parkrun defending their position

[Funtime2]

I used to be a parkrunner and do not understand how parkrun can defend their position of allowing trans identfying males into the female category.

I read that 280 published race winners in the female category are actually men identifying as women. How is this fair to women? Some women don’t care about this but some women do, just as some men take it as a race and care about the rankings and some men don’t

The other option of course is they could stop the timing, stop recording winners and records?

AIBU to genuinely not understand why parkrun claim not to be a race when they time the runners, publish times by category, rank times and runners, and have record holders by category.

Olympics is different - it's professional athletes at a world class level so of course fairness matters.

It ain't Park Run, which isn't a competition at all. I think people on here think because times are recorded, it's a competition, but it isn't.

If it really is a bit of fun I'll stop getting timekeepers and barcode scanners and I won't construct a finish funnel or say "3, 2, 1, go". I'll just get some marshals to stand in the park and clap as people run or walk around at their own pace and whenever it suits them, doesn't even need to be 9am on a Saturday if we're not timing anything. Thanks for the suggestion!

We’d be able to have egregiously unfair results like this removed. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/05/23/transgender-murder-parkrun/

I think people would be surprised how many women do care, but just don’t want to be seen publicly expressing these views. I’m quite outspoken about women’s rights (late 50s, long since cared what people think of me) and most men in my running club tell me I’m transphobic. To which I merely roll my eyes. The women (mostly quite a bit younger than me) say nothing in public but thank me privately for sticking up for women’s rights.

Sorry, I didn’t think i was being rude but apologies if it came across that way.

Are you suggesting trans identifying men would not adhere to the request on a form for women’s sport data, because that is what it is.

Or are you saying that who cares if men are down as men or women?

Because many women do care. Not just on mumsnet

So it doesn't look like Park Run is going to be ruined at all by being dragged into this debate, then.

Sigh.

That’s interesting.

Thank you for responding.

How about 11-15 year old football at grass roots? Should trans identifying boys be allowed to play in girls only teams?

All of them are back on the app though. They quietly reinstated them.

Exactly. Someone brought the subject of men in women’s sport up at my tennis club and it was like a dam had burst. everyone had a rant about it from teenagers to 80 year old women. Women are furious.

Regardless of whether it’s a competition or not, would you agree that currently, should they want to, men can check their position at the end and women can’t really know?

This is disingenuous and you know it.

If you're announcing a 'best in category' then there's an element of competition. They could take that away, but they so f.

Seriously, why are you cheering on 280 men getting 'beat female'? Do you not see the absurdity of that, let alone the unfairness?

I obviously can't speak for all the people in the world. I am just one woman, and everyone is different. Shockingly, some people are not honest. Others don't like giving their data to anyone. I know from collecting forms for all sorts of things that you can't rely on the information to be 100% accurate. So no, changing a tick box on a form isn't a guarantee of accurate data.

But we do have lots of measures to police people when it comes to speeding. Preventive (speed bumps, visible traffic police presence) and detective (speed cameras).

But when it comes to Park Run registration any way to police this would be a massive faff to the vast majority of people for no major benefit.

So then they don’t police it in which case what’s the point. I do think Park Run could budge. They could remove inclusive wording safe in the knowledge that it would merely be symbolic and serve no actual purpose in real life.

No.

And I'm not responding to any more questions that are unrelated to the thread topic.

What do you think of the poll on this thread?
In numbers terms over 1000 people think that the categories should be sex based.

It’s an overwhelming majority, nearly 90%.

Genuine question, has this surprised you? Or do you think that women on this site are not representative of society, and if so why?

Exactly the point I've been trying to make.

The faff would by far outweigh the benefits. There's a time and a place for ideology and Park Run isn't it.

It hasn't surprised me because I used to be on GC forums, but they became self-righteous echo chambers that were being pulled to the right and getting increasingly Islamophobic, so I left. And now I am leaving this thread too. I don't enjoy being hectored.

I agree it wouldn’t be accurate data because there’s always room for error.

However, 280 women’s parkrun wins as stated by parkrun have been won by men. I hope you would agree that if a middle aged man won the under 14 category they would call it out?

It’s the ideology that is in play currently that women find just so offensive. Parkrun could just say that they think transwomen need to choose the ‘other gender’ option amd it’s wrong they they don’t, and it will go so far to building bridges.

I might agree with you if only 90 people had voted but it’s over 1000. Also this isn’t feminism corner it's AIBU and tbh 2 years ago the poll would have been very different.

I think women generally have had enough.

I understand for many people parkrun is just a laugh, a social and that s great but for some women a fair shot a looking at their times compared to other women is very motivating, even if they are in the middle of the table.

Women deserve absolutely all the support and motivation they can get to get out and run. Parkrun data works for men but it doesn’t work for women. This is a small thing of a much bigger picture.

I bet half the people polled that you're on about have never been to a Park Run in their life and/or don't have a bloody clue what it is.

Deary me!

But that is what I offensive. Men get correct records but what a faff it would be to do the same for women.

I'm not sure what the point of this comment is. If women are objecting to men being able to 'identify in' to women's categories, why would going to a Park Run change their minds?

I'm not an Olympic athlete but I strongly believe women deserve fair opportunities and sex based categories at the Olympics.

I have done many parkruns.

I think most people have had experience of running against males and are aware of the differences in performance between the sexes.