Save Women's Sports: ParkrunUK YouTube video November 2025

[Helleofabore]

https://x.com/marayamauchi/status/1988217357043724386?s=20

Well done Mara and all those involved.

Some very clear points mentioned:

Mara says, "I'm here with a lot of my fellow sex realists. We are quietly protesting against parkrun's gender self ID categories. Any male if he says he's a woman or even if he doesn't say he's a woman, any male is welcome in the female category."

"Official results are published every week in descending order of speed. The rankings mean in reality it is a race and that is unfair for women and girls."

And then

"You can call it anything you like, but the facts of Parkrun are, measured courses, start and finish line."

Other brave women also keep raising the valid points such as:

"it's a race if you run it like a race"

and

"That opportunity to treat it like a race should be there for everybody because it is there for men"

We have had this discussion on MN numerous times now where people remind us that Parkrun have stated that they are 'not a race' and are not competitive events. However, if there is any ranking at all, and any records kept and/or published, this makes the events a competitive event.

I hope that Parkrun actually starts to listen now instead of their constant denial. Either remove any ranking activity completely or understand that denying it is a competition while it remains competitive doesn't remove the competitive nature of the event in reality.

And well timed with the IOC meeting last week too.

It can be an important race for young athletes.
Just one example is that it's used by a number of counties and london boroughs to pick athletes aged 11 to 17 for the London mini marathon, which is an important stepping stone into serious running.
It's also important for some national running rankings where you can see your position in your area compared to others in your age category.
Parkrun presumably wouldnt like it if 25 year olds were putting themselves down as under 11s.

I wonder if I will get any answer for this.

When we think about what other category boundaries, would anyone who is happy to have male people in female sports be happy to accept

A 25 year old competing against a 10 year old in a 10 year old and under category?

A 25 year old competing against a 85 year old in a masters category in the 85 year and over category?

A person who had 90% vision competing with someone with 5% vision in an event specifically for someone with that % of vision impairment?

A person who was a professional standard athlete competing in a novice only event?

A bicycle with an electric engine competing against a 100% human powered bicycle in the Tour de France?

If anyone said yes to any of these, why? if you have said no, then why would you accept a male with pubertal advantages in a female sports category?

agreed.

Just adding this for context.

Parkrun acknowledge that the female category rules are unfair.

^https://tinyurl.com/35k9sdyw^

‘Thank you, Marshal’: How parkrun became a global phenomenon

01 January 2025
Helen Coffey

"As for the transgender debate, Sinton-Hewitt says that, while he never wants to exclude anyone, he’s “troubled” by the idea of women feeling “undermined”. “I don’t know what the answer is,” he tells me, “But parkrun is absolutely not the Olympics. We should make it possible for everybody to participate in the best possible way. And one thing is for certain – parkrun will never, ever be able to check what you tell us your gender is when you register. There are 10 million people; we’re a very small organisation.”

"For now, at least, he believes they’ve made the right decision. “Inclusivity comes first – and fairness, I’m afraid, is affected by the drive towards inclusivity.”

Here is a messy link:

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/parkrun-running-5km-fitness-history-20-years-b2672102.html?callback=in&code=MGZKMTMZNDMTYMFMYI0ZZMMZLWFKNGQTNZA0ODFMMWI1ODYW&state=8f2a3a39d0dd4c3ab8bbdc089e2eee9b

There’s no shame in saying you are a man who prefers to wear pink leggings while running and has long hair. You can even be a man with fake boobs and a sports bra. You can present yourself gender-wise however you like, but there is no shame in saying you are a biological man.

Men need to stop clinging to old fashioned ideas of what men do and what women do. Men are bringing this vastly unfair imposition on women.

Parkrun should act to end the complicity in the shaming of gender non conforming people. Parkrun should boldly celebrate people who do not conform to gender stereotypes and run with their biological sex.

Agreed.
I won't be running ParkRun again until they restore biological sex categories or remove rankings and any female records 'assigned' to biological males.

Orange t-shirt man doesn't hold back, does he! 💪for orange t-shirt man and 💪💪for all the women. Great video.

It is a great video. I hope that Parkrun start to take notice finally.

Wow, Parkrun saying it out loud: 'fairness, I'm afraid, is affected by the drive towards inclusivity'. It's 'sorry not sorry' isn't it. And just to make Parkrun's views more clear fo anyone who's not aware by adding the words that aren't in that sentence:
Fairness to women is, unapologetically, negatively affected by the drive to give men the extra right to state that they're women and therefore place higher in the rankings than women with the equivalent fitness and running ability.

soupy, there is no arguing with the man's clarity. What surprises me though is just how many people defend Parkrun's decision. And just how many come out with the really illogical argument that it is isn't 'competitive' while it blatantly is. Any ranking done makes it clearly a competitive event.

The disconnect from truth is remarkable.

I think the women made the case quite clearly that Parkrun is a race, it is ostensibly split into male and female divisions, and it is competitive.

As usual it's only one-way traffic. There would be a completely different outlook if females were entering the male category and beating the records.

Tweet from Mara Yamauchi on 13th December 2025 about just how a few of these male athletes can negatively impact many female athletes

https://x.com/mara_yamauchi/status/1999910910782222623?s=46

“At least 11 males ran in the Female category in UK parkrun today.

