I was beaten to third place in a running race by a trans woman

I think you can handle this in a way that is more tactful, than asking someone who passes a little bit to run with the men. That approach will not win you fans and will feed the idea that we can't always tell etc. for all the people who didn't realise.

Instead suggest that trans inclusion in these races could be parallel, so she gets 3rd place in her category (non men basically) but the third place woman should also get third place against women. They need to bring an extra bottle of wine, basically. They could call it third equal and just score everyone without counting it as a double place, so fourth woman is still fourth, not bumped to fifth following two thirds. Or she runs alongside women, but her time (with initial) is ranked with the men.

This way she is competing against women but they are not competing against her, so woman are not disadvantaged.

If you propose a reasonable solution like this, a refusal will force them to clearly state that woman are losing out. At least people will have to think about it.

But takimg away fun things for people that mean nothing seems unnecessarily mean

A third place finish would mean a great deal to me. I was beaten to fourth once by a woman who cut the course. Ten years in, it still rankles.

These things do matter.

No one is taking away their ability to run in a fun race, just that their sex is recorded correctly.

It is infuriating when 'not looking transphobic' is in reality just females forced to pretend that a male person's privilege over them doesn't exist and also forced to pretend that they don't mind having to pretend under threat of punishment, because the male person's interests in all ways matter and the female people's don't.

But takimg away fun things for people that mean nothing seems unnecessarily mean

meaning nothing is in the eye of the beholder

im sure there are fun things that you do that i think ‘don’t mean anything’ which i could take away from you

This says it all!

I would complain to the organisers and include this piece of information to prove your point.

It really does matter!!

As others have said, write a letter to the organisers explaining what you have said here. Include the differing positions had they been running in the mens v woman’s race.

The OP doesn't say anything about 'prestige' and she is not 'kicking up a fuss'
It's a principle and a slippery slope; sure, fun runs on their own don't 'matter' like the Olympics, but in a wider context they give messages to people, especially young people who may be thinking about taking their engagement in sport further.

And it's not about questioning this person about their testosterone levels or genitalia. People need to declare their sex when they enter races, not their gender. I agree Fair Play For Women should be able to advise you.

I totally see your dilemma and actually really feel for you. On one hand, you don't want to look transphobic, especially as it's "only" a fun event. But on the other hand, as a fun runner myself, I'd be a bit gutted to come fourth in those circumstances, because it isn't fair and 3rd is 3rd, irrespective of anything else! And also, is all seriousness, this does need bringing up and it's a shame the trans person did not do the right and fair thing and register as their biological sex.

@TopKnotch there is a TW who ran parkruns with a male name then with a female name and has the course record at Parke parkrun. Before covid this one was placing “first female” at a few different parkruns. Only pride is at stake but some other woman should have that course record.

Agree, cos if it just continues there wont be any women at grassroots level.
Why bother entering if you know fine well you wont win.
Slippery slope to the end of all womens sport in less than 5 years.
Sorry OP it matters.

It does matter.

I ponder this everytime we go to our local parkrun and the first however many runners to finish (normal at least 5-7) are clearly male, then the top 20 has maybe 1 or 2 extremely talented women who are clearly training hard and at peak fitness. The vast majority of the first finishers and certainly those who do the course in sub 25 mins are male. But who is actually stopping anyone of those taking the women's course record? I don't know what the rules are tbh. No one watching a running event can be in any doubt that male biology confers advantage though.

Yep get in touch with Fair Play for Women. This is their beat
You said she was gracious as she overtook.
What was her reaction at the finish line and did she congratulate you? I'm really interested in her reaction (and if she was embarrassed)

@Morechocmorechoc why does the transwoman’s fun matter more than the OP’s? Or, if it’s just fun, the TW can run but in the right category. No one knows in a running event who’s entered in which sex/age categories - you all run together and they announce results and hand out prizes at the end. So the TW would not be outing them self.

Mans body running as a woman. Of course it matters, the slippery slope of accepting that men can by saying they are now women take over women's safe spaces, prisons, toilets, refuge groups, rape centres, running races, etc etc

You say she enters races as a woman. So this is not the first time. Part of the problem is that even if you don’t mind other people can see it’s not fair and that puts people off participating. An average male is going to beat most women. Also it shows how widespread this problem is - some sports bodies think it’s so rare that women can just suck it up. But it’s quite common now. Fair Play For Women are compiling info on this to talk to sports bodies about it. Can be confidential - just good to know location, that sort of thing. Can you email [email protected]? They’ll reply quickly.

What on Earth makes you think the biological males taking testosterone?

what about the right of women to a fair chance at the charity race. It matters how yiu are placed. Otherwise what’s the point.

are we to allow unfair biological advantage because they have problems in life. Most of us have those and don’t leverage them to win a prize in a fun run. It’s cheating.

fairplayforwomen.com/ It does matter, grass roots, charity...it all matters.
Get in touch with Fair Play For Women and they should be able to give you support.

Don't minimise this. Well done on 3rd place 🥉 👏

Wow.

Well unless you know her well enough to ask her testosterone levels I'm going to say you can't do anything.

It's for charity. I'm sure this person has had enough problems in life and enough hatred. Don't take the fun run away from them too.

Just before you all jump on me I'm not for trans people doing women's sport at all and I think if you're trans it's just something you shouldn't be able to do. Like if you're short you can't be an air hostess. That's just life. But takimg away fun things for people that mean nothing seems unnecessarily mean.

But it’s grass roots races that feed elite sports. It’s the kids/teenagers running in those who go on to compete for their county or club. If girls are disillusioned as 12, because they know they can’t win against that girl having male puberty, then they drop out and we lose elite womens sports.

I agree with this but a church fun run is the weedy verge of grassroots sports. It may be a first or occasional race. No one should get disillusioned coming fourth. Protect the areas of grassroots sports that actually feed the pipeline.

At a fun run, yes. But I’m a runner so I’m very pragmatic about the emphasis on fun.

I’m more outraged then when I was first lady at a local half marathon I didn’t even get recognition as they only gave medals for overall finishers (and I was fourth overall). That’s diminishing women.

I’d be interested to know if the trans woman is going around thinking to themselves “I came third”. I’d be surprised tbh, but maybe both they and I are deluded.

I want national and global rules that protect sex based support. My focus is the structures, not individuals.