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Nov 2012
11:08pm, 26 Nov 2012
3 posts
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SheBuLady
I'm have a dilemma here. On one hand I think it is great to have introductory races which provide a non-threatening environment. On the other hand, I find it patronising and downright wrong when in cross-country league events when we feeble ladies run a shorter distances.
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Nov 2012
11:17pm, 26 Nov 2012
89 posts
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Astrakhangentry
I have only had abuse thrown at me once, that was at a parkrun and I was shouted at by a bystander. Something along the lines of 'get running you fat bitch' . He stopped shouting this when a man joined me and ran with me for a while. I have found male runners to be extremely supportive, a slight tendency to patronise sometimes, but I can ignore that, they mean well 
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Nov 2012
11:37pm, 26 Nov 2012
91 posts
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Astrakhangentry
Just looking at the description that women out in of themselves, I particularly like 'the speed and agility of a fridge', but many women seem to see themselves as back of the oack plodders whose aims are to get a bit faster and finish what they start. There seems to be an amazing lack of self confidence in the female half of society which needs to be addressed, and if women only runs get women to begin to enjoy doing something like running then fine, we should support it, the thing about men only running is that men don't generally tend to have abuse hurled at them by women, and if they did, they would be far less likely to find it intimidating. I wonder whether if women recorded every occasion when they were the subject of abuse and harassment (have you seen everdaysexism.org?) then there would be more make runners who would understand the reasons for women wanting to run with other women rather than with men.
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Nov 2012
8:10am, 27 Nov 2012
48,093 posts
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Puddington
Dee Gee, you need to just look at them as events that aren't aimed at you, not that you are 'banned'.
I don't expect everything to be for me. I'd quite like to be a FS again, but I'm not and I can't run in that category. It surely doesn't matter so much?
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Nov 2012
9:27am, 27 Nov 2012
9,877 posts
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Mikuro
I think women only events are a fabulous idea for all the reasons mentioned above. My reasons for entering would be that I would feel more likely to achieve in a field of only women. I would feel less intimidated. There aren't enough things about encouraging women into sport. These types of things do. Many sports already have separate events for the elite men and women anyway. How is this any different? Very few sports you can claim with any certainty that men and women perform equally.
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Nov 2012
9:42am, 27 Nov 2012
2,655 posts
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Mountain Cat
I think women-only events are a good idea - lots of women feel uncomfortable running around men for very good reasons.
While running I often get catcalls or sexual remarks shouted at me, occasionally (at least once a year) get kerb crawled or followed, and on one occasion I was physically pinned against a wall by a man (who was attached a very fierce looking dog). My husband, who also runs, has never experienced anything more than a jokey 'get your knees up' or similar (from other men).
So I can totally understand why women would feel intimidated running in a male group. If men want a similar event, just set one up.
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Nov 2012
9:43am, 27 Nov 2012
48,095 posts
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Puddington
Our XC isn't shorter for women in our league. I want to join yours, SheBuLady!
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Nov 2012
9:50am, 27 Nov 2012
22,452 posts
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Velociraptor
I'm quite intrigued by the fact that the percentage of women doing cycling events seems to be so much lower than at running events of an equivalent level of gruellingness. I did a welcoming and well-organised shortish sportive at the weekend and less than 10% of the finishers were women. It's nice to walk straight into the ladies' loo and to laugh at the men having to queue, but I'm genuinely curious about what puts women off. I assume it's not because it's difficult to go a bike while holding a donut bottle in one hand, or because you can't arrange a helmet to show off your bobbing ponytail to its best advantage.
A questionnaire may follow
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Nov 2012
9:58am, 27 Nov 2012
48,096 posts
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Puddington
I'm just shit at cycling
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Nov 2012
10:04am, 27 Nov 2012
2,656 posts
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Mountain Cat
Road cycling can be scary, as drivers can be pretty oblivious when it comes to your safety. Also, cycling takes more training hours than running (in terms of training hours, I would estimate you need to spend 2 - 3 times as long on a bike for equivalent fitness). So many time and confidence are issues?
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