I was really irritated by Race For Life yesterday.

[EleanorHandbasket]

I did it, along with other members of my family, including myAunt who has terminal liver cancer (she started and finished with us but sat out the bulk of it). We ambled round, we weren't in it for the running (I could have done but not my Mum).

It was a very emotional and wonderful day, and Cancer Research do amazing things.

But it was all so PINK. And there was Zumba-esque warm ups, and they called us all 'girls' or 'ladies', and there were half naked men to tittilate us during the Zumba bit and it was just all so bloody GIRLY and patronising.

It's me, isn't it? I'm becoming a professionally offended type.

I just found it unnecessary.

Brilliant, thank you, Badguider! Right - now to find a run that we can do together! :)

oh xpost with bad guider

If a group of people want to run in a circle while dressed in a tutu raising money for a good cause - that is surely a good thing.

If somebody organised a steam punk tea party, or a bikers ride, or a piss up in a brewery to raise money for cancer research these would also be good.

Perhaps what I would complain about would be that race for life seems to be the only event of its type we hear of. I will be doing it this year.

YANBU

I almost signed up to do the local one this year but the thought of heaving and sweating around the park in nylon tutus and glittery deeleyboppers makes me feel a bit odd.

I will just carry on with my usual Macmillan coffee mornings. I'm not extrovert enough to run around looking like a perspiring Mrs. Blobby. :(

Sorry about your aunt, too. x

what are folks opinions on the bra walk is is it moon walk but you know the one ? men can take part in that but need to wear a bra of sorts ?

I didn't realise until recently here on MN that R4L was a female only event in which men (depsite having lost women dear to them to cancer) are not allowed to take part. As a result, I won't be supporting R4L or the whole toe-curling pink girly nonsense from now on - there are many other cancer charities I will be donating to instead.

Good on you and your family doing it, especially your aunt.

I get it.

I find it a bit infantalizing, the relentless cheery 'girls' stuff and the pink, and surely there is enough of being infantalized when you are very sick anyway? The fact that it is their theme isn't an answer - the question is, is there room for a different theme? I've noticed over the past couple of years that there is increasing awareness not everyone is comfortable with the rhetoric of 'fighting' or 'beating' cancer. People do adapt and charities do adapt. It's not because that rhetoric was always and obviously crass (it isn't, and I know it helps lots of people). It's just that we're not all the same and we don't suddenly become homogeneous because someone we know has cancer.

I don't see why a race to raise money to beat cancer needs a "theme"? (not addressing that to anyone other than the marketing people behind such events) Surely the "theme" is to raise money for cancer charities. It's not a Blackpool Promenade hen night.

Was it Race For Life that encouraged racers to write on their t-shirts who they were doing this for? I.e a relative facing cancer/someone they had lost to cancer. I thought that was poignant and relevant.

Perhaps it needs to be more, rather than less, inclusive? Why exclude 50% of the population for a start? And given that the numbers participating are down, perhaps the cheap hen night theme needs to be revised?

The RFL is marketed the way it is to reach women who wouldn't normally do the whole sweaty exercise/wearing lycra in public thing, because they aren't attracted to the usual races that are very good fundraisers for charities.

There's no pressure to run the whole distance in tight running shorts and little vests, you can walk it with your friends wearing something you feel comfortable being seen in.

For anyone who doesn't want to do the whole pink/girls together/naked men thing, there are marathons, half-marathons, 10ks and 5ks most weekends they can run and ask people to sponsor them for.

I know a man who had breast cancer, he and his male and female friends have found plenty of sponsored events they can do to raise money for cancer charities.

That's my point Quenelle - they have narrowed their market. It should be perfectly doable to organise something which allows non-competitive running in a mixed ability/mixed sex group, whilst still making it 'fun'.

Are the numbers down, SirChenin? I have just read the FAQ bit on their site about how they did research with their supporters who wanted it kept women-only, so they are protecting their support base. I can see the business sense in that.

I feel quite conflicted now about this actually. I would normally be keen to say women should have their own spaces and that men by default get to take part in everything else. On the recent thread about MN being sexist I took that view - having said that, men are allowed on MN, it's just that it's named (rightly) as a female space and is female-dominant, both of which I think are helpful. And yet given that cancer affects both men and women...

I do dislike the 'girly hen night' approach, but presumably RFL have found it works for their target market. I wonder if that is changing at all though now that things like Couch to 5K have taken off?

Was RFL originally a breast cancer fundraiser only? The whole pink theme certainly makes that particular strand seem dominant. Bowel cancer is now getting more attention, thankfully, but it's a harder 'sell' I would guess. What about truly women-only cancers such as ovarian cancer?

mrsjay Mon 03-Jun-13 10:27:00
what are folks opinions on the bra walk is is it moon walk but you know the one ? men can take part in that but need to wear a bra of sorts ?

I don't like that. Breast cancer might affect primarily women - but not exclusively.

WhyTF should the bloke I know who had it wear a bra to raise funds for breast cancer research? He didn't have to have breasts to get breast cancer.

Snazzy - yes. I read somewhere recently that numbers were down (will try and find the link), and a friend who has run in several RFLs over the years confirmed the same this year.

I don't support things like this - I give directly. if you want to get fit and go running, great, but I only sponsor productive activities for charity. The overheads of this kind of thing are huge.

unfortunately a lot of things aimed at women are dumbed down and patronising, and if women keep cheering it on, that's how it will stay.

sorry about your aunt and thank you for raising money.

It must be doable SirChenjin. These events have become so big that what you describe seems like a huge gap in the market just waiting to be filled.

Link here although that wasn't the one I remember reading, so there must be more

Another one here

Numbers definitely down - a rethink of strategy needed, perhaps?

Race for Life doesn't raise money for breast cancer research. The money raised goes towards research into ALL cancers.
I find the pinkness of it irritating, but you don't have to wear pink, you can wear what you want. It's a really fun day out and can be very moving.
Anyway, it raises much needed funds for a great cause and Im sure they've done a tonne of consumer studies to make sure that is exactly what it needs to be to raise the most.

I think Relay For Life is mixed and is a much more inclusive atmosphere, if there is one near you I think that is worth checking out.

I'm being thick. Is it purely for breast cancer?

I loathe the whole pink low rent hen night aesthetic thing. Two cases of cancer in my family right now, but I still don't want anything to do with it. I'll just bung a cheque to Cancer Research UK.

No, moom, it goes towards scientific research into all cancers.

So if it funds research into all cancers then why on earth does it insist on making it a women only event with a hen night theme?? It doesn't take a genius to work out that they are restricting their market significantly (and the stats do suggest that something is going wrong with their approach...)

The thing is, I think the majority of women there LOVED the hen night theme. My friend and I were wincing at being addressed by the (male) compere at 'ladies', but the other thousand or so participants clearly enjoyed it.

The camaraderie was amazing, the back signs (that say who you're racing in memory of, sort of thing) were often heartbreaking but also often marvellously uplifting. The whole day was a huge success.

It just makes me sad that it has to be such a wimminy, glittery, patronising pretendy-race.

But I appreciate that the vast majority of participants were ambling around with us and woudlnt' enter a proper race, and that they buy in to the whole hen night/girl-power thing.