderstood section of our community, “by gauging how athletes are experiencing these new competitive categories on the ground, and prioritizing their voices and assessments of efforts to improve inclusivity.”
Runners interested in taking part in the study, which concludes in March 2025, can reach out to Glasswell at [email protected] or by scanning the QR code below.
Call for Comments
- Are you a trail runner or ultrarunner who identifies as gender diverse?
- If so, how has your experience been with these race categories?
Notes
- “Nonbinary” is being used here (throughout) as an umbrella term to refer to individuals who identify with a multitude of gender identities outside of man or woman, including those who are genderfluid, genderqueer, agender, nonbinary, and more. Please note that individuals who identify as nonbinary often also identify as transgender, but not all do so.
Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
