ParkRun and Transgender record breaker

[PennysLane]

Trans runner (M to F) has smashed a woman’s record. Turns out he’s an attempted murderer too.

He attempted to murder the HR Manager of U.K. Athletics after he investigated his eligibility to compete as a woman. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Jeska )

I have enjoyed Parkrun on several occasions with my children, I’ll not be doing it again until they get this sorted. If at all.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/22/parkrun-self-id-male-runners-smash-womens-records/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/23/transgender-murder-parkrun/

That's been tried, eg in cycling, but the men insist on competing in the womens anyway

They should change that system then and make it visible, like a different coloured wristband depending on sex and if it doesn't look like they're wearing the right one for their sex anyone can challenge them.
I mean it isn't perfect but something has to be done.

Honestly, those of you coming after parkrun are not seeing the bigger picture of what parkrun does for women. It would be extremely harmful to take down this organisation in your witchhunt.

No one wants to "take it down", just for any published times to be reflective of reality.

No more than its a you thing to not treat it as a race. A bit of respect for others approaching it differently would be nice. We can race our way and you don't get to control that. If they publish any records of time then some people will see it as some sort of race. So there needs to be a commitment to seeing it as social le unacceptable narcissism for a man to pretend to be a woman. This person is a TW. Not a woman and the sex question on park run accounts is about biology not identity. He's a cheat and people need to stop enabling that with flimsy 'it's only a race if I sayvits a race' arguments.

Parkrun needs to scrap all categories and ranking. They don’t ask for id for any characteristic so what’s the point? You get your result that only matters to you. No need to see it ranked against other competitors.

Exactly. If it's "just an inclusive fun run", who would object?

i don't think parkrun is the hill to die on in the attempt to preserve biological women's sports, tbh.

I do think that parkrun itself needs to have a long hard think about if it wants to be seen as a race or not. Maybe not actively publishing course records would help? The information would be there for people to find if they want to, but not actively promoted?

I don't know the answer, but it is a bit of a mess if it can't decide what it actually is.

I don’t understand how feelings take priority over biological facts. You can feel female while benefiting from male biology. Gender and sex are not the same thing so I don’t understand why there’s allowed to be such confusion.

It knows exactly what it is.

It knows the race and results and categories and grading matters to many of those who participate.

They just think women should be quiet as we only really exist as facilitators.

I am a run director and would 100% refuse to do this. You can’t tell how anyone is registered until afterwards anyway.

I would hate for anyone to feel unwelcome but agree that the options should be labelled sex and I wish that trans people would use the other options which are available (prefer not to say and another identity).

If parkrun took a stand they would be attacked by the trans activists and I do think that plenty of trans people would self identify as their preferred sex anyway despite the language and expectations.

Yes, it seems as if they are profiting from women's participation and volunteering, while disrespecting them.

The problem is anyone can enter any details for themselves when they subscribe to parkrun. Parkrun is a voluntary organization so don’t have the means to verify all of these people and check it’s accurate. If we start making them do that then parkrun will likely be forced to close which would be a huge shame for standing by a principle. What do you expect park run to do?

If parkrun took a stand they would be attacked by the trans activists

So? It's about fairness. "Entitled people will whine about it" isn't a reason to be unfair to women.

Absolutely not. It shouldn't be up to the volunteers to be confronting people in such a manner.

The easiest solution is just to get rid of the idea of course records if they can't police them effectively. Have a list of finishers and times and age-gradings etc but beyond that if Parkrun wants to be non-competitive then it should behave as such.

If parkrun took a stand they would be attacked by the trans activists and I do think that plenty of trans people would self identify as their preferred sex anyway despite the language and expectations.

Agree, which is why i think parkrun (as a brand) needs to have a think about what it is, ignore completely any talk of gender and trans participants and categories, and just sidestep it completely. Because people do genuinely love it, and it would be a shame if it all became too much.

Totally agree about volunteers not checking people - that's not in the spirit at all. I'm not in a place that has parkrun so i don't know too much about it. Is it an actual company with profits etc, or is it more of a charity thing? or how does it work? (are there fees?)

The easiest solution is just to get rid of the idea of course records if they can't police them effectively. Have a list of finishers and times and age-gradings etc but beyond that if Parkrun wants to be non-competitive then it should behave as such.

This.

It is a free weekly 5 km in multiple locations that is open to everyone and run by volunteers.

I'm a fairly decent runner and often come first female in my local parkrun. It's very social - I have loads of friends who I chat to before and after. But for 19/20 minutes to me it absolutely is a race. And I won't apologise for "whizzing around". I often lap people I know and we will each offer encouragement to each other. I enjoy seeing my PBs / age grading and I would be aggrieved if I was 2nd female to someone who wasn't born female.
I find it ironic all the people who go on about how inclusive parkrun is - except that they want to exclude people who can run fast!

So what? Well, volunteers would stop volunteering and then Parkrun would stop running. Which would be one way of solving the problem, I suppose. But somewhat disproportionate, given that probably nobody except the person in question even gives a shit about who holds the course record at that particular Parkrun. It’d be easier to just get one of the faster female runners out there to just do Parkrun and replace the record!

It is a free weekly 5 km in multiple locations that is open to everyone and run by volunteers.

That's a disingenuous answer. What is the organisation's structure, was the question.

So all women have to suffer and be compared to men and not be separately represented.

So what? Well, volunteers would stop volunteering and then Parkrun would stop running.

Again, entitled people, many male, whinging about it isn't a justification to be unfair to women.

So all women have to suffer and be compared to men

Any time they are running they could be compared to any random man who decides to "identify" as a woman. Men are on average considerably faster.

Interesting. What looks like excellent running talent as a woman is decent but nothing exceptional for a man. I race competitively.
If I ever lose out on a podium finish because a biological man beats me I'll be livid.

You could be me (except you're a bit faster!).

The question asked if it was a profit making company and whether people paid a fee. As per my answer, no it is not profit making as it is run by volunteers and it is free so no people don’t pay a fee to enter. What information are you missing?