Two ran at the same parkrun. One got 7th Female so nearly the entire female field got bumped down, of whom 13 women got bumped down 2 places.

Of these 11 men, at least 7 have broken UKA rules by racing in the Female category in licensed events (one has broken the rules at least 8 times & uses the slogan “F* UK Athletics”). One of them is this man - “F* JK Rowling”. 👇

Between them, these 11 men bumped down >1000 females.”

FFS, can’t anyone see how spiteful and misogynistic so many of these petty little men are?

The minimising of the issue is so misogynistic too. There's a comment trying to suggest that it's like getting uptight about winning a boardgame. All the 'well it's not the Olympics'. It comes from the same place as the constant 'you lot are obsessed with toilets'. No no and no again. Women should have their own things. Irrespective of whether some people think those things are unimportant or silly or laughable. (I don't by the way think that Parkrun is any of those things; it's actually very important in a number of ways).

A bunch of average women should all move to the very front of the pack just before the start and see how non-competitive and non-race like it really is when all the boys and men are blocked from going off like greyhounds.

If they stick by their own sayings, the race director can surely not complain about them doing it, after all, it's just for fun and health, right?

IIRC Parkrun get government money intended to increase women's participation in sports?

They need to pay it all back now.

I think the solution for parkrun is to have an option to opt out of your sex and age being publicly visible on the results.
So those who are uncomfortable with others seeing that info would still get an overall placing and time, and their run would count towards total number of events run for milestones. They wouldn't get an age grading or category position.

Does anyone know if that option has been considered?

I get that for parkrun participation is more important than competition. Its right for them to make it as easy as possible for people to turn up and take part. But the competitive part also plays a big part in participation at all parts of the field. Its important not to corrupt the results by allowing people to identify into the wrong category.

I get that for parkrun participation is more important than competition

that is utter bollocks though. Some parkrunners do it like that. Others use it for timed runs, to compare themselves to their peers, and as we know, some youth runners get participation in other events based on their times.

Parkrun have taken the TWAW position, which is bollocks but up to them, and they are making up all sorts of excuses to justify it. I would have more respect if they were honest and open.
And they shouldn't get money for the encouragment to get women participating if they can'T actually prove they are doing that.

I think both can be true @Brefugee? Parkrun is so successful because people can enjoy it in so many different ways. I'm a competitive club runner, I've done over 300 parkruns, volunteered at over 100, and I'll usually be first woman and in the first 20 finishers. I enjoy the competitive element of it and take a dim view of anyone corrupting the results by identifying as something they aren't.

But I also understand and agree with parkrun HQ that getting more people participating is their most important aim. I think you have to start thinking from there when working out the right solution is for this event.

So if you think publishing results by sex and age is important (I do), but that they've identified that a barrier to participation for some people is that they don't want their real sex or age being public (I've no idea if they have, but it seems the only logical reason for them to be where they are on this), then I think this could be solved by an option to opt out of your sex or age being public so you don't appear on that part of the results.

well of course, that is why i said it.
but the Parkrun people are being utterly shitty to the women who treat it as a race and focusing on the men who treat it as a race (whether or not they identify as a man or a transwoman)

it is the inconsistency that is, frankly, cunty.

I'm GC, but I do get parkrun saying they're about participation, not competition.
What if they published results in alphabetical order by name (not time), and didn't publish 'fastest woman' etc records. People could still use it to compete against themselves and people they know, but your ranking in the field wouldn't matter.
I'm only an infrequent and very slow parkrunner though, so that might be a rubbish idea

If they did it that way, it would be consistent with their statement that it's all about participation not competition.

But surely the point is that they DON'T publish like that. They persist in publishing times in a way that IS about competition. And they do it in a way that allows MALES to compete but not women (since 'fastest woman' is a mixed sex category). As @Brefugee says, the inconsistency is cunty (or, I guess 'cunty and dickish all in together' given it's mixed sex).

Its worth understanding that parkrun cant say that it is a race because if they did they would have to comply with rules for running events as races and then most events would cease to exist. Nobody wants that, so its a run, not a race, but everyone knows it is. Doesn't mean that the competitive parts of it aren't recognised as one of the essential parts that make it work so well for participation for many. They just cant say so.

@miffmufferedmoof they don't publish records anymore - they used to do course records, lists of sub 20 women/sub 17 men, number of first finishes, age graded records etc. I loved those cos I was in the minority of people included in that and I found it motivating. They stopped doing that after getting pressure on this issue, probably cos it was very hard to do that and keep up the act that it wasn't a race and the results weren't important. A negative impact for some of the faster runners, but most weren't affected.

The problem is the results that are left are important for a much larger proportion of people. If they reduced them still it would affect many more people and I think it would have a big negative impact on participation. I doubt they want to do that.

I worry that more pressure will force them into doing something like that and it'll have a big negative impact on the event for many more people. I think there could be a solution where those who don't want their sex public can opt out of that part of the results, meaning they get a result, but no stats by sex/age grade and it doesnt affect others. I've no idea if thats been considered though.

I think that Parkrun needs to sort their shit out.

Either they remove the competitive element completely or they state that if a male person is discovered competing as a female person their records are removed. Perhaps if the onus is on the competitor to pay for testing if they are questioned, it may reduce the issue somewhat.

I think it would be indicative though if Parkrun made it clear that female registration was just for female people and male people ignored this, it is very safe to say that those male people are not in it for the participation.